Rindler Sigurd wrote:
> I wonder if somebody knows a "trick" to achieve the following. I have
> received a translation of a car body manual into French where the expression
> "front mask" or "front nose mask" comes up. Two translators can't agree on a
> proper expression and would have to make something up. I guess that there is
> already an established expression since it's been a very common part for
> years...
> When you check "front mask"  in Google's Images, there are several pictures
> of these car front covers (presumably made of plastic material).
>
> All I need to know now is the French equivalent for this English
> expression...

If by "front mask" the original -- Japanese? -- writer meant the front's
design, then "avant" would get the meaning across quite well.

"Zanshin na fulonto masuku"
-> "Un avant innovateur"
-> "Un avant {a\} l'esth{e/}tique innovatrice" (this sounds very syrupy)

"Fulonto masuku no kousei buhin" (a bit bizarre stylistically, as it
would combine a "soft, fluffy" design term (front mask) with a "hard,
rigorous" technical term (kousei buhin)
-> "Les composants de la face avant" (in French, "face avant" is a
quite neutral term, neither strictly technical nor too design-oriented)


> Maybe there is a way to find it since there are identical web pages of
> manufacturers who use translations in several languages. Is there any
> way in Google to ask in a certain way in order to achieve this one?

For bona fide technical terms, getting a specialized book in the
target language would be a better idea than using Google.

For a vague term that sounds more design-oriented like "front mask",
I think it would be difficult to conduct an effective search if you
didn't already have a pretty good idea of what the term should be.

Anyway, I'm afraid we haven't got enough context here to determine
whether "front mask" has been used as a technical part name -- e.g.
calandre, cache-radiateur, grille -- or as a design term.