L’alcool ne lui fait pas

English translation: He can\'t take/handle alcohol - He can't hold his drink

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:L’alcool ne lui fait pas
English translation:He can\'t take/handle alcohol - He can't hold his drink
Entered by: Rachel Fell

10:32 Feb 21, 2018
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Medical - Psychology
French term or phrase: L’alcool ne lui fait pas
I'm translating a psychiatric report about a patient who drank too much alcohol one night. I'm stuck on the phase "L’alcool ne lui fait pas". I know that literally it means "alcohol didn't do him" but I can see that that makes no sense.

Here's the context:
Monsieur [...] reconnaît que sa consommation d’alcool dépasse ce qu’il consomme habituellement. Il me dira que : « L’alcool ne lui fait pas et il reconnaît en avoir trop pris cette journée-là ».

My translation so far:
He admits that he drank more than he usual. He says, "alcohol ??? and I recognise that I drank too much that day".

Thanks
Paul Jones
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:15
He can't take/handle alcohol
Explanation:
or He can't handle alcohol -That's how I would expect to hear it - i.e. it doesn't agree with him, he doesn't have the stomach for it, can't tolerate it

Why can’t Asians take alcohol like Europeans do?
7 Answers
Pepper Chen
Pepper Chen, Chinese-American
Answered May 29, 2017 · Author has 913 answers and 553k answer views
(Ah yes the Asian race. The singular Asian race.)

Look, some Asians can’t “take alcohol” like white people. But there are Asians who can handle it just fine (e.g. both of my parents and most of my extended family). It just so happens that a majority of people living in/hailing from some parts of Asia—not all parts, and not all people in certain parts—have an acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) deficiency. This enzyme breaks down acetaldehyde, a toxic metabolic byproduct of ethanol. Some East Asians can’t handle alcohol very well because the allele variant they got for the ALDH gene results in an enzyme deficiency. They can’t break down acetaldehyde fast enough, so it builds up faster in their blood when they drink.
https://www.quora.com/Why-can’t-Asians-take-alcohol-like-Eur...

Why can't my stomach take alcohol anymore? | Yahoo Answers
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20121231220755A...
31 Dec 2012 - I am a college student. I don't drink often, but am a social drinker. Occasionally I will drink. As a freshman, I was fine. I could take shots and have a good time. However, I haven't drank as much as a sophomore. But for some reason, my stomach can't take alcohol anymore. If I do one shot, I feel like throwing ...
Selected response from:

Rachel Fell
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:15
Grading comment
Thanks
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +5Alcohol doesn't suit him
Rowena Fuller (X)
4 +5He can't take/handle alcohol
Rachel Fell
4alcohol doesn't agree with him
Barbara Cochran, MFA
4 -1alcohol hits him hard
Josephine Cassar


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +5
Alcohol doesn't suit him


Explanation:
Or doesn't agree with him, basically 'I know that I shouldn't but I did anyway' - better to use 'admits' rather than 'recognises'

Rowena Fuller (X)
France
Local time: 18:15
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: "doesn't agree with him" — cf usage "il va s'y faire"
22 mins

agree  Daryo
34 mins

agree  Jennifer White
1 hr

agree  katsy: this seems quite plausible - cf. 'ça ne le fait pas' - it won't do, it won't fit the bill.
1 hr

agree  Verginia Ophof
1 hr

neutral  B D Finch: Yes for "doesn't agree with him", but not "doesn't suit him".
4 hrs
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11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
alcohol hits him hard


Explanation:
It just doesn't suit him. An example: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/21/booming/why-cant-i-hold-my...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 mins (2018-02-21 10:45:16 GMT)
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than he usually does

Josephine Cassar
Malta
Local time: 18:15
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in MalteseMaltese

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Tony M: Not really appropriate language for this sort of register, and to some extent over-translation.
19 mins
  -> Agree-missed 'psychiatric report'-you're correct

disagree  B D Finch: Over-translation and inappropriate register.
4 hrs
  -> see previous answer to Tony M though we do not exactly know who is talking to/about the man who had drunk-might be the psychiatrist, the police, it might be a discussion about the case, etc.
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
He can't take/handle alcohol


Explanation:
or He can't handle alcohol -That's how I would expect to hear it - i.e. it doesn't agree with him, he doesn't have the stomach for it, can't tolerate it

Why can’t Asians take alcohol like Europeans do?
7 Answers
Pepper Chen
Pepper Chen, Chinese-American
Answered May 29, 2017 · Author has 913 answers and 553k answer views
(Ah yes the Asian race. The singular Asian race.)

Look, some Asians can’t “take alcohol” like white people. But there are Asians who can handle it just fine (e.g. both of my parents and most of my extended family). It just so happens that a majority of people living in/hailing from some parts of Asia—not all parts, and not all people in certain parts—have an acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) deficiency. This enzyme breaks down acetaldehyde, a toxic metabolic byproduct of ethanol. Some East Asians can’t handle alcohol very well because the allele variant they got for the ALDH gene results in an enzyme deficiency. They can’t break down acetaldehyde fast enough, so it builds up faster in their blood when they drink.
https://www.quora.com/Why-can’t-Asians-take-alcohol-like-Eur...

Why can't my stomach take alcohol anymore? | Yahoo Answers
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20121231220755A...
31 Dec 2012 - I am a college student. I don't drink often, but am a social drinker. Occasionally I will drink. As a freshman, I was fine. I could take shots and have a good time. However, I haven't drank as much as a sophomore. But for some reason, my stomach can't take alcohol anymore. If I do one shot, I feel like throwing ...


Rachel Fell
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:15
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thanks

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  writeaway
27 mins
  -> Thank you writeaway :-)

agree  B D Finch: More idiomatic, but still an appropriate register.
1 hr
  -> Thank you BD :-)

agree  Michele Fauble: Also "He can't hold his liquor/alcohol/drink".
2 hrs
  -> Yes, that too, thank you Michele :-)

agree  katsy
3 hrs
  -> Thank you Katsy :-)

agree  Carol Gullidge: Yes, and also like Michele's suggestion: "... can't hold his liquor
3 hrs
  -> Yes, thank you Carol :-)
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
alcohol doesn't agree with him


Explanation:
Another possibility.

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 13:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16
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