[Lexicog] to let one's hair down

[Fritz Goerling]

Thanks, John, for all this information from dictionaries of English idioms.

You said "The last example below from: Bathrobe's Harry Potter in Chinese,
Japanese & Vietnamese Translation is interesting. This site gives some
guidance in how to translate "let your hair down" into Chinese, Japanese &
Vietnamese." And you asked: "Do you have an equivalent in German?"

Well, in German one can certainly paraphrase the idea by saying "to drop all
one's inhibitions and have a party". In my part of Germany (Bavaria) I have
often heard the expression "die Sau rauslassen" (literally "to let the sow
out of the pigsty"). One might hear it from the mouth of males who went to
the Octoberfest where they celebrated with good food, lots of beer, singing
and dancing on the tables."

 

Have a nice Sunday,

Fritz



Fritz,

>From the sample of dictionary definitions below, gleaned off the web and
elsewhere, it would appear that the English expression "to let one's hair
down" has a literal and a figurative sense, and the figurative sense is an
extension of the literal sense. In the past women in European culture (and
extensions thereof) had the practise of keeping their hair pinned up for all
occasions outside of the home. Only in the privacy of their own homes did
they take the pins out and let their hair down. This practise therefore
signified going from a formally constrained context to a more relaxed
uninhibited context. 

This meaning has since been extended to describe situations where women do
not literally unpin their hair and let it down, but to describe any context
where a person abandons some kind of formal constraint and behaves
accordingly.

However, my own experience is that I hear (and read) it more often applied
to behaviour in general rather than specifically to "speaking frankly". In
fact, one of the dictionary examples given below: "Whenever the two sisters
get together, they let their hair down and discuss all their problems."
sounds odd to me. I don't know that I would use "let your hair down" in
relation to speaking frankly. I speak BrE and I learned my English
originally in Liverpool, NW England.


The last example below from: Bathrobe's Harry Potter in Chinese, Japanese &
Vietnamese Translation is interesting. This site gives some guidance in how
to translate "let your hair down" into Chinese, Japanese & Vietnamese. Do
you have an equivalent in German?

John Roberts


Definitions of: to let one's hair down 
  
Longman Dictionary of English Idioms 
  
coll. to rest and enjoy oneself after a long period during which one has had
to keep oneself under control: E.g. "It's wonderful to let your hair down at
the weekend after you've been working hard all week." Origin: Women formerly
put up their hair for all occasions and wore it loose only when they were in
private. 
  
Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms 
  
to relax and enjoy yourself without worrying what other people will think. 
E.g. "It's nice to let your hair down once in a while and go a bit wild." 
  
to relax and do what you want. 
E.g. "The party gives you a chance to let your hair down at the end of the
week." 
  
The Free Dictionary 
  
To drop one's reserve or inhibitions. 
  
Answers.com 
  
Also, let down one's hair. Drop one's reserve or inhibitions, behave
casually or informally, as in Whenever the two sisters get together, they
let their hair down and discuss all their problems. This expression alludes
to the practice of women taking down their pinned-up long hair only in the
privacy of the bedroom. [c. 1900] 
  
Google search 
  
throw off constraint in one's behavior, act in defiance of social
conventions: E.g. "Those who are doomed to a life of formality for five days
a week look forward to the weekend when they can let their hair down." 

Wiktionary 

1.	(idiomatic) To relax.


Urban dictionary 
  
(verb) to relax; to behave informally. 
  
Mirriam-Webster online 
  
to act without pretense or self-restraint 
  
Phrase finder: 
  
Meaning 
Behave in a free or uninhibited manner. 

Origin 
Letting one's hair down was a commonplace part of women's daily activities
in the 17th century. The hair was normally pinned up and was let down for
brushing or washing. The term used for this at the time was dishevelling.
Anyone who is unkempt and generally untidy might now be described as
dishevelled but then it applied specifically to hair which was unpinned. The
first reference I can find which refers specifically to this is John
Cotgrave's, The English treasury of wit and language, 1655: 
" Descheveler, to discheuell; to pull the haire about the eares." 
   

From: Bathrobe's Harry Potter in Chinese, Japanese & Vietnamese Translation 
  
Treatment of Puns and Word Play in Translating Harry Potter 
(Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese) 
  
Prim and proper Professor McGonagall informs her students in The
<http://www.cjvlang.com/Hpotter/book4/bk4ch22.html>  Unexpected Task (Book 4
Chapter 22) of the approaching Yule Ball, a traditional part of the
Triwizard Tournament which provides an opportunity to socialise with the
foreign guests. The ball is open only to fourth years and above but
participants may invite a younger partner to go with them. This is the cause
of much giggling among the female members of the class. Professor then gives
details of the time and dress code, followed by this passage: 
Professor McGonagall stared deliberately around the class.

'The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to - er - let our hair
down,' she said, in a disapproving voice.

Lavender giggled harder than ever, with her hand pressed hard against her
mouth to stifle the sound. Harry could see what was funny this time:
Professor McGonagall, with her hair in a tight bun, looked as though she'd
never let her hair down in any sense. 
The incongruity here is between Professor McGonagall with her hair in a
tight bun -- a sign of extreme properness -- and her suggestion of 'letting
their hair down'. In English, 'let one's hair down' means 'to cast off usual
restraints, relax, and have fun'. This is why Rowling uses 'looked as though
she'd never let her hair down in any sense' -- whether the literal sense of
untying her tight bun, or the figurative sense of relaxing and having fun. 

In this case, the author has taken advantage of the dual meaning of 'let
one's hair down'. The CJV languages do not have equivalent expressions to
'let one's hair down' that also mean 'to forget usual restraints and have
fun'. However, the meaning is fairly obvious from the context and the
concept should travel relatively easily to other languages. Let's see how
the translators have handled it. I have taken only two sentences from the
passage for the purpose of comparison: 

'The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to - er - let our hair
down.' 

Professor McGonagall, with her hair in a tight bun, looked as though she'd
never let her hair down in any sense. 
  
 

Fritz Goerling wrote: 

I am interested to learn how anglophones (from different parts of the world)
use the idiom "to let one's hair down." 
  
Fritz Goerling 

 

 

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