# une défense nucléaire tous azimuts



## Rochefort

Hi,

The French expression "tous azimuts" is very nice, but really hard to translate... Besides, it seems to be a specific military concept...
Does this look correct ?

Il promeut une défense nucléaire française "tous azimuts"
He promotes an all-out French nuclear defense

Thanks a lot !!!

Rochefort

*Moderator note*: multiple threads merged to create this one.  This thread discusses meaning and translation.  
See also: tous azimuts (prononciation)


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## hibouette

tous azimuts = in every directions, to anyone who hears it

Je le traduirais par "everywhere"


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## Kenneth Garland

"All-round defence".   I remember when De Gaulle first devised the "défence tous azimuts" policy, and it was always translated as "all-round defence"


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## clairet

I've seen this phrase quite often(and the meaning is usually clear from the context, but now I'd like to nail it down. 

The Quebec dictionary says "all sky", which doesn't mean much in most contexts.  I think its most common meaning is something like "in all directions".  Is that right?

The context that provoked this question was the Le Monde RSS feed (which I can't find in the online paper itself) about Hugo Chavez proposing constitutional change "tous azimuts".


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## kanoe

it's a boating term used as 


> "in all directions"


in this case : changes in many aspects/parts of their constitution


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## stephiiie

It depends of the context but i think "in all directions" is a good traduction for this case


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## kanoe

(FYI :*Azimut* - Angle compté positivement vers l'ouest à partir du sud le long de l'horizon jusqu'au pied du cercle vertical de l'astre.)


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## CricriZeBest

Hello all.

tous azimuts is quite familiar language.
It means From every directions but in big disorder.

Example:
- j'ai posé une question, les réponses sont venues tous azimuts.
- I asked a question, the answers came from everywhere but in disorder and not really the way I wanted to get them. 

CricriZeBest

_Si je fais des erreurs, excusez moi d'avance, je veux simplement aider.
If I make mistakes, please forgive me, I just Wanna help.
_


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## clairet

kanoe said:


> FWY :*Azimut* - Angle compté positivement vers l'ouest à partir du sud le long de l'horizon jusqu'au pied du cercle vertical de l'astre.


 
Oui, j'ai trouvé les définitions techniques mais ce qui m'intéresse est l'usage idiomatique/métaphorique.

[...]

Perhaps "all over the place" conveys this sense, e.g. Hugo Chavez's proposals for constitutional change are all over the place.  However, that sounds more negative to me than I think the journalist intended.  Unfortunately I can't reproduce the RSS feed title, which has gone, and the phrase isn't in the paper's actual article.


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## david314

kanoe said:


> (FYI :*Azimut* - Angle compté positivement vers l'ouest à partir du sud le long de l'horizon jusqu'au pied du cercle vertical de l'astre.)


 In America, I've only heard *azimuth* used in the expression, *to shoot an azimuth* (ie., to take a heading for a compass).

**tous azimuts / all out, total*

***Merriam-Webster


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## EcoLinguae

Has anyone any idea how you would say "effectuer des tests tous azimuths" in English? This means that you will be performing general tests in the different applications of a platform, or the different modules of an applications. Thanks.


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## tilt

Salut, et bienvenue sur les forums WR.

_Tous azimuts _(sans _h_) me semble assez familier dans un tel contexte.
Je dirais plus volontiers _effectuer des tests exhaustifs_, ce qui m'amène à proposer la traduction _exhautive/thorough tests_.


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## Conchita57

The artillery expression 'tous azimuts', has the sense of 'in all directions', so perhaps it could be translated as 'in all applications' in your context.  Not quite sure, though.


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## EcoLinguae

I thought of "all-round tests". What do you think? What exactly does that involve, Conchita57? Thanks



Conchita57 said:


> The artillery expression 'tous azimuts', has the sense of 'in all directions', so perhaps it could be translated as 'in all applications' in your context. Not quite sure, though.


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## EcoLinguae

Précision: il s'agit en réalité de tests non dirigés vers un aspect bien précis mais effectués un peu partout, ici et là de façon globale plutôt que systématiquement et de fond en comble.


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## Conchita57

EcoLinguae said:


> I thought of "all-round tests". What do you think? What exactly does that involve, Conchita57? Thanks



'All-round tests' might work in that it suggests a wide range of tests.  But I'd wait for another opinion.


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## Noon

It's pronounced "ah-zee-mutt" ([azimyt] in IPA).


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## viera

_dans tous les azimuts / all over the place_

The expression *tous azimuts* is used as is, without any preposition or any article. There are actually several previous threads (under the French word azimuts).


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## clairet

The TLFi entry is well worth reading: http://atilf.atilf.fr/dendien/scripts/tlfiv5/visusel.exe?31;s=3308944260;r=2;nat=;sol=1;

Besides "in all directions", it mentions (my translation) "in a wide variety of fields", "in a wide variety of categories".  Literally, "in all fields" and "in all categories" but if you read the examples you'll see that "a wide variety of" conveys the English sense of the phrase.


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## viera

I have never seen the expression 'tous les azimuts', nor does the TLFi have any occurrences of it.


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## david314

> Il promet une défense nucléaire française "*tous azimuts*"
> He promotes an *all-out* French nuclear defense


 ... It's a bit irregular, but I think that it's acceptable.  We usually speak in terms of *all-out offensives. *

  Recoucou, viera. *dans tous les azimuts / all over the place *-according to Merriam-Webster's F.E. Maybe it's a bad entry, I sure can't say.

To me, this phrase evokes the slang expression:* to run & gun -* however, there _may be_ a slight difference, as this refers to_ indiscriminate firing, wildly, all over the place, in every direction. _


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## wildan1

_All-out_ brings _war_ to mind, but I know that _tous azimuts_ has been expanded from its original military context to be quite frequent in general  French conversation.

How about _*comprehensive*_ or _*cross-cutting*_? Of course, depending on the specific context.


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## mgarizona

Came across this:

C'est la période où, dans ses _Hymnes_, il [Ronsard] sollicitait des patronages *dans tous* *les azimuths*

So perhaps, "far and wide"?

ALSO: For CDG, I would suggest "an all-fronts defense" seems the clearest option.


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## wildan1

mgarizona said:


> Came across this:
> 
> C'est la période où, dans ses _Hymnes_, il [Ronsard] sollicitait des patronages *dans tous* *les azimuths*
> 
> So perhaps, "far and wide"?


 
or _high and low_

or more casually: _all over the place_ or _right and left_ (AE)/_right, left and center_ (BE)


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## david314

mgarizona said:


> Came across this:
> 
> C'est la période où, dans ses _Hymnes_, il [Ronsard] sollicitait des patronages *dans tous* *les azimuths*
> 
> So perhaps, "*far and wide*"?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ALSO: For CDG, I would suggest "*an all-fronts defense*" seems the clearest option.
Click to expand...

 I agree -in fact, I amended my post in anticipation of the concern expressed by wildan1 & yourself.  Really, _an all out defensive_ sounds a bit odd -but, I can't say that it's wrong.


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## lightfeather

Salut! Est-ce que quelqu'un porrait me dire comment traduire le mot "azimut" dans le context "grace à des expérimentations tous azimuts"
Merci


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## wildan1

_far-reaching_ or _in-depth experimentation_


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## arjuncasa

Bonjour, le contexte est le suivant:
le nouveau cheval de bataille pour les entreprises aujourd'hui n'est pas seulement l'innovation technologique, mais l'innovation tous azimuts, dans les process, les produits, les business models et les modes de management.
Merci de votre aide
Arjun


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## hawaiinlondon

Innovation in all directions


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## broglet

innovation in every respect/way/dimension/aspect


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## arjuncasa

thank you, "innovation in every respect" sounds very good


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## sabrinafjm

I'm resurrecting this thread, as none of the existing suggestions seem to quite fit:

Source: Une des clés de la réussite dans les années à venir passe par le développement de coopérations *tous azimuts*. 

My attempt: One of the keys to success in the years to come will be the result of an *across-the-board* increase in cooperation. 


Does this work?  Any alternative suggestions?


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## clairet

I read it as "..will be through the development of cooperative arrangements in a wide range of fields" but that uses a previous suggestion.  If "tous azimuts" qualified "développement", as you suggest, wouldn't it appear immediately after that word rather than at the end of the sentence?


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## mgarizona

sabrinafjm said:


> I'm resurrecting this thread, as none of the existing suggestions seem to quite fit:
> 
> Source: Une des clés de la réussite dans les années à venir passe par le développement de coopérations *tous azimuts*.
> 
> My attempt: One of the keys to success in the years to come will be the result of an *across-the-board* increase in cooperation.
> 
> 
> Does this work?  Any alternative suggestions?



I think "across the board" is a fine suggestion here. There is of course a large difference between 'developing' something and 'increasing' it. Why not "developing cooperation across the board" or "across-the-board cooperative development"?


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## sabrinafjm

Thanks to you both, mgarizona and clairet - and you're right, it clearly does modify cooperation rather than development.  Thanks for catching that!

I've gone for _"developing cooperation across the board"._


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## choubi

Bonjour,

je cherche à traduire vers l'anglais l'expression "tous azimut" en rapport avec le développement d'une discipline, mais sans perdre le sentiment d'évolution/développement désordonné, rapide, incohérent.

I am trying to find an English equivalent to the expression "tous azimut" to describe the evolution of a particular field of study, without however loosing the feeling of messy, rapid and incoherent development.

Merci! 

"le développement tous azimut du domaine de la sécurité énergétique"


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## WillHelpIfICan

frenzied / frenetic development / boom
the *rampant *development / explosion of..


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## 1133Lodi

L'immense majorité des catholiques ne se reconnaît pas dans la tonalité de ces attaques tous azimuts et frontales.


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## Itisi

all-out, head-on attacks


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## OLN

1133Lodi said:


> Hard for me to understand how they got from there to meaning in all directions.


"tous azimuts" is short for "dans tous les azimuts".

An azimuth (used in navigation) is roughly an angle measured in the celestial sphere (3D), from a reference plane (the earth surface). If you project the angle on a map, you obtain a "direction" like the one shown on a simple compass.

I understand that some attacks are launched "in all directions" (indiscriminately) and some "frontally" (they're directed at the target).


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## ailbheol

Hi everyone, I recently had to translate the phrase "tous azimuts" in a context in which it was meant in the negative sense of doing something in a hurried, random and disordered way. After some thought I came up with "pell-mell", which also comes from French and conveys the sense of chaos this phrase can be used to imply.


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## Kelly B

That's interesting. Would you mind sharing the sentence? (though your description is fairly clear).


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## ailbheol

Sure, here's the original sentence (in the context of an academic work on legal pluralism):

"En visant tous ces textes, la Cour de cassation assume pleinement son contrôle de l’absence de violation de la loi, toutes lois nationales internationales ou européennes confondues. Pour une analyse critique de la pratique judiciaire (en matière sociale) consistant à se référer tous azimuts aux sources internationales et européennes, voir..."

And my translation:

"... to refer pell-mell to international and European sources, see..."


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## clairet

For an equivalent to "pell-mell", I prefer "haphazardly" as being more commonly used.  For something which might have more of the nuances of "tous azimuts", I suggest "all over the place".


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## yuechu

Merci, EmmanuelM !


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