# Chemin Dans Les Blés A Pourville



## dunnro1

I cannot find a translation of "bles" (from Monet's painting "Chemin Dans Les Bles A Pourville").


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## OlivierG

It's "corn". When plural, it means corn fields.


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## Cath.S.

Hi Dunno ! (lol!)
Welcome to the forum.

_Blé_ means _wheat_, here the plural is used to mean _wheatfield_.


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## Cath.S.

Olivier, doesn't corn = maïs or is it AE only?
This is _un champ de blé, des blés_
http://baladeenfamille.free.fr/villes/aiguilles/dia1024masque08.jpg

This is _un champ de maïs_
http://lakreule.free.fr/CHAMP-DE-MAIS-GRAND@@@.jpg


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## OlivierG

The WR dictionary says:
corn	 (english) GB	nm	blé
and
wheat	 (us)	nm	blé
so the word for "blé" seems to be different depending on the side of the ocean.


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## LV4-26

OlivierG said:
			
		

> The WR dictionary says:
> corn (english) GB nm blé
> and
> wheat (us) nm blé
> so the word for "blé" seems to be different depending on the side of the ocean.


What's the BE for maïs, then ?
I've found maize, sweet corn and corn 
--> I'm confused.


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## charlie2

LV4-26 said:
			
		

> What's the BE for maïs, then ?


maize, I think.


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## Cath.S.

LV4-26 said:
			
		

> What's the BE for maïs, then ?


I used to eat sweet corn in England. C'était du maïs.


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## timpeac

LV4-26 said:
			
		

> What's the BE for maïs, then ?


 
Sweet corn.

And I can most definitely confirm this difference in BE/AE. It cost me two marks in my French translation exam at the end of my second year at uni

Edit - it's always sweet corn when it's loose, but when it's still on the cob we tend to call it "corn-on-the-cob" (but it's still sweet corn as well).

I looked in my dictionary and it also gives "maize" as a british translation. I'm not very agricultural but I have never heard this term used for it (I would recognise "maize" as the name for some sort of crop but wouldn't have a clue what. I would have assumed it was an American term before checking).


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## LV4-26

thanks charlie egueule and Tim. It's a lot clearer now.

So when the English are eating "corn flakes" they're really eating "sweet-corn flakes"...?


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## charlie2

Since my earlier post I checked my little Collins Robert, it gives :
_maize (Brit) corn (US)_ as the English definition for maïs. Now this is too confusing for me. 
Edit : sweet corn only when it is _en conserve_, the dictionary seems to think.


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## dunnro1

Thank you to all for the rapid response (I was drawing blanks from net searches)


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## timpeac

charlie2 said:
			
		

> Since my earlier post I checked my little Collins Robert, it gives :
> _maize (Brit) corn (US)_ as the English definition for maïs. Now this is too confusing for me.


 
Me too Charlie - see my edit above which I was doing as you posted this.

Whatever the case, when it is in the shops I have never heard anyone say "oh I just need to go and buy some maize".

I am guessing that this term is only ever used for the stuff when in the field. Once picked it is sweet corn or corn-on-the-cob. However, this is just me guessing.

Edit- An edit to answer your edit Charlie. What they mean by this is that "sweet corn", when loose, is normally bought in cans (in salt water).

Personally I would still say that corn-on-the-cob was sweet corn.


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## charlie2

timpeac said:
			
		

> Me too Charlie - see my edit above which I was doing as you posted this.
> 
> Whatever the case, when it is in the shops I have never heard anyone say "oh I just need to go and buy some maize".
> 
> I am guessing that this term is only ever used for the stuff when in the field. Once picked it is sweet corn or corn-on-the-cob. However, this is just me guessing.



As you were writing this, I edited my post on sweet corn. Would you see what you could get out of it? 
Corn-on-the-cob, according to the same dico is mais en épi. ( I am not pretending that I know what that is.)


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## timpeac

charlie2 said:
			
		

> As you were writing this, I edited my post on sweet corn. Would you see what you could get out of it?


 
And as you were writing this I edited my post to answer your edit!


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## Cath.S.

I agree with you Tim I think maize is the name of the plant. People grow maize but they eat sweet corn.
http://www.freesearch.co.uk/dictionary/maize
http://www.freesearch.co.uk/dictionary/corn+%28food%29


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## charlie2

Oh I give up, I eat rice.


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## timpeac

French------------------- UK English------------US English

blé -----------------------corn ----------------wheat
froment ------------------wheat ---------------wheat
maïs ---------------------maize (in field) -------corn
--------------------------sweet corn (loose)
--------------------------corn-on-the-cob (whole)


Is this a fair summary then?????


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## Cath.S.

C'est bien. On te rend tes deux points.
Edition :
Enfin, si tout le monde est d'accord !


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## timpeac

egueule said:
			
		

> C'est bien. On te rend tes deux points.


 
Hmmm let's not talk about that, I'm still not over it!!


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## Kelly B

Ref: sweet corn flakes for breakfast? 
Nope: they're eating "field-corn" flakes. Sweet corn is usually not allowed to mature to the hard-kernel state suitable for grinding into meal. Field corn is very similar to popping corn, and has a much thicker skin.
My dictionary (Oxford Hachette French-English) specifies "blé d'Inde" for UK maize/US corn, so I'd use "wheat" for blé.


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## Gil

charlie2 said:
			
		

> Oh I give up, I eat rice.



Je pensais t'inviter à une "épluchette de blé d'Inde", but forget it.
Rice it's going to be.

http://campdevacances.com/images/57.ble.inde.jpeg


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## charlie2

Gil said:
			
		

> Je pensais t'inviter à une "épluchette de blé d'Inde", but forget it.
> Rice it's going to be.
> 
> http://campdevacances.com/images/57.ble.inde.jpeg


Enfin, le visage derrière le pseudonyme.


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## LV4-26

Si quelqu'un d'autre ne l'avait pas faite, je l'aurais faite.


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## hkm27uk

I cannot eat wheat which I have said on another thread but can eat corn, oats and rye so that was why I wanted to check the correct word for wheat.  Several people have said that it is ble and that corn is mais.  (Sorry about the accents I haven't worked out how to do them on forums yet)

That's what is so confusing!!


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## tgarvey

This side of pond, maize is inedible variety of corn for humans.  Kernels are mixture of yellow, black, brown & white.  It may be fed to livestock, though.


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## tgarvey

"Blès" may also be translated as BARLEY when part of a dish or soup

Quiz demain


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## Telemarker

Just to add fuel to the fire...

 The corn harvest was exceptional this year.
(cf. US "maize" or "sweetcorn"; GB "any cereal" or "wheat", Scotland "oats", etc.)

from FAST-US-1 Introduction to American English (Hopkins)
Department of Translation Studies, University of Tampere


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## tgarvey

I neglected to mention that Barley is in boiled/cooked state.


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## Cath.S.

tgarvey said:
			
		

> "Blès" may also be translated as BARLEY when part of a dish or soup
> 
> Quiz demain


Sorry, this is wrong.
Barley = _Hordeum vulgare_ = orge


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## tgarvey

I do not claim to being a renowned linguist.  But there's a multitude of contexts, nuances, etc. that dictionaries do not reliably cover.  I can say that at least one cantine in Mons, BE, what to an American was barley was "blès" on the menu.  Now, you might say that this is a "Belgicisme".  My money, however, says that the same thing just 20 kms. away on other side of border in Maubeuge, FR would be "blès" as well.


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## timpeac

tgarvey said:
			
		

> I do not claim to being a renowned linguist. But there's a multitude of contexts, nuances, etc. that dictionaries do not reliably cover. I can say that at least one cantine in Mons, BE, what to an American was barley was "blès" on the menu. Now, you might say that this is a "Belgicisme". My money, however, says that the same thing just 20 kms. away on other side of border in Maubeuge, FR would be "blès" as well.


 
Can anyone from these places confirm?


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## Cath.S.

I wouldn't say it is a belgicisme, I just call it carelessness or ignorance. So the mistake is not yours, but theirs, but I maintain it is a mistake, and a bad one at that as people are entitled to know what's in their plate. 

Also, 
_dis, gros gras grand grain d'orge, quand te dé-gros-gras-grand grain d'orgeras-tu ?
Je me dé-gros-gras-grand-grain d'orgerai quand tous les gros gras grands grains d'orge se dé-gros-gras-grand-graind'orgeront_
loses all its flavor if you replace orge with blé.


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## gliamo

D'après ATILF, _blés_ peut regrouper des céréales variées:

*3. *_P. ext.  _Graminée ou plante autre que le blé proprement dit.  _Grands blés. _Seigle, froment; _petits blés. _Orge et avoine; _blé noir,_ ou _blé sarrasin. _Sarrasin. _Galette, pain de blé, __crêpes de blé noir cuites sur un feu d'ajoncs._ (PROUST, _La Prisonnière, _1922, p. 36). _Blé de Turquie, d'Inde_ ou _d'Espagne, blé indien. _Maïs Le blé indien, qui a plus que la taille d' un homme emplumé, présentant l' épi énorme et aigu.(CLAUDEL, _L'Échange, _1re version, 1894, p. 681).  _Blé-méteil. _Mélange de froment et de seigle. _Quant au méteil, il n'y faut pas penser_ (DU CAMP, _Mémoires d'un suicidé, _1853); (attesté de _Ac._ 1798 à QUILLET 1965).  _Blé de la Saint Jean_ (vieilli). Seigle semé en juin (attesté de _Lar. 19__e__, _à _Lar. 20__e_).  _Blé de Guinée. _Sorgho (attesté dans _Lar. 19__e__, _GUÉRIN 1892, _DG,_ ROB.).  _Blé de vache. _Mélampyre ou saponaire rouge (attesté de _Ac._ 1798 à _Lar. 20__e_).  _Blé des Canaries. _Alpiste (attesté de _Lar. 19__e_à QUILLET 1965).
*Rem.* On appelle gén. _blé ergoté_ le seigle ou le blé qui possède des épis contenant des grains noirs en forme d'ergot; c'est une maladie cryptogamique (_cf._ J. ROSTAND, _La Genèse de la vie, _1943, p. 39).


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## Agnès E.

Just to specify some little nuances: 

This is *blé noir* or *sarrasin* (mainly used to make pain de sarrasin and galettes de sarrazin in Brittany). This is a totally different plant from blé, as you can see. I think it has been called _blé noir_ just because some flour was produced from its seeds.

This is "usual" *blé*, the one which is used to make the flour we add to our cakes.

This is *orge*, which is mainly used to feed animals (horses, cattle, hens, etc.). Very close to blé, but not the same plant and not exactly the same seeds as well. For their own food, human beings usually boil orge perlé a bit the way they cook rice.


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## Telemarker

Now after reading all that, I think i lost my apetite...


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## xav

timpeac said:
			
		

> Hmmm let's not talk about that, I'm still not over it!!


 
At once, french is clearer. 

That problem of corn/wheat didn't only cost something to you, but a lot to the French government too. In 1945 or 46, it bought a lot of (BE) corn from the States, and had to send back millions of tons of maize...

Hope this will help you to smile further...


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## tgarvey

Par rapport au message de Gliamo, "orge et avoine" serait "BARLEY AND OATS" en anglais. Dans le cadre de donner à manger au cheptel, ces deux mots s'utilisent inséparablement. Il en est peut être de même en français.

Si cela ne vous tracasse pas trop de répondre à une question stupide:  ATILF = ?


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## Gil

Pas du tout:
Trésor de la langue française automatisé
http://atilf.atilf.fr/


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## tgarvey

Eguelé, I must accept mistake as mine as well.  It would have been better for me to say that I had OBSERVED "blés" used in this context, correct or otherwise.  That's all I'm doing basically in this forum, recollecting observations and experiences without consulting dictionaries or other reference works.


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## Cath.S.

tgarvey said:
			
		

> Eguelé, I must accept mistake as mine as well. It would have been better for me to say that I had OBSERVED "blés" used in this context, correct or otherwise. That's all I'm doing basically in this forum, recollecting observations and experiences without consulting dictionaries or other reference works.


Well in fact according to the TLF (the dictionary is definitely _not _called "atilf") it is only half a mistake, see Gliamo's #24 post. 
I'd be the last one to blame you for not using dictionaries.
Personally I've never seen that usage of_ blés_ (I lived in Belgium for some years) and I could not find another example of it through a Google search.
I really wish some of our Belgian friends would tell us what they think of the matter.


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## timpeac

xav said:
			
		

> At once, french is clearer.
> 
> That problem of corn/wheat didn't only cost something to you, but a lot to the French government too. In 1945 or 46, it bought a lot of (BE) corn from the States, and had to send back millions of tons of maize...
> 
> Hope this will help you to smile further...


 
Yes it has, thanks


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## Amda Zako

Sorry to dig up this old debate, but I couldn't get over corn meaning wheat. But here's the explanation from my trusty Collins:
*corn 1* _Brit_ any of various cereal plants, esp the predominant crop of a region, such as wheat in England and oats in Scotland and Ireland. (also: the seeds or seed of these plants.
*2* the usual US, Canadian, Australian and NZ name for maize.

Wheat is not listed as being BE or AE. I conclude that it's the standard translation of blé everywhere? Any objections from Brits?


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