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Modelers Lounge => Time to relax => Topic started by: ondra on December 03, 2015, 11:30:15 PM

Title: Please help with translation
Post by: ondra on December 03, 2015, 11:30:15 PM

Hello everybody,

currently we are working on a series of articles about WWI (day-by-day chronicle), while preparing one of them I stumbled upon the following sentence:

"French carry trenches in the Vosges."

Could you please advise me, what "carry trenches" means? As I am not a native speaker, I have no idea and have never heard it before. Even dictionaries did not help.

Many thanks in advance!

Cheers

Ondra

Title: Re: Please help with translation
Post by: Nigel Jackson on December 04, 2015, 02:11:04 AM

Hello Ondra,

The verb 'to carry' in English can mean 'to capture' or 'to take' (in a military sense). Does that help in this context? If you would lke me to try and explain in French, let me know.

Hope  this helps.

Best wishes
Nigel

Title: Re: Please help with translation
Post by: Thumbs up on December 04, 2015, 02:35:47 AM

I googled it and it seems that it means,though not sure, that it is where the French were able to build trenches

Title: Re: Please help with translation
Post by: macsporran on December 04, 2015, 02:38:21 AM

As Nigel says, it means they won the trenches.
Probably most commonly used in the idiomatic phrase "to carry the day", meaning to win the day.
S

Title: Re: Please help with translation
Post by: ondra on December 05, 2015, 12:39:02 AM

Many thanks to you all for your help, looking at the context it really will mean 'to capture trenches'. The text refers to the battle of Hartmannsweilerkopf in Vosges in 1915, where the trenches were changing owners day by day, therefore it was really difficult to judge what it would mean (to capture trenches or to retreat from trenches...).

Once again thank you!

Cheers.

Ondra

Title: Re: Please help with translation
Post by: Nigel Jackson on December 05, 2015, 01:32:30 AM

Glad to have helped, Ondra.

Best wishes
Nigel