# L'os à moelle



## ronmagnuson

Une jeune femme boude parcequ'elle n'a pas réussi à trouver son fiancé.  Sa tante s'enquiète mais son uncle dit: Laisse lui l'os à moelle!

C'est à dire?


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## Schmorgluck

I think the actual meaning is rather innocent. It's along the line of "let her eat all of her anger cake." (just pulled that off my... imagination) Meaning that it's better to let her cope with it on her own, as a personal experience at life.


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## James Brandon

Is it the idea of a nice, big bone that you can throw to a dog, and he can have a lot of fun gnawing at it? So, give her the opportunity to reflect on it by herself and let off steam in the process. Something like that?


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## Schmorgluck

That's basically how I understand it, yeah. I relate it to another expression, "avoir un os à ronger", which means to have something to focus on.


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## ronmagnuson

merci a tous,

Ron


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## wildan1

_Let her sort it out on her own._


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## Teafrog

How about:
Uncle to Auntie: leave her to chew the cud.


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## david314

Perhaps:_  Let her *stew*?_


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## James Brandon

'Let her _stew'_ sounds a bit negative, I think, whereas you seem to be hoping that she will sort it out by herself, not brood endlessly and with no clear results...


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## ronmagnuson

James Brandon said:


> 'Let her _stew'_ sounds a bit negative, I think, whereas you seem to be hoping that she will sort it out by herself, not brood endlessly and with no clear results...



Justement


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## Topsie

"Leave her to gnaw on her bone of contention!"


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## James Brandon

A bit of a mixed metaphor, here, in English...


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## ronmagnuson

The young lady continues to cling to her hope that her fiancé is still living contrary to all evidence.  The metaphor in the film is an albatross, that continues to try to advance against a wind that is holding him in place.  
Le fiancé a dit: "C'est têtu, l'albatross.  Il sait que le vent va faiblir avant lui."

Perhaps the uncle is saying: "let her have her fantasy."  That is, "Let her have her comfort food."


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## Teafrog

Thanks for providing this crucial bit of context Ronmagnuson (even if it comes at post #13 … ).

I would therefore say "let her have a bone to chew on" (let her have her hopes)


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## JeanDeSponde

_Laisse-lui l'os à moelle_ ne m'évoque *rien* comme métaphore en français...
_Os à ronger _etc. existent - mais de moelle dans aucune.

Serait-il possible que la conversation entre oncle, tante et fiancée ait lieu autour d'un pot-au-feu, et que l'oncle suggère de lui laisser le meilleur morceau, pour la consoler ?
I.e un _vrai_ os à moelle...


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## James Brandon

The more we learn about the context - and, in this respect, Ron, if I may say so, you could and should have given us this information early on, if you had it - and the stranger it gets. 

The idiomatic expression (in French) does not seem to be that clear in its use and meaning. And the metaphor of the albatross is certainly not transferrable into English as such! (Cf 'to have an albatross round one's neck'.) 

I get the feeling the idea is indeed to let the girl revel in her fantasy, in order to give her time to get over the whole thing. And she can focus on the fantasy in question in the way that a dog will chew on a big, chunky bone for hours, and even though there is nothing left to suck out of it. 

To conclude on the above, I would say the metaphor chosen in French does not strike me as particularly suited to the situation. Would this be a case of bad writing in the original text, in other words?


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## Saxo

j'ai peut être l'esprit mal placé, mais l'os a moelle pourrait bien avoir une connotation sexuelle (d'autant plus qu'il s'agit d'une femme qui cherche son fiancé)...


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## James Brandon

C'est ce à quoi j'avais fait allusion au tout début!... La métaphore semble même évidente mais, selon le contexte, cela ne semble pas correspondre.

Soit c'est bien cela, et on tombe dans un registre tout autre; soit ce n'est pas cela, et la métaphore choisie par l'auteur n'en est que plus malheureuse, je trouve!


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## ronmagnuson

JeanDeSponde said:


> _Laisse-lui l'os à moelle_ ne m'évoque *rien* comme métaphore en français...
> _Os à ronger _etc. existent - mais de moelle dans aucune.
> 
> Serait-il possible que la conversation entre oncle, tante et fiancée ait lieu autour d'un pot-au-feu, et que l'oncle suggère de lui laisser le meilleur morceau, pour la consoler ?
> I.e un _vrai_ os à moelle...



Que je suis bête!!!  J'ai revu le pan du film et ça y est!  Mille pardons à tout le monde.

Ron (tout rouge)


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## James Brandon

Nice one, Ron, so in fact it was the literal meaning! I take it we are referring to a movie, here.


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## ronmagnuson

James Brandon said:


> Nice one, Ron, so in fact it was the literal meaning! I take it we are referring to a movie, here.



Oui, Un long dimanche de fiançailles.  C'est bien sûr une histoire d'amour, mais aussi un roman policier.  Il est plein d'expressions idiomatiques qui va me rendre fou.  (Peutêtre vous l'avez déja remarqué)

Merci mille fois pour toute votre aide.


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## James Brandon

Incidentally, we should stress the fact that 'os à moelle' is 'marrowbone' in English; the other way round, 'bone marrow', is used in 'bone-marrow transplant' and, I believe (but am not 100% sure), it is translated into French as 'moelle épinière' in that particular case. 

Your film seems focused on the big stew where the bone is floating, as opposed to medical issues, however. In fact, I would not mind a contributor who would know more about cooking than I do (i.e. more than zilch) confirming what the use of a 'os à moelle' is!? Never quite understood this one...


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## Pinairun

http://canal-gourmet.blogspot.com/2007/12/el-tutano.html

Vous pourrez voir l'image de l'os à moelle.
La première à droite, à côté de "tuétano"


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## James Brandon

Very appealing indeed. I suppose it sinks to the bottom of the pot, being heavy and filled with marrow.


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## Pinairun

Mademoiselle est triste, elle ne trouve pas de fiancé, on va lui donner un os à moelle.

Métaphore: Si vous aviez un chien, qu'est-ce qu'il ferait si vous lui donniez un os à moelle? Il serait très, très content, n'est-ce pas?

L'os à moelle est généralement du fémur ou tibia de l'animal.


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## James Brandon

I am sorry but it is all rather primitive: she has lost her lover, so give her a big bone to chew on and she will forget all about the man in question. Food as a substitute for love (and lust): it has to be a French film, quite frankly.


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## Topsie

James Brandon said:


> Incidentally, we should stress the fact that 'os à moelle' is 'marrowbone' in English; the other way round, 'bone marrow', is used in 'bone-marrow transplant' and, I believe (but am not 100% sure), it is translated into French as 'moelle épinière' in that particular case.


moelle _osseuse _is bone-marrow!


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## Pinairun

James Brandon said:


> I am sorry but it is all rather primitive: she has lost her lover, so give her a big bone to chew on and she will forget all about the man in question. Food as a substitute for love (and lust): it has to be a French film, quite frankly.


 

Well, do you know what  a metaphor is? 

We say "un os à moelle" metaphorically speaking, you can translate it literally, but it isn't its real meaning, of course!


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## James Brandon

OK, 'spinal cord' is 'moelle épinière' while 'bone marrow' is 'moelle osseuse'. Thanks.

As to the 'os à moelle', we still have not established whether the meaning was literal (comfort food for the broken-hearted girl) or metaphorical (with all the sexual overtones one can then imagine). Ron could perhaps enlighten us: is the uncle suggesting the bone to the girl's consumption an old pervert, or is he keen on good food, or a bit of both?


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## ronmagnuson

James Brandon said:


> OK, 'spinal cord' is 'moelle épinière' while 'bone marrow' is 'moelle osseuse'. Thanks.
> 
> As to the 'os à moelle', we still have not established whether the meaning was literal (comfort food for the broken-hearted girl) or metaphorical (with all the sexual overtones one can then imagine). Ron could perhaps enlighten us: is the uncle suggesting the bone to the girl's consumption an old pervert, or is he keen on good food, or a bit of both?



On review of the film I saw the literal 'os à moelle', which is considered delightfully delicious.  However, the film is rich in metaphors and I am convinced that it was meant in the figurative sense as well.  That is as in "throw her a bone" or "let her have some comfort food."  There was definitely no sexual implication involved.  The aunt and uncle  brought her up from the time her parents died when she was very young. They love her  as if they were her biological parents.

I have learned a great deal from this thread and am very appreciative of all of the contributions.


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## James Brandon

OK, Ron, so we got to the bottom of it (no pun intended) and we must disappoint all those contributors with filthy minds, who were trying to turn the well-meaning uncle into an old pervert. If there is a metaphor, it is a non-sexual one, then.


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