Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Spanish term or phrase:
ojos meridionales
English translation:
southern eyes
Added to glossary by
patinba
Feb 21, 2022 20:30
2 yrs ago
39 viewers *
Spanish term
ojos meridionales
Spanish to English
Art/Literary
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Nada más entrar, vio cómo el hombre que no había sabido identificar en el concierto se dirigía hacia él con paso firme. Era un tipo grande, bien plantado, vestido esa vez con un impecable traje oscuro. La papada le cubría parte del cuello, balanceaba los brazos con las palmas de las manos hacia atrás y los ojos meridionales iluminaban una expresión risueña.
I'm wondering if this could mean anything besides Southern eyes? It seems odd too me because the characters are from France and Hungary, and I'm not quite sure what the exact meaning is. Thanks in advance.
I'm wondering if this could mean anything besides Southern eyes? It seems odd too me because the characters are from France and Hungary, and I'm not quite sure what the exact meaning is. Thanks in advance.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +3 | southern eyes |
patinba
|
| 4 +1 | resplendent eyes/his eyes blazed |
Barbara Cochran, MFA
|
| 3 +1 | blazing/sparkling eyes |
Alan Otero
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| 3 | middle-aged eyes |
Katarina Peters
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| 2 | warm eyes |
Shea Kosyla
|
Change log
Mar 7, 2022 10:20: patinba Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
+3
15 hrs
Selected
southern eyes
just meaning "dark". People from the south of France and Italy are known for being darker skinned with dark eyes.
See for example:
Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of ...https://books.google.com.ar › books
Dominic Lieven
"He was very much the southern Frenchman, dark in complexion with black eyes and hair. He had the charm, the wit and the conversation of the Old Regime ...
The Blood Diamond: (Writing as Anthony Morton) - Google Books Resulthttps://books.google.com.ar › books
John Creasey · 2013 · Fiction
He climbed in and went straight across the dark room, feeling his way. ... He was dark and goodlooking – an Italian, Spaniard or Southern Frenchman.
See for example:
Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of ...https://books.google.com.ar › books
Dominic Lieven
"He was very much the southern Frenchman, dark in complexion with black eyes and hair. He had the charm, the wit and the conversation of the Old Regime ...
The Blood Diamond: (Writing as Anthony Morton) - Google Books Resulthttps://books.google.com.ar › books
John Creasey · 2013 · Fiction
He climbed in and went straight across the dark room, feeling his way. ... He was dark and goodlooking – an Italian, Spaniard or Southern Frenchman.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
philgoddard
: I think we should respect the author's choice of words.
4 hrs
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Yes, I quite agree, particularly in the case of literary texts. Thanks.
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| agree |
Toni Castano
: "Meridional" means southern and nothing else. This is what the DRAE says. If there is another (obscure) meaning in this meagre context, we just don´t know, and neither does the asker judging by their words. So it´s just reasonable to translate literally.
4 hrs
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Exactly. Thanks!
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| agree |
AllegroTrans
: Without further context, yes
8 hrs
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Thank you!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
26 mins
Katarina Peters
Canada
Canada
Native in English
Specializes in field
Canada
Accuracy and A1 presentation
Native in: Hungarian 
, English (Variant: US)
Works in: English to Portuguese, Portuguese to English, Hungarian to English, and 13 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
45
middle-aged eyes
Two definitions that would possibly fit this question, according to Merriam Webster:
1. the problem of the unmarried don after he had passed the meridian
2. a lawyer at the meridian of his career
1. the problem of the unmarried don after he had passed the meridian
2. a lawyer at the meridian of his career
+1
27 mins
Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
United States
Native in English
Specializes in field
United States
Laudable Lady Linguist
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, French to English, English to Spanish, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
52
resplendent eyes/his eyes blazed
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
AllegroTrans
: Yes, you have one possibility but "resplendent" is not an adjective that fits with eyes imo; maybe "radiant eyes" would work better
1 hr
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Besides my other comments, as you will see here, "blazing" means the same thing as "resplendent (with)" : https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/305302/blazing-i...
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| agree |
Katarina Peters
: that makes more sense! or even blazing eyes! - and with that, I think I will withdraw my lame suggestion...
3 hrs
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Thanks, Katarina.
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+1
4 hrs
Alan Otero
Argentina
Argentina
Native in Spanish
Works in field
Argentina
10 years leveling up your translations
Native in: Spanish (Variants: Argentine, Latin American) 
Works in: English to Spanish, Spanish to English, Spanish
blazing/sparkling eyes
"Meridional" in Spanish can mean Southern (which, according to you, doesn't make sense in this context), but also refer to noon, so maybe it's a metaphor indicating that his eyes were lively and sparkling, similar to how the Sun shines the brightest at this time of day.
Reference:
7 hrs
warm eyes
Meridional is a term used to describe southern Europe. Southern Europe is more or less made up of countries that touch the Mediterranean Sea. The climate of these specific countries differs from the rest of Europe in terms of their ecosystem and environment. To my knowledge, Mediterranean countries are more or less, dry, arid, and warm; perhaps the author wanted to compare the person's eyes to the warm climate of the Mediterranen.
Discussion
Unfortunately we don’t have sufficient context on which to base an informed interpretation of what the author actually means, and why he chose that particular word to describe the character’s eyes at that particular juncture.
Personally, I believe there are at least two feasible - but quite different - suggestions already, but I’d also consider “black eyes” - which seems a safe bet, but could in fact be an over translation…
Can any of us "out here" really answer that question? Translation is translation, but probing what an author means is something else. I'm with patinba on this.