# La roue tourne



## Mash

Hello,

I have come across the French expression "la roue tourne", which seems to mean that things don't stay the same - you could have a bad day today, yet a great day tomorrow.

Is there an English saying that embodies this sentiment? I am tempted to say "what goes around comes around", but that's more to do with comeuppance, I would say. Alternatively I was thinking of the horribly cliché "life is like a box of chocolates..." which seems closer, but still not quite there.

Anyone got any better ideas for the translation? One thread suggested "the wheel of fortune goes round and round", but I have neither said that, nor heard it being said. 

Any help is appreciated. Thanks


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## Priyank

The one suggested is correct

the wheel of fortune goes round and round/turns around


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## yann_ccc

suggestion : "how things change!"


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## la grive solitaire

_What a difference a day makes_


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## Teafrog

Or simply "the wheel goes 'round"?


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## Zone

Quite simply "Things change."


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## JDOGWAG

"la roue tourne"

"As the way changes"

"for better or for worse"


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## Agent Literary

I'd "translate" it as _plus ça_/_ca change_, to be honest.


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## JDOGWAG

When is this "la roue tourne" used?

Another suggestion is "turn in events"


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## JDOGWAG

What ZONE said looks pretty close
"as the world turns"
"as the wheel turns"
Now you got the cogs in my brain turning


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## USMeg

Some days are better than others.  [Michelob ]


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## pmqs

how is plus ca change a translation of la roue tourne..!


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## david314

Priyank said:


> The one suggested is correct
> 
> *the wheel of fortune goes round and round/turns around *


  Chuck, I'd like to solve the puzzle: "*The wheel of fortune turns round* incessantly ..." -confucius


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## Argyll

Agent Literary said:


> I'd "translate" it as _plus ça__ change_, to be honest.



Funny, I've always heard that said to mean things don't in fact change - the more things change, the more they are the same.


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## Rouleau

I'd agree with Agent Literary: Plus ca change...


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## Argyll

Rouleau said:


> I'd agree with Agent Literary: Plus ca change...


I may have misunderstood the intentions of some English speakers when they have used French - but the spelling has to be *ç*a. Otherwise what should be pronounced /s/ is pronounced /k/.


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## david314

As I understand it, like Argyll, _plus ça change_ is a different, almost _antithetical notion_. I bring you: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=27516

Actually, we may have a philosophical problem here, and not one associated with translation.


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

Would "*one day up, the next down*" or something along these lines be acceptable ?


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## david314

Jean-Michel Carrère said:


> Would "*one day up, the next down*" or something along these lines be acceptable ?


 This would certainly be understood, but given the profoundity of our statement, it's somewhat common. 

-Upon further reflection, I believe that both of the ideas offered throughout this thread are merely _different sides of the same coin_. 

But, that's just my view.


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## pdmx

Hello all

Sorry to say, but it looks to me that no English translation fits exactly because I assume the meaning is not quite right.

Actually we often use this expression in a context of revenge :
somebody made many mistakes / was mean to many people / cheated regularly, and was never caught before, but now he just got caught and shall be punished for his deeds => _la roue tourne_
It's actually got to do with luck or justice finally coming to those who really deserve it, a kind of well-deserved moral justice


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

pdmx said:


> Hello all
> 
> Sorry to say, but it looks to me that no English translation fits exactly because I assume the meaning is not quite right.
> 
> Actually we often use this expression in a context of revenge :
> somebody made many mistakes / was mean to many people / cheated regularly, and was never caught before, but now he just got caught and shall be punished for his deeds => _la roue tourne_
> It's actually got to do with luck or justice finally coming to those who really deserve it, a kind of well-deserved moral justice


 
I beg to disagree with the above. In my view, the phrase is mostly used without there being any idea of revenge to mean, literally, that the wheel of fortune keeps turning round, as Confucius and david 314 pointed out.


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## Keith Bradford

Perhaps "What goes around comes around" might do.  

It means the play of natural justice by accident (or fate, or the Goddess, or whatever...) and it also retains the image of rotation present in the original French.


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## david314

Keith Bradford said:


> Perhaps "What goes around comes around" might do.


 Similar, but different, in my humble opinion (_kismet vs. karma_, perhaps ): http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=29269


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## jayon

Would "the world spins 'round" work?


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## wildan1

You might say 

_Every dog has his day_ (which says that sooner or later a person will have good fortune)

_What goes around comes around_ (someone is mean with others and sooner or later, he too will suffer)

_The worm turns_ (Shakespeare originally wrote this one: it's the opposite of the one above--somebody who is downtrodden suddenly is rescued or has good fortune)

But I'm not sure they exactly match _La roue tourne_


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## William Stein

pdmx said:


> Hello all
> 
> Sorry to say, but it looks to me that no English translation fits exactly because I assume the meaning is not quite right.
> 
> Actually we often use this expression in a context of revenge :
> somebody made many mistakes / was mean to many people / cheated regularly, and was never caught before, but now he just got caught and shall be punished for his deeds => _la roue tourne_
> It's actually got to do with luck or justice finally coming to those who really deserve it, a kind of well-deserved moral justice



The way you described it (bad karmic repercussions), people say "what goes around comes around", which is sort of new age version of "you reap what you sow" or "you shat in your bed, now lie in it"


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## frenchifried

Do you have more context, or is it just the locution by itself? Without context, I agree with pdmx as in  "wheels of justice". 

Or possibly . . . the tide will turn?


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## William Stein

frenchifried said:


> Do you have more context, or is it just the locution by itself? Without context, I agree with pdmx as in  "wheels of justice".
> 
> Or possibly . . . the tide will turn?



Well according to pdmx, It's actually got to do with luck or justice finally coming to those who really deserve it, a kind of well-deserved moral justice". 
If you accept that, then "la roue tourne" differs radically from Boethius' expression of "the wheel of fortune", which, on the contrary, means that even a saintly person like Boethius (according to his own point of view, of course) can land up in prison unjustly, because fortune is arbitrary and completely unfair (fickle fingers of fate, and all that) which is where he wrote 'The Consolation of Philosphy" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolation_of_Philosophy).


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## frenchifried

Which is why I asked for a little more context. I'm not sure that Mash was actually bringing Boethius into this . . .


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## William Stein

frenchifried said:


> Which is why I asked for a little more context. I'm not sure that Mash was actually bringing Boethius into this . . .



Well as far as the English translation is concerned, pdmx didn't say anything about "wheels of justice", he just said "Sorry to say, but it looks to me that no English translation fits exactly because I assume the meaning is not quite right," which doesn't help very much in getting a good translation. 

The best way to get context is just to google the expression.

According to this link, "la roue tourne" is precisely the idea of the wheel of fortune (http://www.expressio.fr/expressions/la-roue-tourne.php), which is the old idea of Boethius, so he brings himself into it. If you accept the idea of pdmx that it means you get what you deserve, then Keith Bradford's suggestion (I just noticed he suggested it first) "What goes around comes around" is best.


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## frenchifried

I bow to your higher judgement


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## PaulQ

Mash said:


> Hello,
> 
> I have come across the French expression "la roue tourne", which seems to mean that things don't stay the same - you could have a bad day today, yet a great day tomorrow.


"The fickle finger of fate." would work.


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