# old hack



## Anoukmac

Hi,

This is from an American TV show. An actor says to the director of the TV show in which he's going to play:
_I knew you were a brand new director and somehow an *old hack* at the same time when I took it_ [the job].

So far, the director had been writing sitcom scripts.

By _hack_, does he mean rather _écrivaillon_ or _amateur _or something else?

Thanks a lot!


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## Michelvar

Je ne sais pas si c'est le sens ici, mais "old hack" c'est un journaliste ou un écrivain qui écrirait à propos de n'importe quoi si on le paye, ou s'il y a un succès commercial à attendre.

Voir ici .


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## david314

Based upon my understanding of the definition given by Harrap's:  *un journaliste/écrivain besogneux*


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## Anoukmac

OK, thanks a lot to you two!


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## bh7

I think the intended meaning in the given context is more akin to "old hand" (having lots of experience in the particular endeavour).


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

I wonder whether "pisseur d'encre" might work here?


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## Mauricet

bh7 said:


> I think the intended meaning in the given context is more akin to "old hand" (having lots of experience in the particular endeavour).


Dans ce cas, _un vieux de la vieille_ ?


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## moustic

bh7 said:


> I think the intended meaning in the given context is more akin to "old hand" (having lots of experience in the particular endeavour).



I agree with this interpretation, as opposed to "a brand new director" in the first part of the sentence.


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## petit1

un vieux plumitif


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## Anoukmac

Thanks a lot to all of you!


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## Michelvar

petit1 said:


> un vieux plumitif



Décidément j'adore ce forum...


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## Uncle Bob

Michelvar said:


> Décidément j'adore ce forum...



It's a nice phrase but here it is a TV director - do they write? (Can they write?).


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## Michelvar

OP says that the director had been writing sitcom scripts (and sitcom are crap, thus naming him an old hack).


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## Uncle Bob

Yes but "hack", and "hack work", can be used for any job (not manual) - a hack actor, a hack teacher,...a hack director.


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## Michelvar

Yes, but it looks like (see my link in post #2) "old hack" is a set expression for a writer who would write about anything for anybody who would pay him. And as the guy is a writer...

But you're the native, here...


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## wildan1

Yes, _an old hack_ originally referred to writers, but nowadays it can be applied to anyone whose talents are stale but just keep doing the same mediocre job anyway.


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## Uncle Bob

I think it needs a general term translating bh7's explanation (#5)  (the actor is being jovially derogative) - but I can't think of one.


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## bh7

"habitué" perhaps


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## Anoukmac

Thanks a lot to all of you. I was thinking of "vieux loup de mer", but isn't it too much about sailors?


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## petit1

I don't think it could be used for anyone else than a sailor.


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## balzar

In fact an old hack originally referred to a horse who's been around a long time and knows his business.  Habitué seems fine...


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## Mauricet

_Un habitué_, ça me semble vraiment un peu faible. L'évolution de la discussion me conduit à insister (une fois n'est pas coutume ...) sur ce que j'ai proposé : _un vieux de la vieille_.


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## Anoukmac

Mauricet said:


> _Un habitué_, ça me semble vraiment un peu faible. L'évolution de la discussion me conduit à insister (une fois n'est pas coutume ...) sur ce que j'ai proposé : _un vieux de la vieille_.



Oui, j'aime bien aussi _vieux de la vieille_.


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## wildan1

_A hack_ has a clearly pejorative tone--I'm not sure you get that connotation from _un vieux de la vieille._


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## petit1

un vieux cheval de retour ???


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## Surfin' Bird

Vieux briscard ?


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## Surfin' Bird

Vieux routier ?


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## petit1

> Vieux briscard ?


Pas mal du tout.


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## petit1

quelqu'un qui a roulé sa bosse


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