VOOZH about

URL: https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/in-tiny-caresses.3171639/

⇱ in tiny caresses | WordReference Forums

Menu
Install the app
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.

in tiny caresses

longxianchen

Senior Member
chinese
Hi,
Here are some words from the novel Lady Chatterley's Lover(the last paragraph but two, page 251, chapter 12) by Lawrence (planetebook,here):
(background:both Connie and Mellors were lying)
And he lifted her dress right back, till he came even to her breasts. He kissed them softly, taking the nipples in his lips in tiny caresses.

The quotation is not easy for me. But I can guess lifted back refers to lifted the dress towards her head(back means toward the previous state, naked state). However, what's the meaning of in tiny caresses please? Is it a gentle touch , a gentle taking by his lips, or a gentle (a Engish-Chinese dictionary offers such a meaning for caress)?
Thank you in advance
Last edited:
He kissed them softly, taking the nipples in his lips in tiny caresses.. -> He kissed them softly and gently squeezed and stroked the nipples lightly with his lips.

A caress: a gentle touching or stroking movement done with romantic intent.
If your lips are capable of giving a gentle hug then by all means translate it like that. The rest of us usually refer to caresses with the lips as kisses.
If your lips are capable of giving a gentle hug then by all means translate it like that. The rest of us usually refer to caresses with the lips as kisses.
That sounds as if you are suggesting that D H Lawrence should have written He kissed them softly, taking the nipples in his lips in tiny kisses.
But I can guess lifted back refers to lifted the dress towards her head(back means toward the previous state, naked state).

No, "back" means "away" there. In the same sense, you can, for example, "peel back" the skin of a banana.
Thank you so much.
I thought caress is only the action of fingers, and hug is only the action of arms, but now I know caress can also be the action of lips.
No, "back" means "away" there. In the same sense, you can, for example, "peel back" the skin of a banana.
But I can't find such an entry for "away" from dictionaries.
Thank you so much.
I thought caress is only the action of fingers, and hug is only the action of arms, but now I know caress can also be the action of lips.
But I can't find such an entry for "away" from dictionaries.

I guess you didn't try the WordReference dictionary, then. 👁 Frown :(


"... away from something considered to be the front; ..."​
If "He lifted her dress back" to reveal her breasts, that suggests to me that her dress buttoned down the front. Otherwise he would have had to lift her dress up - or pull it down from her shoulders.
I thought caress is only the action of fingers, and hug is only the action of arms, but now I know caress can also be the action of lips.

A caress just means a gentle touch (see post #2). Touching is usually done with the hands, which is why caressing is usually associated with the hands and fingers. But since you can touch with any part of your body, Lawrence has used the word caress this way. You could just as well caress someone with your arm, or your foot.
'Caress' is more like 'stroke', both with hands, but the intent is more intimate although not always sexual. Hugging with the lips is impossible because of what hug means. Even if the same sort of objection could perhaps be made about caressing with lips, that's the word the man chose and the meaning is clear.
There must be a word for 'stroke' in Chinese, even if there is none for 'caress'.
Back
Top Bottom