All wool and a yard wide
August 18, 2004
Top Cat: You're all cop and a yard wide.
Dibble: Thanks!
Dibble: Hey… Wait a minute.
Top Cat gives Dibble what looks like a compliment in an admiring tone of voice ; Dibble starts by being flattered but as the words sink in, he realises that Top Cat was again making fun of him. Top Cat plays on the American expression "all wool and a yard wide", which means to be very honest, sincere and honourable, which he twists to take away that positive meaning. I found an attempt at explaining the origins of this expression at worldwidewords.
My problem was to find a French expression that I could play similarly with. I found it impossible to find one in which I could integrate the words "policier" or "flic", as Top Cat does, so I started looking for an expression that might be slightly ambiguous and take a moment to sink in. I went for "treize à la douzaine", which, delivered with a smile and an awed tone of voice, might sound like a compliment, when it really means that policemen like him are quite common (thirteen for every dozen).
Top Cat : Des flics comme toi, il y en a treize à la douzaine.
Dibble : Merci !
Dibble : Mais… attends un peu.
You are translating Top Cat? Wow, you have a great job.
Posted by Jemima on August 18, 2004 9:34 AMYes, great job, but also very difficult! I (a native UK English speaker who considers myself pretty conversant with US expressions from all the books,films and TV I've absorbed) had never heard of 'all wool and a yard wide'. And here you have not the expression itself but a play on it. Now how do you go about finding the meaning here? not easy! and I think your translation solution is excellent, Celine.
I love your blog and have been an avid reader since I saw it mentioned in The Linguist
PS and thank you for the wonderful World Wide Words website, which - oh dear - has prevented me from doing any work all morning!
Posted by Jean on August 18, 2004 11:59 AMRe "All wool and a yard wide":
I'm an American English speaker in my 40s and have never heard that expression.
"Top Cat," it appears, ran originally from 1961 to 1962, which probably explains it. I haven't researched it (yet), but most likely it's an expression better known to previous generations.
Hmm. This makes me wonder about the nuances of translating a not-so-current word or phrase into one that is more timely -- unless an anachronism works better in the context.
Posted by Vicki on August 18, 2004 7:13 PMSo it's an old-fashioned expression that's not really used nowadays? Vicki raises an interesting point: do you keep the same level of language (old-fashioned to the point of being confusing) or do you adapt it to suit a more modern audience? I think it probably depends on the document, but in this case, I think it's better to make it understandable, as the fact that it's set in the 60s isn't really central to this cartoon; its main objective is to make the audience laugh.
Posted by céline on August 18, 2004 10:10 PMPrevious: August 11, 2004
Editing and proofreading >>
Next: August 20, 2004
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