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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Thanks, John, for all this information from dictionaries of English
idioms.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>You said “</span></font>The last
example below from: Bathrobe's <em><i><font face="Times New Roman">Harry Potter
in Chinese, Japanese & Vietnamese Translation</font></i></em><o></o> 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?”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>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 <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Germany</st1:country-region> (<st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bavaria</st1:place></st1:State>)
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.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Have a nice Sunday,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Fritz<br>
<br>
</span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Fritz,<br>
<br>
>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<o></o>" 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. <br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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: <b><span style='font-weight:
bold'>"Whenever the two sisters get together, they let their hair down and
discuss all their problems</span></b>." 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 <st1:place w:st="on">Liverpool</st1:place>,
NW England.<br>
<br>
<br>
The last example below from: Bathrobe's <em><i><font face="Times New Roman">Harry
Potter in Chinese, Japanese & Vietnamese Translation</font></i></em><o></o>
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?<br>
<br>
John Roberts<br>
<br>
<br>
Definitions of: to let one’s hair down <br>
<o> </o> <br>
Longman Dictionary of English Idioms <br>
<o> </o> <br>
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. <br>
<o> </o> <br>
<st1><st1>Cambridge</st1></st1> International Dictionary of Idioms <br>
<o> </o> <br>
to relax and enjoy yourself without worrying what other people will think. <br>
E.g. “<span class=illustration>It's nice to let your hair down once in a
while and go a bit wild.”</span> <br>
<o> </o> <br>
to relax and do what you want. <br>
E.g. “<span class=illustration>The party gives you a chance to let your
hair down at the end of the week.”<o></o></span> <br>
<span class=illustration><o> </o></span> <br>
<span class=illustration>The Free Dictionary<o></o></span> <br>
<span class=illustration><o> </o></span> <br>
To drop one's reserve or inhibitions.<o></o> <br>
<o> </o> <br>
Answers.com <br>
<o> </o> <br>
Also, <span class=shw>let down one's hair</span>. Drop one's reserve or
inhibitions, behave casually or informally, as in <b><span style='font-weight:
bold'>Whenever the two sisters get together, they let their hair down and
discuss all their problems</span></b>. This expression alludes to the practice
of women taking down their pinned-up long hair only in the privacy of the
bedroom. <span class=idiomdate>[c. 1900]</span> <br>
<o> </o> <br>
Google search <br>
<o> </o> <br>
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.” <br>
<br>
Wiktionary<o></o> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<ol start=1 type=1>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>(idiomatic) To relax.<o></o><o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
</ol>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><br>
Urban dictionary <br>
<o> </o> <br>
(verb) to relax; to behave informally. <br>
<o> </o> <br>
Mirriam-Webster online <br>
<o> </o> <br>
<span class=sensecontent>to act without pretense or self-restraint</span> <br>
<o> </o> <br>
Phrase finder: <br>
<o> </o> <br>
Meaning<o></o> <br>
Behave in a free or uninhibited manner.<o></o> <br>
<br>
Origin<o></o> <br>
<em><i><font face="Times New Roman">Letting one's hair down</font></i></em> 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 <em><i><font face="Times New Roman">dishevelling</font></i></em>.
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, <em><i><font face="Times New Roman">The English treasury of wit and
language</font></i></em>, 1655:<o></o> <br>
" Descheveler, to discheuell; to pull the haire about the eares."<o></o>
<br>
<o> </o><o> </o> <br>
<br>
From: Bathrobe's <em><i><font face="Times New Roman">Harry Potter in Chinese,
Japanese & Vietnamese Translation</font></i></em><o></o> <br>
<o> </o> <br>
Treatment of Puns and Word Play in Translating Harry Potter <br>
(Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese) <br>
<o> </o> <br>
Prim and proper Professor McGonagall informs her students in <a
href="http://www.cjvlang.com/Hpotter/book4/bk4ch22.html" linkindex=6>The
Unexpected Task</a> (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: <br>
<o></o>Professor McGonagall stared deliberately around the class.<br>
<o></o><br>
'The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to - er - let our hair down,'
she said, in a disapproving voice.<br>
<o></o><br>
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.<o></o> <br>
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.<o></o>
<br>
<br>
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:<o></o> <br>
<br>
<strong><b><font face="Times New Roman">'The Yule Ball is of course a chance
for us all to - er - let our hair down.' </font></b></strong><b><span
style='font-weight:bold'><br>
</span></b><br>
<o></o><strong><b><font face="Times New Roman">Professor McGonagall, with her
hair in a tight bun, looked as though she'd never let her hair down in any
sense.</font></b></strong><o></o> <br>
<o> </o> <br>
<o> </o><br>
<o></o><o></o><br>
Fritz Goerling wrote: <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>I am interested to learn how anglophones (from different parts of the
world) use the idiom “to let one’s hair down.” <br>
<br>
Fritz Goerling <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
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