Michael GREEN Jan 14, 2012:

I'm sure it was, Nikki! I retired some time ago (yes, really - I am well past your five decades), and no longer take anything seriously.
But (before the Proz Police do indeed zap this discussion into outer space), I have to say that I continue to be disappointed that you have not yet accepted my offer of typing lessons .... or any other offer, apparently!
;o)
PS Belated new year greetings - bon vent, good health, and lots of jobs...

Nikki Scott-Despaigne Jan 14, 2012:

Mighty? Mighty? Pour riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiire, tout de même... je ne me permettrais pô! It woz tongue ze cheek.

Michael GREEN Jan 14, 2012:

;o) My high school maths master used to make "deliberate mistakes", and nobody thought of burning him at the stake (not that we had one handy).
You are forgiven, Nikki, if only on the strength of your many contributions to kudoz questions ...
But "mighty" ? Soyons modeste, madame...

Nikki Scott-Despaigne Jan 14, 2012:

And thank you Michelle. We girls gotta stick together!!!
(We'll get this blasted off in mod outer space for being hors sujet and nearing playful playground scuffles! ;-) Shhhh!!!!
Michael, thank you for the reclassification of the age factor to 10 whereas I'm coming up to the big five zero!

Nikki Scott-Despaigne Jan 14, 2012:

Ha ha ha! And a double 8-PPP to you my dear Mykel

Nikki Scott-Despaigne Jan 14, 2012:

A deliberate mistake Not tired, just a deliberate mistake to show you that even the mighty fail! OMG, may me be burnèd at the stakèd!
8_PPP

Michael GREEN Jan 14, 2012:

@ Michelle Nice of you to defend a colleague, but Nikki knows me of old and is quite capable of conducting her own defence.
Nevertheless, tiredness is one thing, and typos such as "came to find" instead of "came to mind" can be forgiven, but a professional translator should not confuse "it's" and "its": an error that 10-year olds are taught to avoid.

Michelle Desaintfuscien (asker) Jan 14, 2012:

tired I think that we're all quite tired by the time we reach Saturday Michael! I just see that I wrote 'came to find' instead of 'came to mind' in my previous discussion entry!

Michael GREEN Jan 14, 2012:

Oh dear, Nikki .... "... taken from it's technical context..." ???
Shame on you....

Michelle Desaintfuscien (asker) Jan 14, 2012:

thanks Nikki for your input. When I first read the ST sentence, that's exactly the sort of phrase that came to find about turning down the music! Then I started having doubts that maybe technical texts about engines refer to notches or some other sort of levers etc. But thanks for reassuring me that it's actually quite straightforward.

Nikki Scott-Despaigne Jan 14, 2012:

This is language that has been taken from it's technical context, mashed up a bit into ordinary familiar off-context usage and then used back in a context which is technical but used in the familiar way.

I could ask my daughter to turn down her music and say :

"baisse ça d'un cran s'il te plaît".

I could also say :

"ça suffit maintenant; baisse le cran:"

See what I mean? Back to your context where like I said the familiar use has been transposed back into a context where it would be no surprise to see the term being used technically. It is the familiar usage in a technical context.

You could almost ignore the word in fact! It just means that the pumps have been reduced, slowed, the rate decreased etc.

Michelle Desaintfuscien (asker) Jan 13, 2012:

more context I should add that "cran" is mentioned again later in the same appraisal:
"Cette manipulation trouverait son utilité si l'on constate que les moteurs tournent avec les crans de pompes en butée mécanique lors des phases de transite (route libre)."