# I turn everything into a topic of fucking gratitude.



## FrenchymcB

Hi, this is a scene from a documentary about recovering drug addicts. As he’s just about to leave the rehab center, an ex drug-addict expresses his gratitude to all the people who helped him: _“I turn everything into a topic of fucking gratitude. Okay? Every day of my life, I'm gonna continue to show you gratitude. I just love everyone that has anything to do with helping people that everybody else in society looks down on.”_

I’m struggling with his first sentence. A literal translation seems impossible to me as it wouldn't sound natural in French. So far I’ve got: “Tout autour de moi me fait ressentir tellement de gratitude, putain.” / “Tout ce que je vis me fait ressentir tellement de gratitude, putain.” But I’m not really happy with either of those and I’m sure it can be improved! Any ideas, anyone? Thanks!


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## ScrapPaper

The underlined sentence is unusual, even in English, and I've never heard "topic of" used this way. It may be in-group jargon among addicts, or perhaps a word that addiction therapists use in group therapy meetings, but I'm only guessing. I think what he's basically saying is that after all is said and done, he's left with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the people who helped him. 

Not being a native-speaker, I won't attempt a colloquial translation, but your second attempt feels closer to me.


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## Itisi

Putain, je fais de tout une occasion d'être reconnaissant, hein !


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## FrenchymcB

Merci à vous deux !

Itisi, votre proposition m'a donné ces idées: _j’arrête pas de trouver des raisons d’être reconnaissant / J’ai tellement de raisons d’être reconnaissant / J’ai toutes les raisons d’être reconnaissant_
Mais je ne suis pas encore totalement satisfaite, donc je vais continuer à chercher.


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## FrenchymcB

ScrapPaper said:


> It may be in-group jargon among addicts, or perhaps a word that addiction therapists use in group therapy meetings, but I'm only guessing



I hadn't thought of that, I'm going to look into it, thanks!


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## tartopom

Or  Chez moi tout est centré / tout tourne autour de cette reconnaissance de ouf.


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## Uncle Bob

tartopom said:


> Or  Chez moi tout est centré / tout tourne autour de cette reconnaissance de ouf.



The ", Okay?" is just a "_, n'est pas?_" so I don't think "_cette reconnaissance_ _de ouf"  _fits, apart from the fact that these is no "this/that" and that I don't see a meaning.


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## FrenchymcB

The "okay" is extremely strange, I have to admit I don't really understand it... So far I translated it as "vous voyez?" but I may change it depending on how I translate the first sentence.


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## misterk

Given the rest of the context, I think the first sentence ("I turn everything into...") means the same thing as "I'm going to turn everything into..."
He's saying, "I'm going to show you how grateful I am for the work that you do."
And I understand the "Okay?" more like "D'accord?" (= "You understand what I'm saying?")


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## FrenchymcB

Aaaaah so it could be understood as something like: "Vous avez pas fini de m’entendre vous remercier. Ok ?" I hadn't thought of that, thanks!


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## Soleil_Couchant

ScrapPaper said:


> It may be in-group jargon among addicts, or perhaps a word that addiction therapists use in group therapy meetings, but I'm only guessing.



That's the first thing that came to my mind. "Gratitude" is likely some therapy lingo that has been emphasized during his treatment. So now he views the world through that kind of lens, and turns all subjects to 'gratitude.' So the "piste" I would personally follow is finding what corresponding term is used in French addiction recovery treatment... (if they follow the same style)

edit: and that being said, I feel like Itisi has the right idea as far as the meaning of the sentence with "je fais de tout une occasion d'être reconnaissant" ...it's like he makes everything about gratitude all the time now. That's what he's saying, anyway. 

So, I think he's saying that he turns everything into gratitude now (likely thanks to an emphasis on 'gratitude' that he got instilled in him during recovery treatment, as a likely guess)...and then, on that note, proceeds to express his gratitude for all of their help...


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## Itisi

*1.  misterk*, I rather think he is already turning everything into gratitude etc - that's why he's ready to leave - and he is saying he is going to continue to do that after he has left.
*
2. *Click on this link and all will be revealed about the program and gratitude
*Edit* - Link doesn't work, please go to #16.

*3.
turn [sth] into [sth] vtr + prep
(transform) transformer [qch] en [qch], changer [qch] en [qch] vtr + prép
* You turn my sadness to joy.
  Tu transformes (_or: _ changes) ma tristesse en joie.

*4.*


ScrapPaper said:


> I've never heard "topic of" used this way. It may be in-group jargon among addicts, or perhaps a word that addiction therapists use in group therapy meetings


This is about 'topic', not about 'gratitude', which just means 'gratitude, same as usual!


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## FrenchymcB

Itisi said:


> *1.  misterk*, I rather think he is already turning everything into gratitude etc - that's why he's ready to leave


Well not exactly, he's ready to leave because he's finished the six-month rehab program and he's clean 



Itisi said:


> This is about 'topic', not about 'gratitude', which just means 'gratitude, same as usual!


I agree, I'm not going to sweat too much over 'gratitude', nothing in the documentary suggests that it's a term used in recovery treatment. I'm not saying it's not, it may be, but I think it can simply be translated as "gratitude" / "reconnaissance"!



Soleil_Couchant said:


> I feel like Itisi has the right idea as far as the meaning of the sentence with "je fais de tout une occasion d'être reconnaissant"


 I just don't find this particular sentence very natural, especially coming from a young ex-addict


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## Itisi

FrenchymcB said:


> I'm not going to sweat too much over 'gratitude',(...)  it can simply be translated as "gratitude" / "reconnaissance"!


Well, exactly!



FrenchymcB said:


> he's ready to leave because he's finished the six-month rehab program and he's clean


No doubt it takes 6 months to become grateful for everything!


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## Soleil_Couchant

For what it's worth, and I think someone might have said, "I turn everything into a topic of [fucking] gratitude" is unusual in English, too. Which is why I think the "topic of gratitude" might be hearkening a therapy strategy...if the treatment emphasizes gratefulness, gratitude, etc... now he's turning everything into that. What he learned is now spilling over and shaping how he views things. But now I sound like a broken record.


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## Itisi

Ach, I see my link at #12 re program & gratitude doesn't work!  So:
https://www.promises.com/articles/5...-attitude-of-gratitude-in-addiction-recovery/


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## FrenchymcB

Soleil_Couchant said:


> I think the "topic of gratitude" might be hearkening a therapy strategy...


I'm not saying you're wrong, you may very well be right, but after doing some research I really can't find anything about the word "topic" as therapy lingo. And seeing as it's never mentioned in the documentary, I think I'll probably try and keep it simple in order not to confuse the viewers, and focus on the 'gratitude' part


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## Blougouz

FrencymcB, jette un œil sur le lien que t'a envoyé Itisi, très intéressant: le mode thérapeutique de Victor Franlk par la gratitude, etc. sans doute l'orientation  de ce centre...
Je pense que tu as raison de te focaliser sur gratitude, et topic et fucking ne sont que le reflet d'une appropriation du concept en langage du patient.
Par exemple je dirais:
Je vais tout voir avec ton truc de la gratitude, là, hein?...
(Hein pour ok)


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## FrenchymcB

Blougouz said:


> Par exemple je dirais:
> Je vais tout voir avec ton truc de la gratitude, là, hein?...


Très franchement, je pense que le spectateur ne comprendra pas... Si on avait développé cette histoire de "topic of gratitude" dans le docu, ok, mais là ce n'est pas le cas. C'est pour ça que je préfère opter pour une solution peut-être simplifiée mais plus claire qui se concentre sur la gratitude, plutôt que d'essayer de traduire "topic" sans même savoir ce qu'il entend exactement. Je pense qu'il faut avant tout penser au spectateur et essayer de ne pas l'embrouiller 

J'aime bien l'interprétation de misterk. A priori je pense partir sur quelque chose du style : Vous avez pas fini de m’entendre vous remercier / exprimer ma gratitude / reconnaissance. / Je suis pas près d’arrêter de vous remercier.
Je verrai si je trouve mieux !


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## Itisi

*Frenchy*, 'topic' veut juste dire 'sujet', rien de mystérieux.  Mais ça ne marche pas comme traduction...

Puisque tu n'aimes pas ma proposition à #3 :

Je traîte tout maintenant comme une occasion d'être reconnaissant

PS- "Vous avez pas fini de m’entendre vous remercier / exprimer ma gratitude / reconnaissance. / Je suis pas près d’arrêter de vous remercier." correspond à la phrase suivante !


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## Blougouz

Bonne idée.
Proposition plus àl'oral:
Je prends tout comme l'occasion d'être reconnaissant/ dans la gratitude

Turn into marque un changement d'attitude, de considérer/vour les choses différemment.


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## L'irlandais

In the context of recovering drug addicts, it is not uncommon for them to do meditation as part of their rehab.  Gratitude for the day, is a Buddhist notion, if I am not mistaken.


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## FrenchymcB

Itisi said:


> PS- "Vous avez pas fini de m’entendre vous remercier / exprimer ma gratitude / reconnaissance. / Je suis pas près d’arrêter de vous remercier." correspond à la phrase suivante !


Pour moi, c'est la même idée, la deuxième phrase développe la première 



Blougouz said:


> Bonne idée.
> Proposition plus àl'oral:
> Je prends tout comme l'occasion d'être reconnaissant/ dans la gratitude



"Je vois tout comme l'occasion d'être reconnaissant", alors, plutôt que "prends".

Sinon je trouve que quelque chose comme "Je peux pas m'empêcher d'être reconnaissant pour tout" serait plus naturel à l'oral, mais vous allez me dire qu'avec "ne pas pouvoir s'empêcher", on s'éloigne trop de la VO 

Je cherche vraiment une phrase qui soit naturelle dans la bouche d'un ancien junky de 25 ans qui emploie beaucoup d'argot et de gros mots. Pour moi, le naturel est vraiment important quand la phrase est prononcée à l'oral. C'est pour ça que je me sens obligée de m'éloigner de l'anglais.


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## L'irlandais

“Je transforme tout dans un sujet de putain de gratitude. N’est pas? (Uncle Bob’s suggestion os spot on, why, oh why do the french speaking members on here ignore the comments of native English speakers, all the time?) Chaque jour de ma vie, je vais continuer à te montrer de la gratitude. J'adore tout le monde qui a quelque chose à voir avec aider les gens que tous les autres dans la société méprisent. "

In their therapy, ex junkies are taught to be grateful for the small things.  People who acknowledge their existence, is something to be grateful for, in a world which completely ignores them.


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## Itisi

*L'irlandais*, "The experience of gratitude has historically been a focus of several world religions. It has also been a topic of interest to ancient, medieval and modern philosophers, and continues to engage contemporary western philosophers. The systematic study of gratitude within psychology only began around the year 2000, possibly because psychology traditionally focused more on understanding distress than on understanding positive emotions." Wikipedia. 



FrenchymcB said:


> Je cherche vraiment une phrase qui soit naturelle dans la bouche d'un ancien junky de 25 ans qui emploie beaucoup d'argot et de gros mots. Pour moi, le naturel est vraiment important quand la phrase est prononcée à l'oral. C'est pour ça que je me sens obligée de m'éloigner de l'anglais.


Je ne comprends pas !  La phrase est prononcée *en anglais* par cet ancien junkie, et elle est naturelle !  Alors comment peux-tu te sentir obligée de t'en éloigner ! Il suffit de traduire ce qu'il dit !  Tu mets 'putain', ou un truc comme ça, pour 'fucking' et 'Hein', par exemple pour 'OK', c'est tout !


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## Blougouz

L'irlandais said:


> Uncle Bob’s suggestion os spot on, why, oh why do the french speaking members on here ignore the comments of native English speakers, all the time?


I do have some issues to get your humour, here....
And BTW, tell me if you 've already heard an addict teen ending the phrase by a "n'est-ce pas?", and then, yes I would really laugh!!!


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## FrenchymcB

L'irlandais said:


> “Je transforme tout dans un sujet de putain de gratitude. N’est pas? (Uncle Bob’s suggestion os spot on, why, oh why do the french speaking members on here ignore the comments of native English speakers, all the time?)"


I'm really sorry, but “Je transforme tout dans un sujet de putain de gratitude. N’est pas?" does not sound French at all... If I heard this, I wouldn't understand at all. I don't ignore the comments of native English speakers, I find them extremely helpful when I'm trying to understand the meaning of an English sentence, but I'm sorry, it's different when it comes to translating towards your second language. I would say I'm pretty fluent in English, but I'm aware it's only my second language and I do make mistakes, and therefore could probably not always offer good French to English translations.



Itisi said:


> Je ne comprends pas !  La phrase est prononcée *en anglais* par cet ancien junkie, et elle est naturelle !  Alors comment peux-tu te sentir obligée de t'en éloigner ! Il suffit de traduire ce qu'il dit !  Tu mets 'putain', ou un truc comme ça, pour 'fucking' et 'Hein', par exemple pour 'OK', c'est tout !


Parce que je suis allée à suffisamment d'enregistrements pour savoir que quand une phrase n'est pas naturelle / pas orale / pas claire, ça ne passe pas du tout en plateau et on se fait taper sur les doigts... Le français et l'anglais sont deux langues différentes, ce qui est naturel pour l'une ne l'est pas forcément pour l'autre


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## FrenchymcB

Anyway, thank you again to everyone who contributed. Even though we don't always agree, I really appreciate everyone's help


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## Itisi

Mais pourquoi faut il changer le sens pour que ce soit 'naturel' !  (C'est bon, je n'attends pas de réponse...)


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## FrenchymcB

Parce que les clients nous demandent d'être naturels ! Je continue à chercher une solution plus proche de la VO, mais je dois aussi penser au naturel, puisqu'en doublage ou en voice-over, le naturel est primordial, c'est comme ça... Entre une réplique PARFAITEMENT fidèle à la VO mais pas naturelle, et une réplique qui s'en éloigne un peu mais qui sonne plus juste à l'oreille, je pense vraiment qu'il vaut mieux choisir la solution qui fera le moins tiquer le spectateur.


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## Itisi

Ça ne répond pas à ma question...

C'est pas la peine de passer tout ce temps là-dessus pour que tu finisses par mettre juste un truc qui fait bien à ton avis...


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## FrenchymcB

Euh, si, je pense avoir répondu en #27 et #30  Et ce n'est pas comme si je changeais complètement le sens pour partir dans une autre direction. Bref, je n'ai pas le temps d'entrer dans un débat, je pense avoir exprimé clairement mon point de vue et les exigences de mes clients (d'ailleurs mon métier est bien "traductrice-ADAPTATRICE", c'est tout de même révélateur de ce qu'on nous demande de faire). Libre à vous de ne pas être d'accord  Merci encore pour votre aide en tout cas ! (c'est sincère !)


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## FrenchymcB

Itisi said:


> C'est pas la peine de passer tout ce temps là-dessus pour que tu finisses par mettre juste un truc qui fait bien à ton avis...


Ben... ce sera mon nom qui apparaîtra à la fin de la traduction, donc si, il faut bien que ça "fasse bien à mon avis". Je ne vais pas écrire quelque chose qui ne me convient pas. Je suis venue sur ce forum parce que je bloquais et j'avais besoin de nouvelles idées. Je ne choisis peut-être pas l'une de vos propositions mot pour mot, mais toutes ces suggestions et interprétations me donnent de nouvelles idées, elles me permettent d'avancer alors que je bloquais.


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## Itisi

Bon, si ça t'aide, ou si tu préfères, si ça vous aide, tant mieux...


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## L'irlandais

Well, as Scrap paper pointed out the VO - _I turn everything into a topic of fucking gratitude. hardly sounds usual/natural in English.  So why would the TL sound natural in French?  Unless you are looking to i prove on the original._


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## FrenchymcB

L'irlandais said:


> Well, as Scrap paper pointed out the VO - _I turn everything into a topic of fucking gratitude. hardly sounds usual/natural in English.  So why would the TL sound natural in French?  Unless you are looking to i prove on the original._


In non-fiction, because it's not scripted, people don't always speak in the most coherent way and sometimes use slightly odd sentences. When we speak in every day's life, we don't always think about how to structure our sentences perfectly. As opposed to fiction which is scripted and is always very clear. My job is to make it understandable to French people. This is what my clients expect from me and I don't see why I keep having to justify that...

A couple of people here said:
"I think what he's basically saying is that after all is said and done, he's left with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the people who helped him."
and: "He's saying, "I'm going to show you how grateful I am for the work that you do.""
This is what I am trying to focus on, as I agree it is the idea, and would like to find an understandable way to say it in French, even if it doesn't sound exactly like the English sentence.


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## Blougouz

FrenchymcB said:


> ... My job is to make it understandable to French people. This is what my clients expect from me and I don't see why I keep having to justify that...


you are absolutely right, you seem to be a high level professionnal, you don't need to justify anything. I am happy to learn a bit more about your job!
Bon courage pour la suite et à bientôt!


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## FrenchymcB

Blougouz said:


> you are absolutely right, you seem to be a high level professionnal, you don't need to justify anything.


Haha, now I feel like I sound very big-headed  I'm not. I'm just trying to do what I'm told.
Thank you for your contributions Blougouz, it's all very helpful and it gives me lots of new ideas


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## Itisi

FrenchymcB said:


> I think what he's basically saying is that after all is said and done, he's left with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the people who helped him."


That's not quite it, although it's part of it too. What he is saying _in the sentence that it the title of this thread_ is to do with this:

Extract from *5 Steps to Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude in Addiction Recovery*

"Gratitude changes the way we interact with the world and promotes the thoughts and behaviors that are supportive of addiction recovery. Here are five steps you can take to cultivate an attitude of gratitude this holiday season:
*Step #1: Shift Your Mindset*
Focusing on what you’re grateful for is more than a daily task to check off your list; it requires a shift in mindset and a new way of being."

So he is applying what he has learnt to do during the Program.


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## FrenchymcB

Again, the natives who suggested the therapy thing said themselves it was just a guess. We can't know for sure he's been taught those 5 steps. I'm running out of time now and I'm not sure it's a good idea to sweat over a subtlety which may or may not be there in English.

The more I watch the scene, the more I see it as almost a kind of warning, something along the lines of "I know you may find it a little annoying after a while, but I can't help it, everything reminds me how grateful I am and I'm not going to stop telling you." A bit like what we read on this post about this person turning every single conversation into a political debate, and how it's annoying.

I'm not saying I'm right, but given the intonation (I realise you guys don't have access to the video), the "fucking" and the "ok?", I believe it's a possible interpretation, and it makes sense with what he says afterwards.

So given that I'm running out of time, I think that instead of focusing on this "mind shift" and coming up with a sentence which may raise questions because it is so out of the blue, I'm going to try and go with this second interpretation. Thank you everyone for all the time and efforts you put into this. Please don't go and say I ignore every comment, I don't, and whatever I come up with will be better than my first attempts in #1, all thanks to your ideas! (because I don't always agree doesn't mean I'm not listening  ) Thanks everyone!


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## Itisi

I'm not trying to make you change your mind/sentence, but for me, it's not a guess; I am certain without a doubt that this is about the 'therapy thing'. I am familiar with that area (not as a past junkie).  I believe that if he sounds so forceful, it's because he is going out into the world and it's a bit frightening, and he has to convince himself he is going to stick to what he has learnt on the program, he can't afford to fuck up...

(Step 4 is "Do something for others", which corresponds to the last sentence in your quote.)


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## Guerric

FrenchymcB said:


> Hi, this is a scene from a documentary about recovering drug addicts. As he’s just about to leave the rehab center, an ex drug-addict expresses his gratitude to all the people who helped him: _“I turn everything into a topic of fucking gratitude. Okay? Every day of my life, I'm gonna continue to show you gratitude. I just love everyone that has anything to do with helping people that everybody else in society looks down on.”_


Je pense qu'il faut comprendre "I* will* turn everything into a topic of fucking gratitude. Okay?_"_ ou "From now on, I turn ...", que j'ai envie de traduire un peu librement par "Je serai une putain d'incarnation de la gratitude, OK ?" et qui plus littéralement veut dire à mon avis qu'il leur promet ("okay?" dans le sens "soyez-m'en témoins") de _trouver de la gratitude en chaque chose_, de _tout voir sous l'angle de la gratitude_... mais ces formules ne sont pas très adaptées à ce registre de langue.


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