Billowing

[LUIMATT83]

Hello everyone.

In an essay by journalist Ronan Farrow, "War on Peace", I read the following description of a meeting in Tunisia with Hillary Clinton in 2012, where she talked about democracy after the Arab Spring.

"[...] On the way out, Clinton, hair pulled back ballerina- tight, black and blue jacket billowing, paused on one of Nejma Ezzohara’s spectacular terraces. Squinting into the sun, she extended an arm toward the brilliant blue of the Mediterranean. “Things are changing,” she mused. [...]".
I wonder what "billowing means". My guess is: "her jacket was moved/inflated by the wind", but that sounds a little awkward to me. What does the author mean exactly?

 

[LUIMATT83]

Re: Bollowing

I'm sorry for the typo in the title. I obviously meant "billowing".

 

[LUIMATT83]

Re: Bollowing

I found the video of that day on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCXtSRr_6uA&t=3182s. Apparently she was wearing the jacket which can be seen in it. That's what seems strange to me: it is a very tight jacket, so how could it possibly "billow" in the wind? And if she was leaving, she should have had a coat over that jacket, souldn't her? I'm asking these detailed questions since I have to translate the passage into Italian.

 

[tzfujimino]

Re: Bollowing

I don't know if it was actually billowing, but I think Ronan Farrow wanted to express the idea of strong winds of change blowing by using the phrase "black and blue jacket billowing".

 

[jutfrank]

Re: Bollowing

I don't know if it was actually billowing, but I think Ronan Farrow wanted to express the idea of strong winds of change blowing by using the phrase "black and blue jacket billowing".

Quite possibly, yes. Creative licence by the writer, who clearly wanted an impressive image in this sentence. There's a hint of significance, like how a billowing flag can be an indication of something important happening.

 

[LUIMATT83]

Re: Bollowing

I got it, but it's quite a strange description, isn't it? I mean, a coat (which is normally large) is supposed to be moved by the wind, but a tight woman jacket can hardly do so. The problem is that I have to translate it!

 

[jutfrank]

Re: Bollowing

Oh, no—it's not the jacket that's tight, it's the hair. The hair is described as "ballerina-tight". You know how ballerinas wear their hair, right?

 

[LUIMATT83]

Re: Bollowing

Yes, I know, but the jacket is also tight, as you can see in the youtube clip I posted above.

 

[jutfrank]

Re: Bollowing

Forget the Youtube video—just translate the text. This is journalism, not scientific writing.

 

[GoesStation]

Re: Bollowing

Forget the Youtube video—just translate the text. This is journalism, not scientific writing.

Moreover, this is translation, not journalism. If Farrow made a factual error in his text, a faithful translation should reproduce it.

 

[Tdol]

Re: Bollowing

I'm sorry for the typo in the title. I obviously meant "billowing".

I have fixed it for you.

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Bollowing

If that jacket wasn't zipped up (or done up with buttons - I can't tell which kind of fastener it has), there would be plenty of opportunity for the wind to fill the body and sleeves of it and make them "billow" around her.