# cusp



## mully

Bonjour

J'ai cherche "cusp" dans wordreference/mon dico harper-collins pour une traduction francaise et il n'y en avait pas. Contexte: he was on the cusp of youth. Je crois qu'un synonyme est "brink", mais j'en suis pas sure. 

merci d'avance


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## anangelaway

Bonjour !  

Perhaps _'cusp'_ as _'turning point' (au tournant)_, but I'm not so sure within this little context.


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## Kat LaQ

Perhaps something like _frontière _or_ bord?_


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## JamesM

Here is an entry at www.m-w.com for cusp:

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/cusp

Anangelaway's "turning point" works just fine.


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## anangelaway

James, with either one, Kat's _'bord'_ or _'turning point'_, we would have then _'au bord/au tournant de la/sa jeunesse''_, but I'm not sure why, it does not make much sense to me. 
What to you both think ?


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## Niber

Bonjour, je ne voudrais pas dire de bêtise car c'est mon premier message sur ce forum génial,  mais est-ce que cusp of youth ne voudrait pas dire par hasard "la fleur de l'âge", puisque cusp est synonyme d'apex?


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## edwingill

à la charnière?


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## Yul

Je ne connaissais pas ce mot, mais si j'avais à le traduire, je dirais "au meilleur de sa jeunesse" (dans le sens de: "au faîte de sa jeunesse ").
Espérant avoir visé juste.
Yul


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## JamesM

I've always thought of "cusp" as the fulcrum, the balancing point.  It's the point of no return.  I have _no_ idea how you would say that in French, but to me it has a distinct sense of that one tiny point at the center a transition.  That's why "fulcrum" always worked for me as an image.  On the cusp, you are perfectly balanced.  Once you tip to one side or the other you are never at that balancing point again.


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## kylijah

Not sure about this, but could it then mean that either his youth is about to start or that on the contrary his youth is ending?

In that case, you could say something like 'ses annees de jeunesse etaient pratiquement derriere lui'.. well something a bit prettier!


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## Yul

"Il était à la toute fin de sa jeunesse"...?
Yul


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## radjane dessama

_cusp, _as far as I understand, Mully, has its origins in astrology.  The week-or-so period which marks the beginning of a zodiac sign and the end of another.  For example, 21 july - 28 july is the cusp of cancer-leo.  (Not that I believe in astrology.  I don't.  But this is for your information)
`
À défaut de contexte, therefore, _cusp _could mean something that is on the rise, at its prime, en plein essor.

It could also be the period of adolescence, the _cusp_ between boy/girlhood and adulthood


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## giannid

_He was on the cusp of youth._

Not sure, but to me this means that he was in the very heart (center) of his youth.  Maybe you could use _plein au milieu_ or something.


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## Cath.S.

giannid said:
			
		

> _He was on the cusp of youth._
> 
> Not sure, but to me this means that he was in the very heart (center) of his youth. Maybe you could use _plein au milieu_ or something.


If that's what it means then Niber's dans _la fleur de l'âge_ seems quite good, or _en pleine jeunesse_.
We would not say "_en plein milieu de sa jeunesse_". 

But it does not seem to be the usual meaning of the phrase, I googled and found a few sentences similar to this one:

_on the cusp of youth and middle age_

which makes more sense (to me)
=> 
*entre deux âges*


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## giannid

I suppose you're right.  My old dictionary defined Cusp as an astronomical term meaning a point on a sphere.  Perhaps JamesM has the right idea when he thought of a fulcrum.


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## Monsieur Moose

Does *le pinacle* work?  * Le pinacle* de jeunesse.


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## JamesM

> *entre deux âges*


 
That makes the most sense to me, given the word.  I wonder what the other age is, in the author's eyes - childhood, perhaps?


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## Cath.S.

Monsieru Moose said:
			
		

> Does *le pinacle* work? *Le pinacle* de la jeunesse.


It would sound very unusual and literary, but why not?



			
				JamesM said:
			
		

> That makes the most sense to me, given the word. I wonder what the other age is, in the author's eyes - childhood, perhaps?


The problem is that entre deux âges refers to middle-age, it is used to describe a person of whom you cannot say they are young any more, but not old yet either.
It could not be used for the period between childhood and youth.


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## JamesM

That's too bad.  I think it's very much the idea of being on the edge between two ages in one's life. Mully's "brink" is close, but "brink" implies that the side you are coming from is safe vs. the precipice of the "brink." Cusp is a fine balancing point, not a safe vs. unsafe choice.


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## Cath.S.

Context is once again badly needed.
We might end up using a periphrasis such as
_il venait à peine de sortir de l'enfance_
or
_ce n'était déjà plus un enfant mais pas encore un homme_
or whatever...


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## KaRiNe_Fr

Est-ce qu'on connaît l'âge en question ?
Venait-il d'avoir 18 ans ? ("beau comme un enfant, fort comme un homme" ?)


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## Yul

Je constate que tous les exemples que j'ai rencontrés sur Internet concernant ce fameux et énigmatique "in the cusp of " étaient en relation avec les jeunes qui étaient sur le point de joindre les gangs de rue.

They were in the cusp of joining gangs...

Comme s'ils étaient sur le point de basculer...
Yul


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## emmap

Bonjour

un autre usage que j'aimerai bien traduire:

On the cusp of significant business already won, this is a genuine opportunity.

Le contexte est celui d'une offre d'emploi, lien: http://sladegroup.turborecruit.com.au/job/job_details.cfm?id=216990&from=direct

Pour les definitions de cusp: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=define:+cusp&btnG=Search

Bonjour la simplicité 
Apparement c'est un terme assez technique avec des contextes d'usages et des sens différents, mais les locutions que nous cherchons on certainement un lien metaphorique donc lointain avec les définitions.


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## JamesM

Je suis étonné de voir "in the cusp", mais il y a plus qu'un million "hits" sur Google. Je n'ai entendu que "on the cusp." "On the cusp" = "sur le point', à mon avis. Par exemple, il y a les dents que se nomment "bi*cusp*ids" parce qu'ils ont deux points. Je ne comprends pas comment on se trouve "dans le point" (en anglais "in the cusp"), pas "sur le point", mais il y a beaucoup d'exemples sur l'internet.

(veuillez corriger mes fautes  )


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## Teafrog

My try: he was on the cusp of youth = il était à l'apogée de la jeunesse


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## Emmanue11e

How do you translate "cusp" in the astrological sense--when one is in between two zodiac signs?


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## Diamandis

This idea of "turning point" is well reflected in the french "apogée" too.


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## orlando09

I personally would take being "on the cusp" of something as being just starting to enter into it - so the cusp of youth might mean coming out of childhood/adolescence and becoming a young adult, perhaps age around 17 or something. I think this is how it is often used - though if in fact its origin relates to a high, or middle, point as some people suggested on this thread, then perhaps it is used erroneously


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## andy_westken

OED gives "cusp" as (along with a few geometrical meanings)
- the initial point of an astrological sign or house (which will also be the end of the previous sign)
- a point of transition between two different states (e.g. between childhood and adulthood_)_

I was born on the first day of Scorpio and was therefore born on the cusp between Libra and Scorpio. Not that I believe...


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