# tout en ayant le sensibilité à fleur de peau



## mainflag

"tout en ayant le sensibilite a fleur de peau"

Can you suggest an English translation for this phrase?


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## valerie

Avoir la sensibilité à fleur de peau means be very sensitive, be oversensitive, for example react strongly to a minor coment or question


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## Benjy

c'est toujours à connotation negative?
merci d'avance


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## Cath.S.

Benjy said:
			
		

> c'est toujours à connotation negative?
> merci d'avance


Mmmm, depends on what you mean by "negative"... it can be a compliment of sorts, like something you'd say about an artist.
Cependant, ça implique que la personne en question est plus vulnérable qu'une autre à la souffrance.

Edition
J'ajoute la magnifique citation de Blaise CENDRARS dont le TLF se sert pour illustrer cette expression :
_Il était tout en vif-argent. Il était pur. Et sensible comme un thermomètre. La sensibilité à fleur de peau. Et par là, il était moderne._


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## Benjy

je demandais parce que je suis en train de relire ce forum depuis le début et de rajouter les mots/expressions pertinents au dico.. donc tu vois à quel point c'est important de bien capter le sens  "oversensitive" on dit jamais ça en compliment  alors very sensitive? mais je trouve ça fort plat :[


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## germinal

Benjy said:
			
		

> je demandais parce que je suis en train de relire ce forum depuis le début et de rajouter les mots/expressions pertinents au dico.. donc tu vois à quel point c'est important de bien capter le sens "oversensitive" on dit jamais ça en compliment alors very sensitive? mais je trouve ça fort plat :[


 
Hello Benjy - What about hypersensitive? Ça va? Germinal.


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## timpeac

Having read the explanations of this word, it seems to me that "highly-strung" is the most suitable English phrase. I don't think that you could describe anyone as "hyper" or "over" sensitive without it being negative, whereas if you are an artist it is almost _expected_ for you to be highly-strung daaaahlings!


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## Benjy

highly strung! loving it. thanks tim + germinal


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## Cath.S.

How about _highly sensitive_, then? 
Also, I'm obviously not suggesting it as a translation,  but I found Pope's* marvelous "die of a rose in aromatic pain".

*Alexander, not Benedict!


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## Benjy

egueule said:
			
		

> How about _highly sensitive_, then?
> Also, I'm obviously not suggesting it as a translation,  but I found Pope's* marvelous "die of a rose in aromatic pain".
> 
> *Alexander, not Benedict!




the only problem is its hard to get the idea of sensitivity across with out it being seen as negative. thats why i jumped on highly strung: the word doesnt appear in it


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## Cath.S.

Benjy said:
			
		

> the only problem is its hard to get the idea of sensitivity across with out it being seen as negative. thats why i jumped on highly strung: the word doesnt appear in it


and you were quite right to jump too, IMO.
Tim posted his _highly strung_ message while I was still rummaging through Roget's Thesaurus.


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## Gil

Does anything seem appropriate from this Thesaurus list (I erased those wich seemed to have a negative connotation):
impressionable
Synonyms:  	delicate, easily affected, emotionable, emotional,  high-strung, hung up, hypersensitive, impressible, keen, oversensitive, perceiving, perceptive, reactive, receptive, responsive, sensatory, sensile, sensorial, sensory,  supersensitive, susceptible, touchy, touchy feely,  tuned in,wired


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## Benjy

arg! too many choices!
*head explodes*


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## timpeac

Benjy said:
			
		

> arg! too many choices!
> *head explodes*


 
Tsk tsk. Don't be so sensitive....


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## fetchezlavache

i'm not even sure it has a negative connotation in english...

sensibilité in that case can apply not only to how we react to events (making a mountain of a mole-hill) but also to how we react to any event/sensation (being prone to enjoy deeply the beauty of a sunset for instance).

i agree that it's _much_ more often used in the first sense, but i'm not too keen on 'high strung' who gives the impression of a person 'on edge'. that's not an impression that is conveyed by the french saying.

i think we need more context.

ps i hasten to add that reading only the title of the thread i had thought of 'thin-skinned', which goes to show that i too had the negative undertone in mind. but i don't know how we can translate it without knowing more context.


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## Benjy

nat, the context is a dictionary entry. thats the problem


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## Cath.S.

Benjy said:
			
		

> nat, the context is a dictionary entry. thats the problem


so you'll need several different translations.


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## Benjy

yes. but which?  i suddenly feel really lazy. anyone else want to pick a collection synonymes for me? =[[


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## Cath.S.

I'd go for
highly-strung
thin-skinned
highly sensitive,
and add the appropriate categories.


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## Benjy

thanks 
*tries to piece together the rest of his head*


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## robotboy71

I've heard this particular expression, but it seems to me that the most appropriate definition of "a fleur the peau" is "ready to surface" (as in, right beneath the skin). So "ayant la sensibilite a fleur de peau" means that your sensibilities come about easily (i.e. you are over-sensitive). But "a fleur de peau" in itself is just an expression used to denote something that is "at the ready" and could be ready to surface easily...love, fear, a smile...


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## polaire

Gil said:
			
		

> Does anything seem appropriate from this Thesaurus list (I erased those wich seemed to have a negative connotation):
> impressionable
> Synonyms:      delicate, easily affected, emotionable, emotional,  high-strung, hung up, hypersensitive, impressible, keen, oversensitive, perceiving, perceptive, reactive, receptive, responsive, sensatory, sensile, sensorial, sensory,  supersensitive, susceptible, touchy, touchy feely,  tuned in,wired





			
				egueule said:
			
		

> I'd go for
> highly-strung
> thin-skinned
> highly sensitive,
> and add the appropriate categories.


The ones in dark red all seem like possible synonyms, although others would be appropriate, depending on the context.

"Highly-strung" can be negative if you're a "red-blooded American man."  But it's not as negative as "hypersensitive" or "oversensitive."


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## polaire

I have heard the expression: "S/he's a delicate flower."  It's somewhat mocking.


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## polaire

mainflag said:
			
		

> "tout en ayant le sensibilite a fleur de peau"
> 
> Can you suggest an English translation for this phrase?



S/he's as delicate as a flower petal.


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## roblecky

I think the point here is whether or not there's a similar negative connotation in french.  If there's not, then the point is mute.


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## zam

Also 'raw sensitivity', possible to use in some contexts, imo.
 
e.g
** 
*



Humanité 
: (Bruno Dumont, 1999)
A police detective who lives with his mother in a working-class town in Northern France. With astonishing and  raw sensitivity, Pharaon agonizes over the evil he must confront every day during the course of his work
 
This production's bowdlerized screenplay diminishes his raw sensitivity and plugs in some safe triteness about the value of family over material possessions ...
www.dvdjournal.com/quickreviews/ c/catonahottinroof.q.shtml - 10k -

Click to expand...

*


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## la grive solitaire

zam said:
			
		

> Also 'raw sensitivity', possible to use in some contexts, imo.
> 
> e.g
> 
> **




Could you give the link again, zam?  It's usually _*rare* sensitivity._


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## zam

Here it is:

*Humanité*. : (Bruno Dumont, 1999) A police detective who lives with his *...* With astonishing and *raw sensitivity*, Pharaon agonizes over the evil he must *...*
www.cofc.edu/~french/movies/h.html - 8k - Cached - Similar pages


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## la grive solitaire

Thanks, zam. It still seems strange. I've only seen _raw sensitivity_ in a scientific context... but that doesn't mean anything.


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## BabyButterBall

Hi all!  My boyfriend is French and I just got a message from him today:
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You touch me a lot.  Difficult to explain exactly but in french i know one expression which match with one point of your personality which touch me: you are "a fleur de peau"..
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I tried searching for the meaning of this and stumbled into this forum...He's obviously using the term "a fleur de peau" in a positive way, but any way I look at it, it sounds negative to me... >_<"  Can anyone help me out???


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## Aeg45

BabyButterBall said:


> Hi all!  My boyfriend is French and I just got a message from him today:
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> You touch me a lot.  Difficult to explain exactly but in french i know one expression which match with one point of your personality which touch me: you are "a fleur de peau"..
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> I tried searching for the meaning of this and stumbled into this forum...He's obviously using the term "a fleur de peau" in a positive way, but any way I look at it, it sounds negative to me... >_<"  Can anyone help me out???



This is just a guess...but perhaps, rather than "over sensitive" or "high strung" or "delicate" he means you are a very sensitive person, you are responsive, you are easily touched (emotionally), sort of like saying you are an understanding person???  Maybe delicate and sweet personality???
but, again, that is just a guess


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## BabyButterBall

Aeg45 said:


> This is just a guess...but perhaps, rather than "over sensitive" or "high strung" or "delicate" he means you are a very sensitive person, you are responsive, you are easily touched (emotionally), sort of like saying you are an understanding person???  Maybe delicate and sweet personality???
> but, again, that is just a guess




Thanks for your reply~  Well...I asked my boyfriend and he gave me this answer:

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Fleur de peau, my translation is good..It is really difficult to translate..It is like very sensitive, like your responses are true, complex and full..I love this..
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So, you were right with being "responsive"~    Once again, thanks for your help!  I love this forum!!!  <3


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