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payer de sa personne
Platini : de l’évidence à l’urgence…

Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

aller au charbon

English translation:

isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty

Added to glossary by lloydedmondson
Jan 10, 2007 03:05
17 yrs ago
French term

aller au charbon

French to English Other Sports / Fitness / Recreation
Last question of the night I hope!!:

This paragraph is really causing me some problems.

Context:

"un président actif, qui paye de sa personne, qui aille au charbon et qui ne laisse pas, comme aujourd’hui, l’administration travailler seule"

I am not too sure what part of "administration" within UEFA it is referring to either.

Any ideas would be really appreciated.

Cheers.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +4 isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty
4 +2 to tackle an unpleasant task
5 means: au travail
3 +1 roll his sleeves up
3 to get lumbered
2 -1 hack on a coal face

Proposed translations

+4
3 hrs
Selected

isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty

As for your question about the administration part, I guess it has to do with the management part of UEFA...
Peer comment(s):
agree David Goward
2 hrs
Thank you David!
agree B D Finch
2 hrs
Thank you BD!
neutral Marc Glinert : from the context, there is nothing unpleasant about the task. Only that it involves hard work. This is the sense in which I find "aller au charbon" to be generally used in French//thanks Rousselures - fair comment!
3 hrs
Getting your hands dirty might be unpleasant or just plain hard work, aller au charbon is the same.Some people thrive on it :)
agree blavatsky
4 hrs
Thank you Blavatsky!
agree Claudine-Hélène L. : the expression "aller au charbon" implies that the work is not only hard but also rather unpleasant so i think "getting your hands dirty" works pretty well
7 hrs
Thanks!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "thanks"
+2
10 mins

to tackle an unpleasant task

to do what is necessary, even though it may not be pleasant - is the meaning of this term

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Note added at 11 mins (2007-01-10 03:17:06 GMT)
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ler au charbon - Wiktionnaire- [ Translate this page ]Locution verbale. aller au charbon /a.le.ʁo.ʃaʁ.bɔ̃/. Aller faire quelque chose de désagréable, aller faire quelque chose de très dur. ...
fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/aller_au_charbon - 14k - Cached - Similar pages

Aller au charbon : signification et origine de l’expression- [ Translate this page ]Aller au charbon signifie que l'on doit accomplir une tâche fort désagréable, ou encore que l'on doit travailler très durement...
www.linternaute.com/expression/langue-francaise/655/aller-a...
Peer comment(s):
agree Hebat-Allah El Ashmawy
4 hrs
neutral B D Finch : You understand the meaning correctly, but this is hardly a colloquial English expression of the type sought.
4 hrs
neutral Marc Glinert : agree, but with BDF - an idiom is necessary to preserve the tone of the source text
6 hrs
agree blavatsky
6 hrs
Something went wrong...
-1
5 hrs

hack on a coal face

Peer comment(s):
disagree Marc Glinert : Absolutely no way, danièle. Your inverted gloss. ref. takes a literal quote in the original English. What we need here is an idiom
1 hr
ok, merci
Something went wrong...
7 hrs

to get lumbered

who is not afraid of getting lumbered
Peer comment(s):
neutral Marc Glinert : hmm not sure about this Odette. YOu get lumbered with something when no one else wants to do it and you become the "default" actor. Here I get the impression it is the will of the person to do his share (and more) of the work
22 hrs
Something went wrong...
1 day 17 hrs

means: au travail

who works
Something went wrong...
+1
6 hrs

roll his sleeves up

Have to go with an idiom here, and this is the most natural in this context, Lloyd

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Note added at 7 hrs (2007-01-10 10:34:19 GMT)
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plenty of others to choose from offering varying degrees of commitment and effort.... put your shoulder to the wheel (I've never really understood how this would help but....)/ put your back into it/get stuck in/pull your finger out/mouiller le maillot (whoops that one's French!!!)

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Note added at 2 days6 hrs (2007-01-12 09:08:31 GMT)
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Stumbled upon this today on the BBC:
Although he has yet to decide where he will go and what sort of work he will do, a spokeswoman said he was keen to "roll his sleeves up".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6251241.stm
Peer comment(s):
neutral Raymonde Gagnier : Se retrousser les manches? aller au charbon is a bit grittier...Se retrousser les manches is used all the time in french, it's one of those idioms that are used in both languages, bridging the gap between the two solitudes...:)
33 mins
not sure we can get to the exact feel of an idiom in a certain language by simply finding its literal equivalent in the other language, rousselures
agree Kim Metzger : Or put his nose to the grindstone http://fr.answers.com/topic/charbon-2 http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20010928
7 hrs
yup..what is a grindstone, anyway??!
Something went wrong...
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