Isabelle Thiers (X) (asker) Dec 6, 2011:

Of course the baseball metaphor wouldn't make any sense in French. I just want to make sure I understand it properly. 1940 movies look quite sexist from a 2011 perspective. I guess the poor wive is just extatic about cleaning her house until her husband returns :-)

Martin Cassell Dec 6, 2011:

Frankie, you're right of course. "Home plate" doesn't begin by meaning "our home", but through its figurative usage here, it ends by referring indirectly to it.

As for strategy, whether to replicate the baseball metaphor, etc., I suspect that space considerations will have more influence than anything else, in the end.

Frankie JB Dec 6, 2011:

Chacun sa stratégie, mais je suis pas sûr que répliquer les métaphores du baseball soit judicieux pour un public FR-FR. Deuxièmement: même si mimi s'en sort bien en n'ayant peut-être pas vu la référence, je pense que sa proposition est la plus fidèle et donne bien le sens supposé, celui de "maintaining things in a state of readiness", non? Prendre soin de la maison = garder la maison en ordre.

Martin Cassell Dec 6, 2011:

second base that sounds like a separate question!
and you really need a USA native to enlighten you here – there is absolutely no question, this is baseball metaphor territory.

Isabelle Thiers (X) (asker) Dec 6, 2011:

I agree with you. There is obviously a reference to baseball, since the wife replies something like "I'll always be on your team. And I play a mean second base." Is she suggesting that she'll be some sort of back-up?

Martin Cassell Dec 6, 2011:

on reflection, "keep h.p. dusted off" may mean to maintain things in a state of readiness (for his return); so an elaborate way of saying "wait for me to come back".

and to repeat, it's always just "home plate"; never with "the".

Frankie JB Dec 6, 2011:

Illustration:
http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/51847/51...

To dust off the home plate, ça pourrait certainement être une expression imagée pour "s'occuper du ménage", mais d'abord ici c'est "keep dusted off" (plus passif qu'actif donc), et ensuite ça me semblerait un peu trop "précis". En effet, souvent une expression empruntée à un domaine devient plus générique dans le nouveau domaine (cf. le "par extension" si fréquent), et je pense que le sens serait plutôt celui de "prendre soin de la maison". Pas garanti toutefois!

Martin Cassell Dec 6, 2011:

literal meaning In baseball "home plate" or "home base" (note, never with definite article) is the final base which the batter must touch to complete a run. It consists of a metal plate in the ground (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Home_base_of_baseball_fiel...

It can easily get covered over in dust/dirt; the umpire will periodically sweep it clean, referred to colloquially as "dusting off home plate".

I'm aware of some modern sexual connotation for this phrase, but like you I have no idea whether they would be operative in the 1940s. My guess (as a non-American) would be that the man is just being patronizing, suggesting that the housewife's duties amount to no more than a menial cleaning job to enable the men to do the important work of running around being heros (!).