'Le riz et les haricots ont nettement décliné au profit des hamburgers.' It's about the situation in Brazil. Does it mean that rice and beans have declined due to hamburger profits? Or that rice and beans have declined along with hamburgers? I don't get it. Please no online translations.
2006-12-23 04:37:00 · 12 answers · asked by Jaze 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
"Rice and beans have undergone a sharp decline from which hamburgers have gained the advantage." What it means is that the traditional food of rice and beans is being shunned by people nowadays, as they prefer to eat hamburgers.
One can only lament this situation!
2006-12-23 06:00:24 · answer #1 · answered by Doethineb 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
In this particular sentence, you cannot take the word profit on its own. The full expression "au profit de" means literally '' for the benefit of".
Basically, the meaning here is that the consumption of rice and beans has decreased because people eat more and more hamburgers.
2006-12-23 19:31:43 · answer #2 · answered by Jess 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Don't pay attention to them, the expression "au profit de" does not have an economical sense, it means that hamburgers have gained pace in consumption relative to rice and beans, that is, that people, now, consume more hamburgers that rice and beans. Knowing French people, I am sure that the text you are reading is an antiglobalization text, isn't it?
I am Spanish and in Spanish that expresion (au profit de) has exactly the same meaning.
2006-12-23 14:42:13 · answer #3 · answered by up-down-up-down-up-down-up... 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
'Au profit de' does not mean 'profits' as in business. It would be better translated by 'to the benefit of' or 'in favour of', meaning that the popularity of hamburgers has caused a marked decrease in rice & beans. (i.e. people favour hamburgers over rice & beans).
2006-12-24 14:57:48 · answer #4 · answered by jammycaketin 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ok, with my Pre GCSE standard French and the help of a good online dictionary, I would translate the sentence as saying:
Rice and beans have noticeably declined with the profit of hamburgers. i.e. Yes, the sentence does mean that the sales of rice and beans have declined due to hamburger profits.
Hope this helps!
2006-12-23 12:45:18 · answer #5 · answered by ice.mario 3 · 2⤊ 3⤋
It means people prefers eat hamburgers and not rice and beans (local food). I hope it's clear!
2006-12-26 04:48:34 · answer #6 · answered by Mastotee 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is a phrase in French that basically means economic news can be spun to sound bad, even in times of prosperity.
It means that rice and beans have declined due to hamburger profits...in other words..more people can afford to eat hamburger, so they choose the meat over rice and beans. So even though sales of rice and beans are suffering, overall, the people are happier, since they can now eat meat.
However, the vice president of the Latin-American Federation recently used this phrase to describe the obesity problem in Latin America today. Here is the translation from the french newspaper:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.mre.gov.br/portugues/noticiario/internacional/selecao_detalhe.asp%3FID_RESENHA%3D145959%26Imprime%3Don&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DLe%2Briz%2Bet%2Bles%2Bharicots%2Bont%2Bnettement%2Bd%25C3%25A9clin%25C3%25A9%2Bau%2Bprofit%2Bdes%2Bhamburgers%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG
2006-12-23 12:42:13 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 2⤋
It means people prefer to eat hamburgers rather than rice and beans. We French like to use florished language...
2006-12-23 13:03:17 · answer #8 · answered by Nini 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Sounds like someone bemoaning the popularity of junkfood.
2006-12-23 12:48:16 · answer #9 · answered by ~☆ Petit ♥ Chou ☆~ 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
ask a poor relative in the African world,they don't know about burgers,for many rice is the only food they have.
2006-12-23 15:18:42 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋