Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
nappe de cheveux
English translation:
cascade of hair
Added to glossary by
Wendy Streitparth
Nov 22, 2017 19:14
6 yrs ago
French term
nappe de cheveux
French to English
Art/Literary
Textiles / Clothing / Fashion
patented machine for pleating fabrics
This term appears in a 1909 patent document (bulletin officiel).
The machine in question pleats silk, creating a (beautiful) undulating / cascading effect
The text says....
"cette étoffe se caractérise par un plissage formé de fins plis dans un sens et des ondulations de l'étoffe ainsi plissée transversales aux plis, de telle manière que l'étoffe présente l'aspect d'une nappe de cheveux"
The drawing indeed looks like a swathe ? of long hair with horizontal waves.
Any nice ideas?
The machine in question pleats silk, creating a (beautiful) undulating / cascading effect
The text says....
"cette étoffe se caractérise par un plissage formé de fins plis dans un sens et des ondulations de l'étoffe ainsi plissée transversales aux plis, de telle manière que l'étoffe présente l'aspect d'une nappe de cheveux"
The drawing indeed looks like a swathe ? of long hair with horizontal waves.
Any nice ideas?
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +2 | cascade of hair |
Wendy Streitparth
|
| 4 | tresses of hair |
Charles Davis
|
| 4 | fall of hair |
Yvonne Gallagher
|
Change log
Nov 27, 2017 09:40: Wendy Streitparth Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
+2
12 hrs
Wendy Streitparth
Germany
Germany
Native in English
Works in field
Germany
45 years experience
Native in: English (Variant: British)
Works in: German to English, French to English, Spanish to English, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
18
Selected
cascade of hair
Instant thought - and you used the word yourself!
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Tony M
: I think this nicely conveys both the notion of an expanse of hair, and the rippling effect.
25 mins
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Many thanks, Tony.
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| agree |
Jennifer White
48 mins
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Many thanks, Jennifer
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "I went with this, but am also grateful to Charles for his characteristically thoughtful input "
2 hrs
tresses of hair
This would mean putting plural for singular, but I think it would work. "Nappe" means a wavy expanse of something. According to the Trésor, it means "matière souple ou fluide qui s'étale et retombe", and this meaning, which is "P. réf. aux plis que fait la nappe en retombant" (in other words, the folds or undulations of a tablecloth as it hangs), is illustrated with a quotation from Alfred de Musset's Confession d'un enfant du siècle: "Du mouvement qu'elle fit, elle se décoiffa; une nappe de cheveux dorés lui roula sur les épaules" (definition A3)
http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/nappe
Well, I cheated and looked up the English translation of this, which is "with the same movement undoes her hair, which falls in shining tresses over her shoulders". And I though "tresses" was rather good, before a tress is a long lock of hair so tresses, plural, implies an undulating expanse of hair, which is the right image.
By way of support, here's a quotation from a ghost story by M. R. James, published in 1919 (right period), about a scholar haunted by hair: "[the] main bands resembling rippling – almost curling – tresses of hair".
https://books.google.es/books?id=OHZWk6c5_9UC&pg=PA249&lpg=P...
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Note added at 2 hrs (2017-11-22 22:07:15 GMT)
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Sorry: I meant "because a tress is a long lock of hair", not "before".
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Note added at 12 hrs (2017-11-23 07:14:40 GMT)
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If you wanted to give it a poetic touch, "the appearance of rippling tresses of hair" would be rather nice, I think.
http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/nappe
Well, I cheated and looked up the English translation of this, which is "with the same movement undoes her hair, which falls in shining tresses over her shoulders". And I though "tresses" was rather good, before a tress is a long lock of hair so tresses, plural, implies an undulating expanse of hair, which is the right image.
By way of support, here's a quotation from a ghost story by M. R. James, published in 1919 (right period), about a scholar haunted by hair: "[the] main bands resembling rippling – almost curling – tresses of hair".
https://books.google.es/books?id=OHZWk6c5_9UC&pg=PA249&lpg=P...
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Note added at 2 hrs (2017-11-22 22:07:15 GMT)
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Sorry: I meant "because a tress is a long lock of hair", not "before".
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Note added at 12 hrs (2017-11-23 07:14:40 GMT)
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If you wanted to give it a poetic touch, "the appearance of rippling tresses of hair" would be rather nice, I think.
15 hrs
Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Ireland
Native in English
Specializes in field
Ireland
right word, right place. everytime
Native in: English (Variants: Irish, UK, US, Canadian) 
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
101
fall of hair
Wendy's "cascade" prompted me to think of "fall" which could be used with cascading...
Often used in literary style. Just a few examples
https://books.google.ie/books?id=1Uw-AAAAQBAJ&pg=PT49&lpg=PT...
https://books.google.ie/books?id=mjuwQQDNUGQC&pg=PA354&lpg=P...
https://www.families.com/blog/o-henrys-the-gift-of-the-magi
Often used in literary style. Just a few examples
https://books.google.ie/books?id=1Uw-AAAAQBAJ&pg=PT49&lpg=PT...
https://books.google.ie/books?id=mjuwQQDNUGQC&pg=PA354&lpg=P...
https://www.families.com/blog/o-henrys-the-gift-of-the-magi
Discussion