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tough/ tender minded


Patf

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Is there a french equivalent for tough/ tender minded? I'm trying to write something including those words, and the concept doesn't seem to exist in France.

ps I've found one, "le coeur sur le main" for a warmhearted person.

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For 'tough' in the sense of 'hard hearted' I would say simply 'dur(e)' or 'impitoyable' but you might consider

'avoir le coeur dur' 'insensible' 'sans coeur' (heartless)

for the opposite logically there is 'tendre' and 'sensible'...'plein(e) de tendresse' but that is going a bit further and more likely to describe a phrase or a gesture..

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A French friend of mine says of her husband that he has a "coeur d'artichaut", which I took to mean he is tender-hearted or an old softie. Not sure if that is an official French description, though, or if it is just said within their family.

Where is Eric?!
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Thanks for the replies.

I've realised that part of the problem is the philosophical difference between tough/ tender minded and tough/ tender hearted.

ie do feelings arise in the brain or the heart?

But I'm not up to debating that now!

I remember completing a questionnaire ages ago in a book by HJ Eysenck, Uses and Abuses of Psychology, following his theory of opposing dimensions of personality, in which this was one of the dimensions.

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Well if you are thinking of 'tough' as able to resist stress

 I would say résistant'   (support bien les épreuves)

In general problems of translation often come from an unclear expression/definition in the first language which is why it is much better to give a whole phrase than an individual word so there is some context to work with.

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Thanks Eric - so there is the same concept in France. I don't know what a chique is though.

While I'm here, can someone translate "mais on s'en fiche, de qui tu es!" From Pico again.

The verb ficher and se ficher seems to have several vague meanings.

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