Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Portuguese term or phrase:
caiman
English translation:
claspknife
Added to glossary by
French Foodie
Aug 19, 2008 15:30
16 yrs ago
Portuguese term
caiman
Portuguese to English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
type of knife
Hi,
This is a bit of a strange question, but I hope someone can help. I'm translating a book from French to English about cocoa plantations. In the book there is a quote (in French) taken from the novel Cacau by Jorge Amado, for which there is no existing English translation.
The quote describes the workers cutting down cocoa pods in the plantation using "caiman" knives. I can only find a handful of refs to caiman knives in French, and none in English.
Do you know of a type of knife in Portuguese with a name like this? If so, what kind of knife is it? Similar to a machete?
Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.
TIA
Mara
This is a bit of a strange question, but I hope someone can help. I'm translating a book from French to English about cocoa plantations. In the book there is a quote (in French) taken from the novel Cacau by Jorge Amado, for which there is no existing English translation.
The quote describes the workers cutting down cocoa pods in the plantation using "caiman" knives. I can only find a handful of refs to caiman knives in French, and none in English.
Do you know of a type of knife in Portuguese with a name like this? If so, what kind of knife is it? Similar to a machete?
Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.
TIA
Mara
Proposed translations
(English)
| 5 +2 | penknife |
Vidomar (X)
|
| 5 | machete, knife, or pruning shears |
Paula Góes
|
| 4 | (facões) caimão |
Joon Oh
|
Proposed translations
+2
54 mins
Portuguese term (edited):
caiman couteau
Selected
penknife
A "couteau caiman" is a small folding knife, whose blade hides into the handle. In Portuguese, it´s called canivete, and in English, penknife.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Mary Palmer
35 mins
|
|
Thanks, Mary.
|
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| agree |
Claudio Mazotti
: interessante!
1 hr
|
|
Thanks, Cláudio.
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks very much to both you and Paula. After more digging, I found a picture of a "couteau caiman" which was indeed a larger type of penknife known as a claspknife."
22 mins
Paula Góes
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in Portuguese
Works in field
United Kingdom
Awesome Brazilian Portuguese translator
Native in: Portuguese (Variant: Brazilian) 
Works in: English to Portuguese, Portuguese, Spanish to Portuguese
machete, knife, or pruning shears
To keep from damaging trees, the workers will pick the cocoa pods on the trunk and lower branches by using a machete, knife, or pruning shears. The remaining cocoa pods high in the tree are picked using a special knife on the end of a long pole.
http://www.amanochocolate.com/articles/cocoaharvesting.html
They use just any small knife to cut pos open, you can see how they do it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW0Y7CRsaV4
By the way, I used to live in Itabuna, the place where Jorge Amado was born
http://www.amanochocolate.com/articles/cocoaharvesting.html
They use just any small knife to cut pos open, you can see how they do it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW0Y7CRsaV4
By the way, I used to live in Itabuna, the place where Jorge Amado was born
Note from asker:
| The pictures on your link are vary helpful, Paula, for the curved harvesting knives do indeed look different than the machetes used to split the pods. If I can't find anything more specific, I think I will go with "harvesting knife" as they have in your reference. |
3 hrs
(facões) caimão
If you see the origin of caiman,
kajman/o (zool.: designação comum aos jacarés do gênero Caiman: general designation for crocodiles of Caiman type) caimão, jacaré (crododile),
caiman is a kind of crocodile and you can say "caimão" in Portuguese.
The fact is for the plantation of coconuts, the workers use knife (facão: means big knife) with prolonged wood handle formed like crocodile. Maybe this form could be like crocodile form, as caiman or "caimão" in Portuguese.
But, I have never heard "caimão" for this kind of facão (big knife in Portuguese).
I don´t know if it will help you, but it would be a very interesting story.
kajman/o (zool.: designação comum aos jacarés do gênero Caiman: general designation for crocodiles of Caiman type) caimão, jacaré (crododile),
caiman is a kind of crocodile and you can say "caimão" in Portuguese.
The fact is for the plantation of coconuts, the workers use knife (facão: means big knife) with prolonged wood handle formed like crocodile. Maybe this form could be like crocodile form, as caiman or "caimão" in Portuguese.
But, I have never heard "caimão" for this kind of facão (big knife in Portuguese).
I don´t know if it will help you, but it would be a very interesting story.
Reference comments
10 mins
Ligia Dias Costa
Portugal
Portugal
Native in Portuguese
Portugal
Translating with care
Native in: Portuguese (Variants: European/Portugal, Mozambican, Angolan, Brazilian, Cape Verdean)
Works in: English to Portuguese, French to Portuguese, Spanish to Portuguese, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
3
Reference:
será "catana"?
21 mins
Reference:
cocoa harvesting
Harvesting cocoa pods requires considerable skill because the pods grow on thick stems, very close to the trunk and branches. The tree itself is highly vulnerable to damage, which can easily be caused by the blade used for harvesting.
For example, if a flower cushion is damaged, no flowers will develop from that spot in future years, while cuts on the tree's branches or trunk encourage fungal growth.
Harvesting cocoa pods requires considerable skill because the pods grow on thick stems, very close to the trunk and branches. The tree itself is highly vulnerable to damage, which can easily be caused by the blade used for harvesting.
For example, if a flower cushion is damaged, no flowers will develop from that spot in future years, while cuts on the tree's branches or trunk encourage fungal growth.
Discussion
I also wanted to apologize in advance, but I don't speak any Portuguese at all, so please post answers and explanations in English if at all possible. Thanks so much.