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aller au charbon

English translation: isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty


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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:aller au charbon
English translation:isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty
Entered by: lloydedmondson
Options:
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03:05 Jan 10, 2007
French to English translations [PRO]
Sports / Fitness / Recreation / 
French term or phrase: aller au charbon
Last question of the night I hope!!:

This paragraph is really causing me some problems.

Context:

"un président actif, qui paye de sa personne, qui aille au charbon et qui ne laisse pas, comme aujourd’hui, l’administration travailler seule"

I am not too sure what part of "administration" within UEFA it is referring to either.

Any ideas would be really appreciated.

Cheers.
lloydedmondson
Local time: 13:05
isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty
Explanation:
As for your question about the administration part, I guess it has to do with the management part of UEFA...
Selected response from:

rousselures
Local time: 15:05
Grading comment
thanks
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +4isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty
rousselures
4 +2to tackle an unpleasant task
SwissTell
5means: au travailDamjana
3 +1roll his sleeves upMarc Glinert
3to get lumbered
Odette Grille
2 -1hack on a coal facedanièle davout


  

Answers


10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
to tackle an unpleasant task


Explanation:
to do what is necessary, even though it may not be pleasant - is the meaning of this term

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Note added at 11 mins (2007-01-10 03:17:06 GMT)
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ler au charbon - Wiktionnaire- [ Translate this page ]Locution verbale. aller au charbon /a.le.ʁo.ʃaʁ.bɔ̃/. Aller faire quelque chose de désagréable, aller faire quelque chose de très dur. ...
fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/aller_au_charbon - 14k - Cached - Similar pages

Aller au charbon : signification et origine de l’expression- [ Translate this page ]Aller au charbon signifie que l'on doit accomplir une tâche fort désagréable, ou encore que l'on doit travailler très durement...
www.linternaute.com/expression/langue-francaise/655/aller-a...


SwissTell
Local time: 15:05
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Hebat-Allah El Ashmawy
4 hrs
neutral  B D Finch: You understand the meaning correctly, but this is hardly a colloquial English expression of the type sought.
4 hrs
neutral  Marc Glinert: agree, but with BDF - an idiom is necessary to preserve the tone of the source text
6 hrs
agree  blavatsky
6 hrs
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty


Explanation:
As for your question about the administration part, I guess it has to do with the management part of UEFA...

rousselures
Local time: 15:05
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 6
Grading comment
thanks

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  David Goward
2 hrs
  -> Thank you David!
agree  B D Finch
2 hrs
  -> Thank you BD!
neutral  Marc Glinert: from the context, there is nothing unpleasant about the task. Only that it involves hard work. This is the sense in which I find "aller au charbon" to be generally used in French//thanks Rousselures - fair comment!
3 hrs
  -> Getting your hands dirty might be unpleasant or just plain hard work, aller au charbon is the same.Some people thrive on it :)
agree  blavatsky
4 hrs
  -> Thank you Blavatsky!
agree  Claudine-Hélène L.: the expression "aller au charbon" implies that the work is not only hard but also rather unpleasant so i think "getting your hands dirty" works pretty well
7 hrs
  -> Thanks!
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): -1
hack on a coal face


Explanation:
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/1139811?font_size_new=1&float=1

danièle davout
Local time: 20:05
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Marc Glinert: Absolutely no way, danièle. Your inverted gloss. ref. takes a literal quote in the original English. What we need here is an idiom
1 hr
  -> ok, merci
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7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
to get lumbered


Explanation:
who is not afraid of getting lumbered

Odette Grille
Local time: 15:05
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Marc Glinert: hmm not sure about this Odette. YOu get lumbered with something when no one else wants to do it and you become the "default" actor. Here I get the impression it is the will of the person to do his share (and more) of the work
22 hrs
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1 day17 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
means: au travail


Explanation:
who works

Damjana
Serbia
Local time: 21:05
Native speaker of: Native in SerbianSerbian
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
roll his sleeves up


Explanation:
Have to go with an idiom here, and this is the most natural in this context, Lloyd

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Note added at 7 hrs (2007-01-10 10:34:19 GMT)
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plenty of others to choose from offering varying degrees of commitment and effort.... put your shoulder to the wheel (I've never really understood how this would help but....)/ put your back into it/get stuck in/pull your finger out/mouiller le maillot (whoops that one's French!!!)

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Note added at 2 days6 hrs (2007-01-12 09:08:31 GMT)
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Stumbled upon this today on the BBC:
Although he has yet to decide where he will go and what sort of work he will do, a spokeswoman said he was keen to "roll his sleeves up".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6251241.stm

Marc Glinert
Local time: 21:05
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  rousselures: Se retrousser les manches? aller au charbon is a bit grittier...Se retrousser les manches is used all the time in french, it's one of those idioms that are used in both languages, bridging the gap between the two solitudes...:)
33 mins
  -> not sure we can get to the exact feel of an idiom in a certain language by simply finding its literal equivalent in the other language, rousselures
agree  Kim Metzger: Or put his nose to the grindstone http://fr.answers.com/topic/charbon-2 http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20010928
7 hrs
  -> yup..what is a grindstone, anyway??!
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