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"pour mention"

Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

biquoque > bicoque

English translation:

shack, hut

Added to glossary by Tony M
Mar 15, 2012 01:00
12 yrs ago
French term

biquoques

French to English Art/Literary Religion
This is from a sermon given in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This section is discussing the inhumane conditions the people live in. Here is the sentence:

A quoi servirait un ministre qui vit dans une belle villa quand autour de lui il n’y a que des biquoques ?

I haven't come across this word before, and I'm not finding it anywhere. It seems like it has the meaning of "ghettos" or maybe "hovels" or something along those lines based on the context, but I wanted to be sure and I'm interested.

Thanks!
Proposed translations (English)
3 +7 shack, hut, lowly house
3 +1 Ghettos
3 +1 shanties
3 -1 The hood worn by widows
Change log

Mar 17, 2012 18:08: Tony M changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/1468855">Dareth Pray's</a> old entry - "biquoque"" to ""shack, hut""

Discussion

Dareth Pray (asker) Mar 15, 2012:
Thanks everyone! Glad to know my guess was on the right track in terms of meaning. There's a lot of great suggestions here, thanks!
Pascale van Kempen-Herlant Mar 15, 2012:
Bicoque [Familier] [Péjoratif] Maison mal entretenue, mal construite. Une vieille bicoque. Une bicoque branlante, délabrée.

Note: guettos is too strong, in my opinion
Sone-Ngole Alvin Ngole Mar 15, 2012:
I think Ghettos is right, just need to get a term Just need to get a term that fits the readers taste
Dareth Pray (asker) Mar 15, 2012:
That is possible. I wasn't thinking about a typo. It doesn't really fit 100% with the context because he hasn't been talking about widows or death of the people or anything like that. He's been focusing on poverty, not war or sickness. In fact, he's been talking specifically about property and sharing resources.
DLyons Mar 15, 2012:
Might it be "biquoquets" i.e. many widows?

Proposed translations

+7
4 hrs
French term (edited): biquoque > bicoque
Selected

shack, hut, lowly house

I feel pretty sure this has to be a typo (or variant spelling?) for 'bicoque', a rather dismissive word used for a house!

So perhaps you have 'a collection of huts', or 'a shanty town'?
Peer comment(s):
agree Letredenoblesse : shacks
1 hr
Thanks, Agnes!
agree Laurette Tassin : shacks
2 hrs
Merci, Laurette !
agree piazza d : shacks
3 hrs
Thanks, Piazza!
agree mimi 254
3 hrs
Merci, Mimi !
agree liz askew
5 hrs
Thanks, Liz!
agree Christopher Crockett : "shanty towns" is o.k. Definitely not "ghetto" (which, btw, is not "American" in origin but quite European --Italian, i believe-- and does not apply here.) "Favelas" if it were a question of Brazil.
7 hrs
Thanks, Chris! I agree, 'ghetto' has a different connotation again.
agree AllegroTrans : shacks
17 hrs
Thanks, C!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks so much Tony! Mystery solved!"
+1
1 hr

Ghettos

A similar term here in Cameroon is "Elobies", a French word. The closest corresponding English word I know is ghettos, but it might not be the best word that soots an African context. Ghetto sounds more of American, though it is somehow used over here.

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Note added at 1 hr (2012-03-15 02:06:35 GMT)
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Seems Biquoque is a kind of house, of the lowest standard one can imagine.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2012-03-15 02:13:16 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I propose Huts.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2012-03-15 02:16:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Hut can be used pejoratively to qualify a house of very poor standard

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2012-03-15 02:31:42 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Go in for Hovels. It fits your context perfectly.
Ghettos characterises the whole community, whereas hovel or hut characterises the nature of the houses. A place can be a ghetto without having hovels (in the strict sense of the term)

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Note added at 1 hr (2012-03-15 02:54:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The word Biquoque seems to be same with the word Bicoque meaning "petite maison délabrée and has as synonyms Baraque, cabane, ...
Your translation HOVEL corresponds perfectly.
http://www.linternaute.com/dictionnaire/fr/definition/bicoqu...
Peer comment(s):
agree fionn : Must be bicoques as per your reference. I would go for 'shacks', hovels sounds a bit 19th century to me!
2 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
5 hrs
French term (edited): bicoques

shanties

as in "shanty town"
hovels

When around him the people live in squalour
Peer comment(s):
agree BrigitteHilgner : "live in squalour" looks like the appropriate expression to me.
4 mins
Something went wrong...
-1
13 hrs

The hood worn by widows

The hood worn by widows, a biquoquet,
Reference:

http://www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com/where-did-the-phrase-widows-peak-for-a-receding-hairline-originate-and-what-does-it-mean

Peer comment(s):
disagree AllegroTrans : not in the context of the asker's text -- read it
7 hrs
Agree. I tried to delete this answer but the browser wouldn't update the page!
Something went wrong...
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