mes pieds de corne

English translation: callused feet

06:45 Aug 16, 2020
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
French term or phrase: mes pieds de corne
It's a book, and here is the context :

Seize mois plus tard, dans l’effervescence des plages de Bandar Abbas, je baignais mes pieds de corne dans l’écume du Golfe Persique. Une seconde était passée, un siècle aussi.
Dans mes mains, une interminable liste de noms, pour chaque belle âme qui m’aura nourri, souri, ou vêtu.

"pied de corne" literally means "feet made of calluses", "calluses" being these hardened layers of skin that appear when you walk a lot for example. So "pied de corne" tends to be a figure of speech, by which the feet become "made of" calluses.
Any elegant turn of phrase is welcome....
Hugues Roumier
France
Local time: 05:35
English translation:callused feet
Explanation:
In the context of your text this seems the most apt translation. Callused feet is widely used, and within a literary text I feel it gives exactly the imagery you need, the hardened skin and rough feet.
Selected response from:

Jennifer Bradley
Local time: 04:35
Grading comment
Thanks Jennifer. On reflection, I eventually think this is the best way to express it.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5callused feet
Jennifer Bradley
4my road-hardened feet
Yvonne Gallagher
3 -1my horny feet (perhaps...)
Mpoma


Discussion entries: 16





  

Answers


4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
callused feet


Explanation:
In the context of your text this seems the most apt translation. Callused feet is widely used, and within a literary text I feel it gives exactly the imagery you need, the hardened skin and rough feet.


    Reference: http://https://www.flexispot.com/spine-care-center/callused-...
Jennifer Bradley
Local time: 04:35
Native speaker of: English
Grading comment
Thanks Jennifer. On reflection, I eventually think this is the best way to express it.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Nicky Over: Yes, adding "tired" or "poor, tired" as in the discussion post. If it is British English, I think it really ought to be "calloused" with an "o".
28 mins

agree  SafeTex
54 mins

agree  philgoddard: It's not a UK/US thing, just two variant spellings. And it would be wrong to add "tired": it's a statement of the blindingly obvious.
1 hr

agree  writeaway: Also agree with philgoddard
1 hr

agree  Suzie Withers: Yes, I can't think of a more poetic way of saying this! I would also normally spell it with an "o" but the UK NHS site has it without!
3 hrs
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
my road-hardened feet


Explanation:
if you really want to keep the idea of the long walking he has done. You could also say road-toughened feet

call(o)uses are not necessarily formed by walking a long distance

This exists in at least one film
https://www.barefootdocumentary.com/about
https://www.wesa.fm/post/local-filmmakers-documentary-honors... poor guy was knocked down by a car!

and several blogs about hiking/walking
http://jacobsawyer.blogspot.com/2018/08/day-one-of-hike.html
I assumed that my gravel road hardened feet would suffice but the numbing cold made it to dangerous to go barefoot

http://caminotime.blogspot.com/2020/06/?m=0
I do remember it being very hot and that there was way too much road walking which was hard on my road hardened feet.

and even in religious texts
https://books.google.ie/books?id=rgxbCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT27&lpg=PT...

https://books.google.ie/books?id=XjGjAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA67&lpg=PA...

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 04:35
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 32

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Mpoma: It's too explicit. We're looking for something implicit, poetic, allusive, metaphorical. Or just go with "callused", best of a bad job.
1 hr
  -> explicit and metaphorical or even hoof-like feet
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -1
my horny feet (perhaps...)


Explanation:
Yes, it's a joke. But before the invention of the InterOuèbbe and the delights it spawned, such as Pornhub, "horny" had precisely this meaning. (In truth I think "horny" in its modern meaning, and widespread, probably predated the Web by a decade or two).

Look it up if you don't believe me. Impoverishment of language. Maybe it's a word that we need to "reclaim".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 10 hrs (2020-08-16 16:54:59 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Probably the most famous expression using this adjective being "horny-handed sons of toil" (or possibly "of soil"). I just tried finding the origin of this expression, but failed. It appears to be at least 2 centuries old, and may be of American origin.

Mpoma
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:35
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8
Notes to answerer
Asker: true ! Mais vraiment trop connoté aujourd'hui :)


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Yvonne Gallagher: LOL you think "horny" is "something implicit, poetic, allusive, metaphorical" ???
3 hrs
  -> well, yes, really: because "horny hands" are not made of horn, so there's a literary décalage... zoomorphism and possibly metonym apply: the worker is likened to a beast of burden, and their hands (symbol of humanity's specialness) a thing.

disagree  Carol Gullidge: Sorry, but you must beware of using “horny”, as it commonly refers to sexual arousal.
4 days

neutral  Daryo: All very interesting but once the meaning has shifted so much you simply can't use a word in its old meaning.
21 days
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