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ojos meridionales

English translation: southern eyes

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:ojos meridionales
English translation:southern eyes
Entered by: patinba

20:30 Feb 21, 2022
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Spanish term or phrase: ojos meridionales
Nada más entrar, vio cómo el hombre que no había sabido identificar en el concierto se dirigía hacia él con paso firme. Era un tipo grande, bien plantado, vestido esa vez con un impecable traje oscuro. La papada le cubría parte del cuello, balanceaba los brazos con las palmas de las manos hacia atrás y los ojos meridionales iluminaban una expresión risueña.

I'm wondering if this could mean anything besides Southern eyes? It seems odd too me because the characters are from France and Hungary, and I'm not quite sure what the exact meaning is. Thanks in advance.
jmf
United States
Local time: 21:46
southern eyes
Explanation:
just meaning "dark". People from the south of France and Italy are known for being darker skinned with dark eyes.

See for example:
Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of ...https://books.google.com.ar › books
Dominic Lieven
"He was very much the southern Frenchman, dark in complexion with black eyes and hair. He had the charm, the wit and the conversation of the Old Regime ...

The Blood Diamond: (Writing as Anthony Morton) - Google Books Resulthttps://books.google.com.ar › books
John Creasey · 2013 · ‎Fiction
He climbed in and went straight across the dark room, feeling his way. ... He was dark and goodlooking – an Italian, Spaniard or Southern Frenchman.
Selected response from:

patinba
Argentina
Local time: 22:46
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3southern eyes
patinba
4 +1resplendent eyes/his eyes blazed
Barbara Cochran, MFA
3 +1blazing/sparkling eyes
Alan Otero
3middle-aged eyes
Katarina Peters
2warm eyes
Shea Kosyla


Discussion entries: 11





  

Answers


26 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
middle-aged eyes


Explanation:
Two definitions that would possibly fit this question, according to Merriam Webster:

1. the problem of the unmarried don after he had passed the meridian

2. a lawyer at the meridian of his career


Katarina Peters
Canada
Local time: 21:46
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in HungarianHungarian, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 45
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27 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
resplendent eyes/his eyes blazed


Explanation:
https://thesaurus.yourdictionary.com/meridional

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 21:46
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 52

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  AllegroTrans: Yes, you have one possibility but "resplendent" is not an adjective that fits with eyes imo; maybe "radiant eyes" would work better
1 hr
  -> Besides my other comments, as you will see here, "blazing" means the same thing as "resplendent (with)" : https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/305302/blazing-i...
agree  Katarina Peters: that makes more sense! or even blazing eyes! - and with that, I think I will withdraw my lame suggestion...
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Katarina.
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
blazing/sparkling eyes


Explanation:
"Meridional" in Spanish can mean Southern (which, according to you, doesn't make sense in this context), but also refer to noon, so maybe it's a metaphor indicating that his eyes were lively and sparkling, similar to how the Sun shines the brightest at this time of day.




    https://dle.rae.es/meridional
Alan Otero
Argentina
Local time: 22:46
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Muriel Vasconcellos
4 hrs
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7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
warm eyes


Explanation:
Meridional is a term used to describe southern Europe. Southern Europe is more or less made up of countries that touch the Mediterranean Sea. The climate of these specific countries differs from the rest of Europe in terms of their ecosystem and environment. To my knowledge, Mediterranean countries are more or less, dry, arid, and warm; perhaps the author wanted to compare the person's eyes to the warm climate of the Mediterranen.

Shea Kosyla
United States
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

15 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
southern eyes


Explanation:
just meaning "dark". People from the south of France and Italy are known for being darker skinned with dark eyes.

See for example:
Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of ...https://books.google.com.ar › books
Dominic Lieven
"He was very much the southern Frenchman, dark in complexion with black eyes and hair. He had the charm, the wit and the conversation of the Old Regime ...

The Blood Diamond: (Writing as Anthony Morton) - Google Books Resulthttps://books.google.com.ar › books
John Creasey · 2013 · ‎Fiction
He climbed in and went straight across the dark room, feeling his way. ... He was dark and goodlooking – an Italian, Spaniard or Southern Frenchman.

patinba
Argentina
Local time: 22:46
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 174
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  philgoddard: I think we should respect the author's choice of words.
4 hrs
  -> Yes, I quite agree, particularly in the case of literary texts. Thanks.
agree  Toni Castano: "Meridional" means southern and nothing else. This is what the DRAE says. If there is another (obscure) meaning in this meagre context, we just don´t know, and neither does the asker judging by their words. So it´s just reasonable to translate literally.
4 hrs
  -> Exactly. Thanks!
agree  AllegroTrans: Without further context, yes
8 hrs
  -> Thank you!
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