all shift

21:31 Mar 4, 2015 

"Tout le roulement" or something like "depuis le début du roulement" since it’s still in progression. Point is there's a word for it and an actual duration can't be assigned to it.

20:47 Mar 4, 2015 

Actually, the term we ought to be seeking to translate is in fact 'all shift' — how would that sit with your own suggestion?

I think it is pretty clear that the intention is to emphasize just how long they've been wearing and working in these overalls; hence it is not unreasonable to assume the remark is being made towards the end of the shift; however, if you wish to pedantically pick holes in that fairly harmless assumption, then why not translate it as "we've been wearing these... since the start of the shift", thus sidestepping the whole issue.

20:42 Mar 4, 2015 

You asked "If FR doesn't have a word for 'shift' in an industrial context, then why not just say '8 hours'?"
Because:
- A shift isn't necessarily 8 hours.
- We have no idea how long this specific shift was.
- There IS a word for shifts in French or more accurately there ARE: "équipe" when talking about the workers themselves or "roulement" when talking about the work period.
So there FR does have word for shift - to which you disagreed stating that it "simply doesn't convey the essence of the source text that we've been wearing these overalls for a long time" and added that "The exact time is irrelevant, it is just 'a whole period of work". You’re right about the latter - the exact time is irrelevant but also unknown (thus any answer stating an actual duration would be inaccurate) but the former seems a bit speculative. Nothing in the text indicates that the intent is to convey that they’ve been “wearing these overalls for a long time”. We don’t even know if that statement is made toward the end of the shift or right in the middle though we do know it’s in progression. Again, the term to translate here is shift – no more and no less - barring further context.