soft-headed rose

English translation: stupid, wilted

00:00 Mar 10, 2004
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
English term or phrase: soft-headed rose
The whole sentence: "I brought the soft-headed rose out of the living room and throw it into the garbage."

Does it mean that the flower is not fresh and the petals are falling off?
uFO
South Korea
Local time: 08:00
Selected answer:stupid, wilted
Explanation:
As long as we're talking literature and poetry, one shouldn't overlook the secondary meaning. I'm not sure what the wider context is, but it is possible that (apart from the fact that the rose has wilted and its head is thus soft) the author was reaching for more meaning by alluding to soft in the head, soft-headed > stupid

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Note added at 12 mins (2004-03-10 00:12:11 GMT)
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The grammar of the original is bent (it should read either \"bring\" or \"threw\").

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Note added at 4 days (2004-03-14 13:35:42 GMT)
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In this case I\'d be inclined to say that what the girl was going for was maybe: I through away that stupid rose / fully bloomed (a rosebud is not soft-headed). Thus the first level gives us the fact that it is in full bloom, while the second one is again -I threw away the stupid rose.
This is almost identical to what Hacene had said, but, since \"the rose is stupid\" because the girl is upset, I wouldn\'t define \"stupid\" as \"not bright at all\" because it would be like paraphrasing \"You stupid b**tard\" by \"Your parents weren\'t married and you are not bright at all.\"
Of course, this is no criticism - Hacene had no context to help him.
Selected response from:

pike
Croatia
Local time: 12:00
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +4stupid, wilted
pike
5 +2nice looking and sweet but not bright at all
Hacene


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


14 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +2
nice looking and sweet but not bright at all


Explanation:
..

Hacene
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:00
Native speaker of: French
PRO pts in category: 12

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  pike: yes, it sort of skipped my attention that "a soft rose" might notmean that it's wilted...
2 hrs
  -> cheers

agree  senin
3 days 22 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
stupid, wilted


Explanation:
As long as we're talking literature and poetry, one shouldn't overlook the secondary meaning. I'm not sure what the wider context is, but it is possible that (apart from the fact that the rose has wilted and its head is thus soft) the author was reaching for more meaning by alluding to soft in the head, soft-headed > stupid

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 mins (2004-03-10 00:12:11 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The grammar of the original is bent (it should read either \"bring\" or \"threw\").

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 days (2004-03-14 13:35:42 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

In this case I\'d be inclined to say that what the girl was going for was maybe: I through away that stupid rose / fully bloomed (a rosebud is not soft-headed). Thus the first level gives us the fact that it is in full bloom, while the second one is again -I threw away the stupid rose.
This is almost identical to what Hacene had said, but, since \"the rose is stupid\" because the girl is upset, I wouldn\'t define \"stupid\" as \"not bright at all\" because it would be like paraphrasing \"You stupid b**tard\" by \"Your parents weren\'t married and you are not bright at all.\"
Of course, this is no criticism - Hacene had no context to help him.

pike
Croatia
Local time: 12:00
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in CroatianCroatian, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  humbird: Pike you are so right. I believe difference between tech trans and literature trans is that in the latter we have to read between lines. This is no the case in the former (well, most of the time).
3 hrs
  -> thank you!

agree  Vicky Papaprodromou
7 hrs
  -> thank you!

agree  Rajan Chopra
13 hrs
  -> thank you!

agree  senin
4 days
  -> thank you!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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