Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

être sous les feux croisés

English translation:

to be caught in the crossfire

Added to glossary by pooja_chic
    The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2010-08-11 10:54:10 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
Aug 7, 2010 19:58
13 yrs ago
5 viewers *
French term

être sous les feux croisés

French to English Bus/Financial General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters colloquial expression
tu vas être sous les feux croisés au début de la journée, avant que la lettre explicative ne soit redraftee
Change log

Aug 8, 2010 07:50: writeaway changed "Field (specific)" from "Real Estate" to "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters" , "Field (write-in)" from "(none)" to "colloquial expression"

Aug 11, 2010 12:16: pooja_chic changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/0">'s</a> old entry - " être sous les feux croisés "" to ""to be caught in the crossfire""

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): writeaway

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Discussion

pooja_chic (asker) Aug 8, 2010:
it is an e-mail where one person is talking to other concerned
Aude Sylvain Aug 8, 2010:
thanks, it helps! could it mean sous les feux croisés de JLD et de S., then? i.e. both JLD and S. will challenge the draft/put pressure on you so you amend the draft? - Is "tu" the author of the draft? (nb. I'd rather withdraw the name "S..." if I were in yr shoes, this is probably confidential, no?)
pooja_chic (asker) Aug 8, 2010:
l réconnait que le draft ne reproduit pas la réalité de l'accord donné a JLB, mais doit avoir du mal avec Seheon.tu vas être sous les feux croises au début de la journée, avant que la lettre explicative ne soit redraftee.Sl elle l'est.
Aude Sylvain Aug 8, 2010:
missing words? sous les feux croisés of whom/what? The sentence should be "sous les feux croisés de _______, avant que la lettre...". IN any case, and particularly if the sentence actually is the one you gave, some context would help.

Proposed translations

+3
1 hr
Selected

to be caught in the crossfire

some more context is really needed to be certain
Peer comment(s):

agree Chris Hall
1 min
agree imatahan
45 mins
agree AllegroTrans
2 hrs
neutral writeaway : it's what's in the dictionaries but imo only works if the person is caught in the middle of the probs. and not the person who has to do the drafting. not enough context provided.
11 hrs
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks"
+2
26 mins

be in front line of fire

in the firing line

less literally: to be in the hot seat/to come under fire/to be on hot coals
Peer comment(s):

agree Travelin Ann : or "under the gun"
57 mins
agree Sheila Wilson : I'd translate this as "in the line of fire" personally
1 hr
opps - me too
neutral writeaway : maybe under the gun is a USAism but it fits. Under fire works too. imo this fits the context where all the shots are 'aimed' at someone, putting them under a lot of pressure. can't really give an agree because the actual context is missing
12 hrs
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Reference comments

3 hrs
Reference:

caught in crossfire

Les survivants d'el-Qaïda
ETATS-UNIS - 11 décembre 2001 - par CHERIF OUAZANI
http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:l6 … &gl=fr

En trois mois de guerre, les pertes des talibans sont estimées à plus de deux mille morts. Que sont devenus les volontaires arabes ?

Des milliers de jeunes Arabes ont répondu à l'appel des sirènes d'el-Qaïda depuis sa création, en 1989. Baptisés Afghans arabes de deuxième génération (la première étant constituée par les vétérans de la guerre contre l'Union soviétique), les hommes d'Oussama Ben Laden se sont retrouvés ou sont encore sous les feux croisés des bombes américaines, des BM21 russes de l'Alliance du Nord et des canons 120 millimètres des hommes de Hamid Karzaï, le seigneur de guerre pachtoune antitaliban et chef annoncé du gouvernement de transition à Kaboul. Combien sont-ils ? Combien ont survécu à la bataille de Mazar-i Sharif ? Combien ont échappé au massacre de la prison de Qalae-Jangi ? Difficile à dire. Mais on connaît les différentes nationalités qui composent cet ensemble hétéroclite dont beaucoup de membres sont promis à une mort certaine.
L
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