[Vwoolf] "Jacob's Room" : crux #4

[Stuart N. Clarke]

“What’s the French for grilled bone?”



Unfortunately, I have no real interest in food, and know very little about it.



Vara says in her notes: “Broiled steak with the bone in.”



In the UK, we don’t now say “broiled” (it’s N. American), although we may talk about a broiling sun.  There’s no problem with “grilled”; it’s the bone that’s the difficulty.



The OED has a couple of unhelpful examples from the 19th C, such as “The grilled bone that browned upon the fire.”



VW used the expression: ‘I’m burnt like a grilled bone’ (L5 186).



Is it really steak?  I incline towards a chop.  If it’s a chop, can I really ask for “une côtelette grillée” in France?



Turning to the French translations, I find that Jean Talva (Livre de Poche) quite reasonably sidesteps the problem: “J’ai envie d’un «grilled bone».  Comment dit-on «grilled bone» en français?” (p. 159)



Ado Haberer (Folio classique) has almost the same translation: “J’ai envie de «grilled bone».  Comment dit-on «grilled bone» en français?” (p. 206).  However, as his is an annotated edn, he explains: ‘qu’il s’agisse de boeuf ou de porc, on dirait «côte à l’os» en français.’ (p. 350).  Does that mean ‘spare rib’, Ado?



I really don’t think the expression has any current meaning now, yet it must have had a clear meaning in VW’s time.



Stuart
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