This site uses cookies.
Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site,
while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used.
For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
French to English translations [PRO] General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / colloquialism
French term or phrase:mimines
I understand this as being to hands what "tootsies" is to feet/toes, the question is whether there is an English equivalent.
It occurs in an introduction to Valentine's Day recipes, the authors evocation of February:
"Février a pris ses marques, le marché de mon village se fait glacial, **les mimines** des commerçants ont disparu sous de duveteuses mitaines, ne laissant apparaître que l’extrémité des doigts (il faut bien rendre la monnaie et compter les billets!!!)."
I can't think further than "paws" or "mitts", but these aren't as cutesy as "mimines"...
Explanation: I know this has already been talked about in the discussion box, but I wanted to post the ref too.
As a child, when it was cold, my mother and grandfather would say "give me your little paws" and warm my hands by blowing on on them between theirs. To hold hands they would ask for my paw. I only remembered this because of Ann's comment - to me as a UK native, it does sound cute.
This is a case where there was more than one good solution to the problem at hand. I already had "wee paws" in my draft before throwing out the question, so was leaning towards this sort of solution and was pleased to have it come back to me independently, but as I said, on another day, in a different mood I might have made another choice. What I sent off in the end: "February has taken hold, the market in my village turns icy, the stallholders hide their little paws beneath fluffy gloves, showing just the tips of their finger (there’s still change to give and notes to count, after all!!!)." 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
... it's like waking up to find brownies have been hard at work all night! I'm grateful for these suggestions and comments, and will have to mull over various approaches before sending off the final version on Monday. I'm grateful to polyglot/Bourth for pointing out the problems with "mitten" for "mitaine"... I think! :/
are sometimes anchored by a piece of fabric over just one finger. I seem to recall seeing some French bimbo like Arielle Dombasle wearing such things and pretending to be a singer.
In my experience, "glovelets" or "glovelettes" are like arm warmers, not anchored by the fingers, while mitts (my grandmother wore them while sewing, when the house was heated by a coal fire) have partial fingers - looking like gloves with the fingertips cut off.
Bourth (X)
More on mitts
13:43 Nov 27, 2009
There are numerous kinds of cycling gloves and each has its own particular applications. The commonest type are THE TRACK MITTS or FINGERLESS CYCLING GLOVES, which are acceptable during warm weather. The palms are gently padded with gel, leather, or another material. Track mitts with leather palms are generally matched with cork handlebar tape and drop-bar touring cycles. The full-finger cycling gloves that are waterproof and windproof are used during autumn and spring when there's no need for heat http://www.askthescubaexperts.com/best-cycle-gloves/
Tracking this down I also discovered that fingerless gloves are sometimes called "bum gloves" because of the stereotypical Hollywood image of down-and-outs wearing them.
Bourth (X)
My mistake.
13:43 Nov 27, 2009
Of course "mittens" are the things that cover all your fingers. ! Still, I have this Dickensian mind's-eye image of someone like Uriah Heep rubbing the back of his mittened hands, i.e. wearing fingerless gloves. No dictionary definitions appear to back up my use of the word, though there is a "mitten, A sort of glove of lace or knitted work covering the forearm, wrist, and part of the hand" [SOED], such as we will have seen women wearing at Napoleonic balls on period TV shows, which may have given its name to a sort of (long) fingerless glove.
Google has come to my rescue though and revealed that it must be a deformation of my cycling past (once an amateur road racer), when I wore cycling gloves or mitts.
Mitts Traditionally known as TRACK MITTS, CYCLE MITTS are designed to protect your hands and provide comfort whilst cycling on or off road. Made to specifically fit men and women, CYCLE MITTS ARE FINGERLESS and short; only covering the hands from the first set of knuckles to the heel of the hand/start of the wrist. http://www.awcycles.co.uk/category/Cycle_Clothing/Cycling_Gl...
"Mitts" wouldn't work well, as we are talking about winter, and the reader might think they were, for some reason hiding their mitten. I liked "little paws" for a while, but decided it didn't fit the idea of adult merchants, unless the rest of the text is written in a truly cutesy fashion. I think, if I had the job, I would simply resort to "hands".
In US EN, we speak of "ham" (ham-fisted, the fat part of the hand) or heel (the heel of the hand). None of these are giving me any ideas for something that rings of tootsies.
The only thing that comes close - since mimi(ne) is also child-speak for a kitten/kitty/cat is "paw." But, that simply does NOT ring cute for me.
As a UK speaker currently on the other side of the pond, nothing much springs to mind other than "mitts". It's a common UK expression to say things like "to get one's mitts on the money".
In child language, you could also have "handy-pandies", but that doesn't obviously fit here.
At this hour, it is likely to be tomorrow before one of our UK EN colleagues chimes in. I have at least 20 French dictionaries, FR-FR, FR-EN, hard copy, electronic, etc., etc., and mimines has not shown up in ANY of them.
While it is not "cute," it is the palm that has disappeared, leaving the fingers exposed in mitts or fingerless gloves, allowing money to be counted. I'm not sure there is a "cute" equivalent, at least in US EN.
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
1 hr confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
(little) paws
Explanation: I know this has already been talked about in the discussion box, but I wanted to post the ref too.
As a child, when it was cold, my mother and grandfather would say "give me your little paws" and warm my hands by blowing on on them between theirs. To hold hands they would ask for my paw. I only remembered this because of Ann's comment - to me as a UK native, it does sound cute.
Melzie Local time: 21:48 Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
This is a case where there was more than one good solution to the problem at hand. I already had "wee paws" in my draft before throwing out the question, so was leaning towards this sort of solution and was pleased to have it come back to me independently, but as I said, on another day, in a different mood I might have made another choice. What I sent off in the end: "February has taken hold, the market in my village turns icy, the stallholders hide their little paws beneath fluffy gloves, showing just the tips of their finger (there’s still change to give and notes to count, after all!!!)."
Explanation: handsies though not as common as footsies is the equivalent expression for hands and there are lots of google hits. "their little handsies hidden under enormous mittens." I wouldn't use mitts because of the generally pejorative uses "get your mitts off me!"
emiledgar Belgium Local time: 21:48 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English, French PRO pts in category: 125
peer agreement (net): +1