# Bangs



## Anneke

Una ragazza dice ad un'altra, mentre le osserva i capelli: *"Those bangs do so much to hide your face."*

_"Bangs"_ significa solo frangetta o qualcos'altro? Perchè la frase è pronunciata mentre la ragazza tocca i capelli lunghi e lisci dell'altra, e non la frangetta, e allora mi era sorto questo dubbio...

La traduzione, poi, va fatta letterale o no? 
Io direi: "Quella frangetta ti nasconde tantissimo la faccia.", ma non so se va bene. Mi aiutate? Grazie.​


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## tomzenith

Mi sembra bene. Qui e' la pagina equivalente da wikipedia in Italiano: Frangia (acconciatura).


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## Hermocrates

Ciao Anneke. È un testo americano? "Bangs" di solito è AE per fringe, che è la "frangia", i capelli davanti tagliati. 

Non mi intendo di tagli di capelli, comunque che io sappia per bangs non si intende solo la frangetta corta davanti, ma anche ciuffi un po' più lunghi di capelli davanti, anche solo da una parte, che bene o male incorniciano o anche nascondono il viso. In quel caso forse rende più l'idea "ciuffi" (ma non sono sicuro del lessico italiano). 

"Frangia" per qualche motivo in italiano mi sembra esclusivamente quella a caschetto.


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## Anneke

Si, Hermocrates, è un testo americano. 
Comunque forse è come dici tu, perchè la ragazza indica le ciocche di capelli più davanti. Più che "ciuffi" li tradurrei con "ciocche", semplicemente.

Grazie mille


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## Hermocrates

Anneke said:


> Comunque forse è come dici tu, perchè la ragazza indica le ciocche di capelli più davanti. Più che "ciuffi" li tradurrei con "ciocche", semplicemente.



Sì, oppure forse in questo caso potresti anche dire solo "capelli" (tipo: "questi capelli davanti ti nascondono terribilmente il viso" - qualcosa del genere, non ricordo la frase di partenza)

Vedi tu cosa suona meglio in italiano.  L'importante è rendere l'idea. 

Ciao!


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## You little ripper!

CdS dictionary translates it simply as _(Am) frangia f.sing., frangetta f.sing._


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## Hermocrates

Charles Costante said:


> CdS dictionary translates it simply as _(Am) frangia f.sing., frangetta f.sing._



Uhm, that's tricky. 

In English (BE) I call this a "fringe" and in Italian it is called "frangia" or "frangetta". However, I have heard American friends refer to this (longer) as "bangs" too.

As I said in post #3 I don't think the longer type is referred to as "frangia" in Italian. Frangia is typically short, as far as I know.


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## MStraf

Charles Costante said:


> CdS dictionary translates it simply as _(Am) frangia f.sing., frangetta f.sing._


uhmm... this time I do not agree with that translation (and only because I have a sixteen years old niece  )
"Fringe" and "bangs", at least in AE, are two different (but similar) things, "fringe" is more similar to the Italian "frangetta" (that is, short hair that cover the forehead in a uniform way) whereas "bangs" are made of longer hair and the cut is not uniform. And there is also a new style, called "fringe bangs" (go figure... well, everyone was sixteen I guess...)


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## Hermocrates

MStraf, great minds think alike. 

We even seem to have posted simultaneously.


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## You little ripper!

нєrмocrαтєѕ said:


> Uhm, that's tricky.
> 
> In English (BE) I call this a "fringe" and in Italian it is called "frangia" or "frangetta". However, I have heard American friends refer to this (longer) as "bangs" too.
> 
> As I said in post #3 I don't think the longer type is referred to as "frangia" in Italian. Frangia is typically short, as far as I know.


Rye, according to this website 'frangia' can also be long.

This and this are a couple of examples shown in a list of images of a frangia lunga.


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## You little ripper!

MStraf said:


> uhmm... this time I do not agree with that translation (and only because I have a sixteen years old niece  )
> "Fringe" and "bangs", at least in AE, are two different (but similar) things, "fringe" is more similar to the Italian "frangetta" (that is, short hair that cover the forehead in a uniform way) whereas "bangs" are made of longer hair and the cut is not uniform. And there is also a new style, called "fringe bangs" (go figure... well, everyone was sixteen I guess...)


According to Wikipedia 'bangs' is the word used in America and Canada for 'fringe'.

_A *fringe* (or *bangs* in the United States and Canada) is a shaped cutting of the front part of the hair so that it is combed forward and hangs or curls over the forehead. A classic fringe is cut fairly straight at or above the eyebrows, but fringes can also be ragged or ruffled, spiked up with hair gel, swept to one side or the other, and *sometimes they are cut longer to partially cover the eyes.

*_Here are some images of a long fringe.


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## Hermocrates

Charles Costante said:


> According to Wikipedia 'bangs' is the word used in America and Canada for 'fringe'.



Yes, I am aware the Wikipedia considers them synonyms. However, based exclusively on personal experience, "bangs" in AE is sometimes used to refer to a haircut I wouldn't call a fringe in BE. But I'm no expert, so we probably need a hairdresser's opinion here.  

On a side note, which term do you use down under? Bangs or fringe? (Just curious)


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## MStraf

Charles, wikipedia is just a generic Encyclopedia, for "specific" terms I stay away from it. When I told my niece "what a nice fringe" she looked at me like I was a dinosaur (better yet, more of a dinosaur than my usual  )

This is just one of the many websites you can find on hairstyles:
http://www.latest-hairstyles.com/bangs/


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## You little ripper!

нєrмocrαтєѕ said:


> Yes, I am aware the Wikipedia considers them synonyms. However, based exclusively on personal experience, "bangs" in AE is sometimes used to refer to a haircut I wouldn't call a fringe in BE. But I'm no expert, so we probably need a hairdresser's opinion here.
> 
> On a side note, which term do you use down under? Bangs or fringe? (Just curious)


Rye, you may not have seen the  edit in my last post but fringes can also be long. 
Australians use the word 'fringe', but you do hear the word 'bangs' occasionally (globalization ). 



> Charles, wikipedia is just a generic Encyclopedia, for "specific" terms I stay away from it.


I personally think Wikipedia is brilliant!



> When I told my niece "what a nice fringe" she looked at me like I was a dinosaur (better yet, more of a dinosaur than my usual  )


Is your niece American, Italian or other? It could explain the reason for the strange look.


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## MStraf

Charles Costante said:


> I personally think Wikipedia is brilliant! ...


not for everything, for political subjects for example I would stay away like it were poison oak, as well as for "modern" jargon that changes very often, or for very technical or scientific subjects. It gives a "general" idea, but I always "follow the links".



> ... Is your niece American, Italian or other? It could explain the reason for the strange look.


Very much American, Burbank California, at her age fashion is everything  She loves me anyway...


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## Hermocrates

Charles Costante said:


> Rye, you may not have seen the  edit in my last post but fringes can also be long.



Yes, I noticed. But I am still confused! If a person mentions a fringe to me, I instinctively think of a short-type of fringe. I would call a long fringe a... "long fringe".  I hope it makes some sense! 

I believe the same holds true in Italian: traditionally a frangia/frangetta is cut short and typically never parted. Probably you could say "frangia lunga" to refer to long-type bangs.

In particular, in the scene described by Anneke, the girl mentioning her friend's bangs is not stroking her friend's "frangia", so the context is a little ambiguous. That's why I suggested to translate it simply as "capelli".


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## Paulfromitaly

Old, dear search function..

blunt-cut *bangs* (haircut)
Please don't cut my *bangs*. I am trying to grow them out.
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=247169http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1195665


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## You little ripper!

MStraf said:


> Very much American, Burbank California, at her age fashion is everything  She loves me anyway...


Maybe the reason  for the strange look when you said, "what a nice fringe!" is because of your choice of word. Even though they may know what a 'fringe' is, Americans are more familiar with 'bangs'.


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## You little ripper!

нєrмocrαтєѕ said:


> Yes, I noticed. But I am still confused! If a person mentions a fringe to me, I instinctively think of a short-type of fringe.


It used to be in my day, too. A fringe used to be short, all the same length, and always ended above the eyebrows. It would seem that "times, they are a-changin'''.


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## Hermocrates

Charles Costante said:


> It used to be in my day, too. A fringe used to be short, all the same length, and always ended above the eyebrows. It would seem that "times, they are a-changin'''.



Then it's official, I am an old fart.   Maybe I should move to a cozy cottage in the countryside and retire.


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## You little ripper!

нєrмocrαтєѕ said:


> Then it's official, I am an old fart.   Maybe I should move to a cozy cottage in the countryside and retire.


Rye, that sounds like you're calling me one, too. 




> In particular, in the scene described by Anneke, the girl mentioning her friend's bangs is not stroking her friend's "frangia", so the context is a little ambiguous. That's why I suggested to translate it simply as "capelli".


The sentence *"Those bangs do so much to hide your face." *is also very strange. It sounds like it's supposed to be a compliment, but why would hiding one's face be a good thing?


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## Anneke

Charles Costante said:


> Rye, that sounds like you're calling me one, too.
> 
> 
> The sentence *"Those bangs do so much to hide your face." *is also very strange. It sounds like it's supposed to be a compliment, but why would hiding one's face be a good thing?



La ragazza non sta facendo un complimento. O per meglio dire... sembra che le voglia dare un consiglio, ma in realtà poi la offende.

Comunque grazie a tutti per l'aiuto! Vi state sbizzarrendo, gh!


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## tomzenith

How about 'pettinatura'? That way it makes sense that she is commenting on the style of the hair (rather than the hair itself), which is surely what the original is basically saying, and makes sense with the nasty little insult the phrase carries. What do you think?


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## You little ripper!

Anneke said:


> La ragazza non sta facendo un complimento. O per meglio dire... sembra che le voglia dare un consiglio, ma in realtà poi la offende.


Anneke, *do so much to *in that sentence is a strange choice of words in my opinion. I would expect a compliment to come after them, not *to hide your face*. For example:

_Those bangs do so much to highlight your cheekbone.
Those bangs do so much to balance out the shape of your face.
_ 
For me it would sound more logical to have a negative there:

_Those bangs do nothing for you except hide your face._

or something like that. But it's a bit difficult without reading what comes before that sentence.


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## tomzenith

Charles Costante said:


> I would expect a compliment to come after them, not *to hide your face*.



I think that's exactly the point Charles, it looks like it's going to be a compliment, but really it's not. Makes it a little extra mean. She's only complimenting her on her hair in order to insult her face.


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## You little ripper!

tomzenith said:


> I think that's exactly the point Charles, it looks like it's going to be a compliment, but really it's not. Makes it a little extra mean. She's only complimenting her on her hair in order to insult her face.


Tom, we don't know that that's her intention without more context. All we know is that she wants give her some advice, but then ends up offending her.


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## mustangman

Please don't consider me sexist or rude. Bangs and fringe are only different to women, or people in the hair/fashion industry. Most every man in america will just refer to them as bangs. In fact if I heard fringe out of context, I wouldn't know what that person was talking about until they described it a little more. If you want to use fringe as a way to more accurately describe the type of hair then that would be when you use this word.

For simplicity sake if you ever don't know which to use, just say bangs.


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## tomzenith

You're right, I'm jumping to conclusions!


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## MStraf

mustangman said:


> .... Bangs and fringe are only different to women, or people in the hair/fashion industry.  ...


That is exactly what I said to my niece.
After that, she gave me a lesson on hairstyle (as I said, she loves me) that I am afraid I forgot completely (I am almost bald, and fashion is not "my thing") I just learned what I already knew: men are from Mars, women from Venus, and sixteen years old come from another galaxy (far, far away)

Thanks for your clarification  From now on, "bangs" will be... for me.


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## You little ripper!

mustangman said:


> For simplicity sake if you ever don't know which to use, just say bangs.





MStraf said:


> That is exactly what I said to my niece.
> After that, she gave me a lesson on hairstyle (as I said, she loves me) that I am afraid I forgot completely (I am almost bald, and fashion is not "my thing") I just learned what I already knew: men are from Mars, women from Venus, and sixteen years old come from another galaxy (far, far away)
> 
> Thanks for your clarification  From now on, "bangs" will be... for me.


'Bangs' is what  American and Canadians generally use. In the U.K. and Australia it is 'fringe'. Why shouldn't we use the word 'fringe' for the sake of simplicity? 



> You're right, I'm jumping to conclusions!


The thing about jumping to conclusions, Tom,  is that 50% of the time you could be right. And you might be here.


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## Hermocrates

Charles Costante said:


> Rye, that sounds like you're calling me one, too.



Errr....

 (Quick! think of something polite to say)


Of course I am not!  You're more up-to-date and fashion-savvy than I am. I'm the resident old fossil here. 


(And after this public maladroit display of my utter lack of tact, I think I will crawl back into a hole. )


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