Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

vignettes of a way of life

English answer:

individual remembered episodes of a former way of life

Added to glossary by Jack Doughty
Mar 10, 2016 10:12
8 yrs ago
English term

vignettes of a way of life

English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature Novel
She can summon vignettes of a way of life that most Parisians have long lost: resting her feet on a metal foot warmer filled with embers in a cold schoolroom; feasting on sloes from the hedges and on haws; the chestnut skins she’d throw in the fire, to her mother’s chagrin, for they’d later spoil the ash lye spread over the bucking cloth on the
laundry tub, and stain the linen...

Can I say "She can create a scene that Parisians have forgotten"?
Change log

Mar 13, 2016 16:49: Jack Doughty Created KOG entry

Discussion

Tina Vonhof (X) Mar 10, 2016:
I would say 'images' of a way of life that Parisians have long lost'. 'Long lost' is an alliteration that the writer may have used on purpose - in a literary text the sound of the language and the mood it invokes are important too. Imagine reading it out loud.

Responses

+3
7 mins
Selected

individual remembered episodes of a former way of life

She can remember individual episodes from a way of life that most Parisians have long lost
Peer comment(s):

agree Yvonne Gallagher
10 mins
Thank you.
neutral Andrew Bramhall : 'individual remembered episodes' sounds stilted as it's in the adjectival form, as does ' which most Parisians have long lost'; " long SINCE lost" sounds far better.
22 mins
agree philgoddard
3 hrs
Thank you.
agree Yasutomo Kanazawa
23 hrs
Thank you.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+1
7 mins

brief descriptions

The idea is that they are images that succintly capture life in the past.
Peer comment(s):

agree Yvonne Gallagher : perhaps with "evocative"
8 mins
neutral Andrew Bramhall : 'Brief descriptions' would be a summary or resumé; these are sketches bringing a bygone era to life;
19 mins
Something went wrong...
12 mins

a cameo of a bygone way of life

That's to say, a depiction or portrayal of a way of life that has now become obsolete and swamped in the mists of time;

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 mins (2016-03-10 10:25:18 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

cameo = sketch, representation, or potted history;
Peer comment(s):

neutral philgoddard : We're not looking for the best English-to-English "translation". The asker wants to know what it means.
8 hrs
Exactly; and the two previous answers don't provide it( the meaning) in my opinion;
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

1 hr
Reference:

Why not use a dictionary?

If you type "define vignette" into Google, you get this:
vignette
noun
1.
a brief evocative description, account, or episode.
"a classic vignette of embassy life"
https://www.google.es/#q=define vignette
Peer comments on this reference comment:

agree Andrew Bramhall : exactly, an evocative portrayal or depiction, often wistful;
52 mins
Thanks.
agree philgoddard : But KudoZ is a human dictionary! It just takes a bit longer to enter questions and get answers :-)
2 hrs
True enough! Thanks, Phil.
agree Jack Doughty
3 hrs
Thanks.
agree Tina Vonhof (X)
4 hrs
Thanks.
Something went wrong...
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search