Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

grille de métro

English translation:

metro/underground ventilation grille

Added to glossary by Sandrine Guyennet
May 4, 2010 14:16
14 yrs ago
1 viewer *
French term

grille de métro

French to English Other Transport / Transportation / Shipping
Les clous, les lignes blanches, les grilles de métro, les plaques d’égout... tout élément urbain peut être lu comme un signe.

I am looking for the most common UK term.

Discussion

Graham macLachlan May 4, 2010:
to be honest I wouldn't bother with Underground, Metro, or Subway because the name of the underground railway isn't important in the context, indeed I wouldn't make any reference to it at all because the focus is on stuff you see on the ground: "ventilation grating/grille" would suffice
Carruthers (X) May 4, 2010:
these are the "art nouveau" metro entrances. Look up "art nouveau images"
no association with Norma Jean.
Carruthers (X) May 4, 2010:

Proposed translations

+2
1 hr
Selected

metro/underground ventilation grille

It depends where the "métro" is located. If it Paris, Montreal, Newcastle etc. then it should be called a metro. If it is London, then call it the Underground with a capital "U", but not the "Underground Railway" unless you are trying to use a 19th century form of words.

On the other hand, as can be seen from the ref. below, (see photo on website), it is just possible that they mean the fancy wrought ironwork at the entrance to the metro. The English translation of this website is dreadful - in spite of Canada being ostensibly bilingual - and doesn't translate this extract.

"Un monument à l’effigie de la reine Victoria d’Angleterre est érigé au centre du square nommé en son honneur. Moins d’un siècle plus tard, une authentique grille de métro parisien, œuvre de style art nouveau, viendra orner l’entrée de la station du même nom."
http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/Discover-montreal/Itinerari...



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Note added at 1 hr (2010-05-04 15:33:05 GMT)
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"Cross section of shelter and Underground platforms at Goodge Street ... a ventilation grille on the west bound Piccadilly Line platform. ..."
underground-history.co.uk/shelters.php -

"Created in the 1900s, the new Underground lines created by Charles Yerkes ... This ventilation grille, taken from Hampstead station, would have been used to ..."
www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/server.php?

Peer comment(s):

agree Chris Hall : True, I originally overlooked the fact that the Asker requested UK English.
23 mins
Thanks Chris
agree Mark Nathan
3 hrs
Thanks Mark
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you! I went for Metro, as it is on Paris."
-1
3 mins

the gates of the subway

the gates of the subway
Peer comment(s):

disagree Chris Hall : "gates" is incorrect here.
5 mins
ce ne sont pourtant pas les références qui manquent sur le net...
neutral philgoddard : I think this is one translation of the phrase, referring to the metal fences around the entrance (eg the famous art deco ones in Paris), but I'm not sure it's correct in this context because all the other items in the list are things you see on the ground
14 mins
disagree B D Finch : The UK term for "metro" is not "subway".
53 mins
agree Carruthers (X) : just about right
1 hr
Something went wrong...
+2
5 mins

ventilation grating (of the Underground Railway)

The question of ventilation of the Underground Railway gave rise to ...... terminating by large open gratings, let into the pavements; secondly, also, ...
www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45233
Peer comment(s):

agree Chris Hall
1 hr
thanks
agree Julie Barber : The name though - Metro, Underground etc depends on the actual town being talked about. There used to be one of these vents when you crossed the road at Oxford Circus...and you got a big waft of soot.
1 hr
thanks, quite right
Something went wrong...
7 mins

subway grating

or grates. Like the ones Marylin Monroe steps on with her skirts floating all around her (which made that prick Joe DiMaagio mad at her.)

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Note added at 11 mins (2010-05-04 14:27:57 GMT)
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That was in the 7-Year Itch, in case you have no cinematic culture whatsoever.

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Note added at 1 hr (2010-05-04 15:50:32 GMT)
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Sorry I did not read the part about the British slant. What do they call it, then, "Underground grating"?"grilles"?
I haven't been in Britain for quite a while and I can't remember if the underground or tube have gratings like in New York or Paris. They gotta for ventilation, no?
Peer comment(s):

agree philgoddard
11 mins
disagree B D Finch : The Asker asked for the UK term - "subway" for "metro" is US English
49 mins
neutral Julie Barber : @ BD - this isn't wrong - the name depends upon the town in question as you say yourself
1 hr
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

29 mins
Reference:

It can also mean a subway entrance

There's a picture of one here:
www.destinationcentreville.com/blue/saviez.html

"Montréal possède une grille de métro parisien (Guimard). Offerte par Paris pour souligner l'Expo 67, l'authentique grille de métro parisien a été installée à la station Square-Victoria dans le Quartier international, tout près de la tour de la Bourse."
Peer comments on this reference comment:

neutral B D Finch : We found the same reference. However, a "subway" in UK English is a pedestrian tunnel under a road, not the Underground (London), or Metro (Newcastle). Surely the Asker wouldn't specify UK English if they wanted an Americanism?
50 mins
I think the Americanism is justified - I'm British, and most people in the UK are aware of the difference.
Something went wrong...
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