# I'm making breakfast for dinner



## polyglotwannabe

I am watching a movie with subtitles in French. The name of the movie is 'Open House'.
There is this part at the beginning where the mother tells the son . 'Go take a shower, *'I'm making breakfast for dinner'.* and that is meant to be sort of a joke because she was going to fry eggs for dinner. They were going thru financial hard times.
The subtitles puts it as ' *Je te prepare des oeufs'.*
I know the translation is not good, but I wonder how you'd put this idea in french. What the mother said to him, conveying the idea that what he was about to eat was more like a breakfast than a dinner because of the fried eggs.
Thanks in advance!.
poly.


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## Oddmania

Hi,

Fried eggs aren't really part of the traditional French breakfast. We usually have eggs (fried or scrambled, or soft-boiled) for lunch or dinner, served with something else. A French person would typically not associate eggs with breakfast, so there's no reason for the mother to allude to breakfast in the European French version of the film. I suppose it would make sense in the French Canadian version, though (something along the lines of "Je prépare le déjeuner pour le souper").

If you want to joke about having a very poor and meagre meal, you could say "Je prépare des clopinettes enrobées pour le repas". _Des clopinettes_ means nothing (or next to nothing), but "enrobées" makes it sound like a real recipe, so it's a humorous way to get the idea across


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## polyglotwannabe

Thanks, buddy. Yes, that would be a proper translation.
*'Je prépare le déjeuner pour le souper', *_meaning, this is rather  breakfast and not really supper what you'd be having..._
_Let me add this oddmania. The audio is in English. I am reading the translation, the subtitles._


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## guillaumedemanzac

English breakfast or Brunch   --- taken at *any time* of the day is a healthy "snack" meal - eggs, bacon, beans, sausage, toast.  You could say "Je te ferais un English breakfast ce soir".


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## tartopom

Or ' Je ( te ) fais un ptit dèj pour le souper / le dîner". Then of course you lose the idea of the eggs !!


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## snarkhunter

Oddmania said:


> you could say "Je prépare des clopinettes enrobées pour le repas". _Des clopinettes_ means nothing (or next to nothing)


... then I would even suggest "des clopinettes _panées_" (... ie. _pas nées_ !) in this case!


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## hersko1

A litteral translation works fine here: Je prépare un petit-déjeuner pour le dîner.


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## Kecha

If the eggs are not seen on screen, I'd go for "On mange des céréales pour le dîner", which conveys the idea of having breakfast food at diner for financial reasons (I did it as a student).
If they are, maybe: "On n'a qu'une petite omelette pour ...", "On a juste des oeufs pour ..."


guillaumedemanzac said:


> English breakfast or Brunch   --- taken at *any time* of the day is a healthy "snack" meal - eggs, bacon, beans, sausage, toast.  You could say "Je te ferais un English breakfast ce soir".


English breakfast or Brunch suggests bacon, ham, etc. and the context is that they're having eggs for diner because they are poor. I don't think this would convey the idea at all.


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## guillaumedemanzac

OK agreed, it's not poor!  - *nb dîner is to dine but the dinner is the meal.*


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## polyglotwannabe

Thanks to all of you for all the insight.
It's clear to me now that I have to be careful and take the subs on Netflix with a grain of salt. But they are good practice, anyways. Of course, I am lucky to have you!.

[...]


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## Kajeetah

I adapted this movie for the French DUBBED version. I chose to write "Je vais faire des crêpes pour le dîner"
I didn't go with "je prépare un petit déjeuner pour le dîner", first because that was too long (as regards the lipsynch), second because it wouldn't have been a natural thng to say in everyday dialogue.
I chose the most direct way to express that they would have something sweet for dinner, not a "real" meal.

Edit: I remember now I chose "crêpes" also because she sends her husband to buy eggs and milk. And I realize I missed the "cheap" aspect of that dinner. I focused on "breakfast", which in France is mostly sweet. But maybe I should have written "je fais des oeufs brouillés pour le dîner"


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## polyglotwannabe

Thanks for writing, kajeetah. Very interesting.


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## Kajeetah

I added something to my "edit" in the meantime...


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## polyglotwannabe

Yes, now you got it. The sentence is ' _I'm making breakfast for dinner'_. The mother wanted to imply that the dinner was going to be meager, not a real dinner. You know because you dub the film, ( very interesting work, by the way), that they were having money problems. The guy was not really what you'd call a 'provider'. And, as if things were not really bad  enough, some of the eggs fell and the guy had to go out to buy some.
Thanks for your reply to my post, and for your dubbing. Interesting!.
PS: I know it is difficult to translate ideas or nuances, _but however it may be rendered,_ the thing I was driving at was, how to convey that hue of what I'm really making here is an apology for dinner 'cos' we are so piss-poor fried eggs is all we can afford, and still make sense to a native speaker of french.


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## Kajeetah

I'd say that in French the best way to convey there's no money to have a proper meal would be "Ce soir on mange des restes" (leftovers) ou "des pâtes" but of course here it wouldn't have made sense.


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## Kecha

I find "crêpes" a good idea actually... It's cheap to make dozens of them, and you feel stuffed fairly quickly, so it is also a good way to fill you up on a low budget.


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## Kajeetah

Cool! . Clairement, oeufs brouillés ou crêpes, ça reviendra toujours moins cher qu'un boeuf bourguignon!


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## tartopom

What about ' French toast / eggy bread" ?
OOOooooooppps sorry, I forgot you're looking for a word in French !!! "du pain perdu. "


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## Nicomon

As read googling *:*_ Ce soir, on mange des œufs *barbouillés*. » (Marco, 5 ans).  _

More seriously:_ Ce soir, on mange une petite omelette  (_je prononcerais : _p'titt omlètt)_
or like Kajeetah wrote _: Je fais des œufs brouillés pour le dîner/souper. _


Oddmania said:


> I suppose it would make sense in the French Canadian version).


 It definitely would make sense, although we don't always eat eggs for breakfast, especially not in the early morning.  Before 10am, I prefer sweet, too.

For a near literal translation I would say (I assume the mother eats, too) : _Je nous fais *un* déjeuner pour (le) souper._
Which is basically what tartopom wrote (post 5) except that I say _déjeuner, dîner, souper_ rather than _petit dèj, déjeuner, diner. _

I wouldn't automatically associate crepes (or pasta, for that matter) with "no money to have a proper meal", though. 
We actually had crêpes with strawberries and Quebec maple syrup for dinner tonight... just because we didn't feel like eating (or cooking) a full course meal.


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## JClaudeK

Kecha said:


> the context is that they're having eggs for diner because they are poor.


Pour exprimer qu'il s'agit d'un repas léger (et pas cher), on pourrait dire "Je nous prépare un petit casse-croûte pour ce soir."


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## archijacq

un p'tit dèj dînatoire ?


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## PaulQ

hersko1 said:


> A literal translation works fine here: Je prépare un petit-déjeuner pour le dîner.



The actual nature of the meal(s) is irrelevant - a meal more usual at one particular time of day is being prepared at another.


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## JClaudeK

PaulQ said:


> The actual nature of the meal(s) is irrelevant - a meal more usual at one particular time of day is being prepared at another.


 I don't agree with  both of you. _"Je prépare un petit-déjeuner pour le dîner."_ could mean that the mother just wants to add a touch of whimsy to daily routine. It does't convey the idea that  there's no money to prepare a proper meal.


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## plantin

When I was a child, we often ate a "breakfast for dinner". It was a traditional french breakfast (coffee, chocolate, bread, butter, jam) with additionnal dishes, like cheese, cold meats (but no eggs). My mother announced: "On mange à la belge ce soir !" and everybody applauded, we liked it so much. 
Did belgian people really eat in this way for dinner ? I never knew it.


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## Nicomon

PaulQ said:


> The actual nature of the meal(s) is irrelevant - a meal more usual at one particular time of day is being prepared at another.


 I agree. But for a literal translation, I'd rather say « _Je nous fais_ _un ... _» which I find more natural  than « _Je prépare_ _un ..._».
But I can understand that the line would be adapted for French viewers if a near literal French version is too long, lypsynch wise.


JClaudeK said:


> It does't convey the idea that  there's no money to prepare a proper meal.


 The English sentence, out of context,  doesn't convey that idea either. It conveys what PaulQ wrote. What's a "proper meal" anyway?
They are poor in the movie but anybody, poor, rich or middle class, can choose to make breakfast for dinner/eat eggs at dinner time if they feel like it.

Why would you want to change « _œufs brouillés_ /_crêpes_ » - which are not expensive and work fine for an adapt - to _« petit casse-croute »? _
I'm sure many Americans prepare little snacks to eat during Super Bowl, for instance. That wouldn't be..._ breakfast for lunch.  _


archijacq said:


> un p'tit dèj dînatoire ?


  J'aime ça.


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## Soleil_Couchant

I find this thread really interesting, especially Kajeetah's commentary as someone who dubbed it and chose "sweetness" as the hallmark of breakfast while possibly missing on the "since we don't have a lot of money" aspect. Enlightening, as far as how things get lost between languages in translations for books and movies (happens all the time, naturally). While, yes, sometimes "breakfast for dinner!" is fun whimsy....dinners (in the US anyway) are usually the biggest, most "filling" meal, so only having a breakfast for dinner might not be considered sufficient. So it works for the idea of not having a lot of money. (You know, instead of some full steak and potato dinner, they're having fried eggs, which are cheap). I'd have to see the movie myself to really gauge the context myself...but here I'm taking polygot's word on it...  (and yes it does seem tricky to find an equivalent way to translate it if they show her making eggs, since Oddmania said eggs aren't breakfast food in France...)


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## Nicomon

Soleil_Couchant said:


> (You know, instead of some full steak and potato dinner, they're having fried eggs, which are cheap)


 I got that, S-C, and I read and understood poly's explanation.

I'm just saying that out of context the sentence by itself doesn't convey the idea that you can't afford bying anything other than eggs.
Mind you, potatoes, rice and/or pasta are pretty cheap too, if you skip the meat. 

There are lots of evenings when I'm not hungry or don't feel like cooking or eating a full course meal. In which case an omelet will do just fine.


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## Geordie_Wilber

guillaumedemanzac said:


> *nb dîner is to dine but the dinner is the meal.*



As alluded to by @guillaumedemanzac, don't forget that to many anglophones, "dinner" is actually eaten around midday - "lunch" is not as universally used as many would have you believe... ça se peut bien qu'ici on parle du repas de midi.

In many British regions, the three "square" meals are breakfast, dinner and tea. Supper may be taken if resources permit...The idea of "breakfast/lunch/afternoon tea/dinner" is more for the middle- and upper-classes, although these distinctions blur over time...

As an example, the (mostly women) staff in British (certainly English/Welsh, possibly not Scots/Irish - I don't know) state schools with responsibility for dishing out meals in the school _dining room_ were/are known as the "School Dinner Ladies". The dining rooms of English public schools would be for evening meals and British universitues and colleges tend to have a "refectory" for lunchtime.

I have no idea if this might he the case here, although I suspect it is, as I do not know this film at all, and no reference has been made earlier in the thread as to the family location/class.


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## Kajeetah

Geordie_Wilber said:


> no reference has been made earlier in the thread as to the family location/class.



California, middle class.


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## Geordie_Wilber

Kajeetah said:


> California, middle class.



Thank you. Much more likely to be the evening meal then.


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## Kajeetah

I just checked, the sun is setting during this scene.


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## Soleil_Couchant

Yeah, in America, dinner is always in  the evening (normally around 5 p.m. (17h00) or later). We have breakfast (morning), lunch (midday), and dinner (evening).


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## Nicomon

As read googling : 





> In parts of the US, _supper_ and _dinner_ are used interchangeably to refer to the evening meal, but elsewhere _dinner_ is the midday meal, akin to lunch, and _supper_, the evening meal.  Source


 In Canada, we say in French_ lunch _or _diner_ for midday meal and _souper_ for _dinner_/_supper._
But in the expression  _Breakfast for dinner_ I understand evening meal/supper. Breakfast for lunch/at lunch time would be akin to... _brunch_.

I found this survey - I highlighted the one I would have chosen : 





> * What is the distinction between dinner and supper? *
> a. supper is an evening meal while dinner is eaten earlier (lunch, for example)  (7.79%)
> b. supper is an evening meal, dinner is the main meal  (7.76%)
> c. dinner takes place in a more formal setting than supper  (12.12%)
> *d. there is no distinction; they both have the same meaning  (34.56%)*
> e. I do not use the term supper  (33.14%)
> f. I don't use the term dinner  (0.82%)
> g. other (3.83%)
> (10661 respondents)


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## Kecha

Nicomon said:


> I wouldn't automatically associate crepes (or pasta, for that matter) with "no money to have a proper meal", though.
> We actually had crêpes with strawberries and Quebec maple syrup for dinner tonight... just because we didn't feel like eating (or cooking) a full course meal.


Well, yeah, anyone can have _crêpes _for fun, or pasta without being poor, the difference is that they will do it _occasionally_, and someone on a budget will go for cheaper toppings/sauces ...


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