# tombstone teeth



## mirifica

Hello
I found that phrase "tombstone teeth" in a physical description. I don't see what it means, let alone translating...

Thanks for your help.

Mirifica


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## Novanas

You haven't given any context here, but I'd take it to mean "teeth like tombstones"--i.e., big, white, perhaps threatening.


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## Gwan

I think it's something more like having missing teeth and those that are still present are in a bad state, like an old graveyard where the tombstones are cracked and falling over and at crazy angles.


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## Bobstein

_Tombstone teeth _as teeth that a very big! I know the expression 'He's got teeth like tombstones'. Have a look at this picture: http://www.onlinejokeshop.co.uk/images/shop/product_images/11973/28035.bmp


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## mirifica

Gwan said:


> I think it's something more like having missing teeth and those that are still present are in a bad state, like an old graveyard where the tombstones are cracked and falling over and at crazy angles.


 
Thnk you Gwan, it sounds quite right. I don't see the equivalent in French? I'll have think Hard.
Many thanks

Mirifica


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## Micia93

"des dents de lapin" ?


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## Gwan

Je pense que les dents de lapin sont 'buck teeth' en anglais (?)


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## xiancee

I think it has more to do with size than state ... You can keep the comparison and say " des dents comme des pierres tombales" 
Sinon on peut dire aussi "des dents comme des touches de piano" qui reprend l'idée de la taille " voir ici


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## Gwan

Um, moderator ^^

Obviously I have a difference of opinion with everyone else  
Ultimately, it's for mirifica to decide exactly what the teeth in question are like, I've found various things on the internet e.g.

       From the Sunday Times “The thing that ages you most is having tombstone teeth,” says Robbie  Coltrane, aka Rubeus Hagrid, the blabbermouth giant of the Harry Potter  films, as he gurns comically for the photographer. “I've just had mine  cleaned with this great new process where they blast them with baking  soda...”(which suggests tombstone teeth are yellow)


From The First Post: "As lead singer of the Seventies punk band the Sex Pistols, he was  nicknamed *Johnny Rotten* – a reference to his decaying,  tombstone teeth"


And from The Evening Standard : "Tombstone teeth killed my marriage... Now  the reason for her split from husband of 16 years has emerged  -  her  "gigantic" teeth." 




So, yellow, rotten, or huge teeth, depending on how you interpret it! As for translating it into French, I'll leave that to the native speakers...


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## mirifica

xiancee said:


> I think it has more to do with size than state ... You can keep the comparison and say " des dents comme des pierres tombales"
> Sinon on peut dire aussi "des dents comme des touches de piano" qui reprend l'idée de la taille " voir ici


 
Thanks a lot, Xiancee, I'll use your phrase, the nearest one.

Mirifica


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## xiancee

Interesting analysis Gwan ... And impressive bibliography ... So it is both decay and size ....


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## Gwan

Merci! (Je suis au travail, j'ai rien d'autre à faire )


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## mirifica

Gwan said:


> Merci! (Je suis au travail, j'ai rien d'autre à faire )


 
Good work

Mirifica


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## Micia93

Gwan said:


> So, yellow, rotten, or huge teeth, depending on how you interpret it! As for translating it into French, I'll leave that to the native speakers...


 
"des chicots" then ?


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## xiancee

Micia93 said:


> "des chicots" then ?




Des "chicots" sont de petite taille et jaunis ...


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## Micia93

xiancee said:


> Des "chicots" sont de petite taille et jaunis ...


 
pourquoi "de petite taille" ?
on peut avoir "des grands chicots", non ? (enfin, à éviter si possible )
l'idée de "dents jaunes" a été évoquée plus haut par Gwann


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## xiancee

Micia93 said:


> pourquoi "de petite taille" ?
> on peut avoir "des grands chicots", non ? (enfin, à éviter si possible )
> l'idée de "dents jaunes" a été évoquée plus haut par Gwann



En fait un "chicot" est un morceau de dent ... donc forcément plus petit que la dent elle même.


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## Micia93

xiancee said:


> En fait un "chicot" est un morceau de dent ... donc forcément plus petit que la dent elle même.


 
haha ! bien vu Xiancee 
je n'avais pas ressenti le mot sous cet angle-là !


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## xiancee

Micia93 said:


> haha ! bien vu Xiancee
> je n'avais pas ressenti le mot sous cet angle-là !



Regarde ici


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## Half-breed13

Tombstone teeth are definitely rotten and/or broken teeth, irrelevant of size.

Donc, ma traduction préférée est : des chicots.


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## Itisi

Half-breed13 said:


> Tombstone teeth are definitely rotten and/or broken teeth, irrelevant of size: des chicots.


So why would they be called '_tombstone _teeth' !  They are big, regular teeth, that look like a row of tombsones.  It's what you get in England if you have a denture made on the national health! They look like the teeth on this smiley, actually!


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## balzar

Moi je dirais - des dents de cheval - tombstone teeth sont toujours tres grandes et assez jaunes!


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## Itisi

balzar said:


> des dents de cheval


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## Half-breed13

I still stand by what I said - I've never used or heard it used to describe big teeth. Has always implied bad teeth as far as I know.


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## Micia93

I'm not native, but I feel like you. A tombstone suggests death and rotten bodies, which could be the case with bad teeth aiming to be so


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## petit1

Il y a bien l'expression française "creuser sa tombe avec ses dents" , dans le sens de faire des excès de table, mais on est sans doute très loin du sens recherché.


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## Lucky19

Grandes dents : denture chevaline (dentition est impropre dans ce contexte alors j'obtempère ! ). Ou sinon, on dira : Avec les dents qu'il a, il doit courir à Longchamp ! Croc-blanc ! Il est de la famille à Fernandel ! C'est Bugs Bunny !

Après, je pense que c'est une question d'imagination personnelle : Avec des dents comme ça, il ne sourit pas, il dégaine ! Il est cure-dents friendly ! On l'appelle : sabre au clair !

Quant aux dents jaunies et gâtées : C'est la fête du chicot, dans sa bouche ! C'est chicotland ! (Disneyland/Chicotland, paradis des chicots)

Il n'y a pas vraiment d'expression consacrée, il me semble.

Quand j'étais en Espagne où les frais dentaires ne sont pas aussi bien remboursés qu'en France, j'ai vu, chez des gens de mon âge, des dentures à faire peur. Je disais à ma famille là-bas, au sujet de ces gens, qu'ils avaient les dents qui partaient dans tous les sens ou que c'était les Dents de la Mer.


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## Half-breed13

Ha ha, Fernandel - ah, de bon vieux souvenirs !


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## Nicomon

If I had to reverse _dents de cheval _ to English,  I would say (literally) :  _horse teeth_  (e.g. Fernandel, Brel, or this smiley )

While I'm not really familiar with the expression, I also would have associated "_tombstone teeth_" with rotten teeth  (as Gwan and  Half-bred13 defined them) 
or "sparse teeth" (as in very few left). 

This is extracted from the Urban dictionary : 





> Usually occuring in older members of society, "Tombstone teeth" is a derogatory term used to describe a mouth consisting mainly of tongue and gums. Maybe, one or two teeth will stand out but no more than that.


 This makes me think of « _sourire édenté _». 

So... who's right, really?  I think everyone is, and that context will usually tell.


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## petit1

des dents en créneaux ?


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## balzar

According to the Oxford Dictionary - which I feel is perhaps more reliable than the Urban Dictionary - they are very large teeth, like a row of tombstones.  Most cemeteries have such rows of standing stones.   
The other interpretation also seems relatively popular - so take your pick - and remember to wash your teeth after meals!!!


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## Itisi

balzar said:


> so take your (tooth)pick !


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## Coquecigrue

balzar said:


> According to the Oxford Dictionary - which I feel is perhaps more reliable than the Urban Dictionary - they are very large teeth, like a row of tombstones.



Not to fight tooth and nail or anything but the OED says more precisely : "_slang_ A projecting tooth, esp. a discoloured one. E20." 
So not quite a gleaming row of perfectly vertical teeth.


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## Nicomon

As I said... context usually tells. Just two completely different examples... 





> I asked quickly, an odious picture forming in my mind of a vile, pistol-bearing _*pirate*_ with _*tombstone teeth*_ and blood-spotted vest.
> I also hate those *chiklet tombstone teeth *that people in the US get!!


  Le pirate a un « sourire édenté »  et l'autre a un « sourire "chiclets" ».


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## Itisi

How nice that we can all be right


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## Troppoboy

mirifica said:


> Hello
> I found that phrase "tombstone teeth" in a physical description. I don't see what it means, let alone translating...
> 
> Thanks for your help.
> 
> Mirifica


I had an older chinese friend that had large front teeth with little gum shaped like a tombstone we in Australia nicknamed him tombstone teeth


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## petit1

Ses dents étaient plantées comme les stèles d'un cimetière.


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