A new way of looking at rappeler

Question

I have found it useful to translate rappeler as 'recall'. It's synonymous with remind, but its English language grammar is more similar to rappeler- you recall x to someone , you remind x of someone - and rappeler surely has a root in appeler, to call, re-appeler, recall. Helpful?

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Chris,
Thank you for sharing this tip with everyone! 
Merci et bonne journée !

Answer

Hi Chris,Yes!  Makes sense to me  --  I use the same logic.Jim

Answer

But 'recall' (in the sense of 'bring to mind') doesn't mean 'remind'. 'Recall' is synonymous with 'remember' - the subject is the person doing the recalling. 'Remind' is like the passive voice of 'recall' - it's the object that is doing the recalling prompted by the subject who/which is doing the reminding - and vice versa. You could transliterate "I recall Joe by [thinking of] Jack" as "I am reminded of Joe by Jack or "Jack reminds me of Joe". I do the recalling, but Jack does the reminding (albeit unwittingly).

Still, if it helps you to get the translation right, recall away!