Peintre-mitaine

English translation: brush painter

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:Peintre-mitaine
English translation:brush painter
Entered by: Wyley Powell

01:02 Mar 16, 2019
French to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Human Resources / Job title
French term or phrase: Peintre-mitaine
Unfortunately, no context at all.

The term appears in a Letter of Understanding (attached to a collective agreement) in which various jobs are mentioned (i.e., jobs related to mining and the railway). There is a list of jobs under "Journalier" as follows:

Aide-menuisier; opérateur de machines à nettoyer haute pression; opérateur de marteau pneumatique; and ***peintre-mitaine***.

Thanks for your help.
Wyley Powell
Canada
Local time: 07:12
brush painter
Explanation:
All my searches here lead to Canada, which is not perhaps surprising given the source of the question.

First, the only reference I can find to "peintre-mitaine" comes from Quebec, in a collective agreement for the Mines Wabush company. It's right at the end of this document:

"Fusion de la tâche de journalier
- 032- Aide-menuisier
- 177- Opérateur de machines à nettoyer haute pression
- 431 - Peintre-Mitaine"
http://cfcanada.fticonsulting.com/bloomlake/docs/Pice R-SDM-...

So it's a recognised term in the business but apparently a local one.

It seems likely that the sense of it is "peintre à la mitaine". Literally this would mean a painter who wears a painting glove, but I think the sense of "à la mitaine" is less literal. As already suggested by Phil and Lorraine in the discussion above, this expression seems to mean "by hand" in Quebec. The following is from a "Répertoire de créativité lexicale québécoise":

"MITAINE n.f. Vêtement qui couvre la main et où les doigts sont solidaires contre le pouce. —Loc. À la mitaine. À la main, de façon primitive. Additionner des factures à la mitaine. Sans calculatrice. Creuser un trou à la mitaine. À la pelle, sans pépine."
https://delitfrancais.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/ledelit...

Here's an example of the expression, from Canada, in a different context, clearly supporting the meaning "by hand". It's about writers using computers:

"Même si j’ai développé un rapport à l’écran, je n’ai pas pour autant cessé d’entretenir un rapport à l’écriture manuelle. Écrire à la mitaine ou au clavier entraîne une virtualité intéressante."
https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/pa/2011-n20-21-pa0143/10103...

What might this mean in the context of construction work? I think it refers to the type of work they do rather than their employment regime. In any case all construction painters tend to be temporary contract workers. It seems to me that by analogy with writing or doing calculations by hand rather than using a computer or a calculator, a "peintre mitaine" is probably a brush painter rather than a spray painter. On-site spray painting is common in construction, but for some parts you need brush painters who paint by hand.

"Two oil-based-paint tasks were selected. One task was oil-based brush painting of the door frame, pillar, railing, and fire hydrants at an office-building construction site (OP 1), and the other task was oil-based spray painting of the steel structure at a logistics center construction site (OP 2). "
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S209379111...
Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 13:12
Grading comment
Thanks!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1Glove painter / pipe painter / pipe (glove) painter
B D Finch
4(Contract) painter
Peter Field
3 +1brush painter
Charles Davis


Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
(Contract) painter


Explanation:
The job in question would suit contract painters, many of whom wear a painter's mitt or glove while executing their work.
The expression 'peintre-mitaine' hints at the idea of a painter wearing painter's mitt.


    https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/products/trimaco-painters-mitt
Peter Field
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:12
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
brush painter


Explanation:
All my searches here lead to Canada, which is not perhaps surprising given the source of the question.

First, the only reference I can find to "peintre-mitaine" comes from Quebec, in a collective agreement for the Mines Wabush company. It's right at the end of this document:

"Fusion de la tâche de journalier
- 032- Aide-menuisier
- 177- Opérateur de machines à nettoyer haute pression
- 431 - Peintre-Mitaine"
http://cfcanada.fticonsulting.com/bloomlake/docs/Pice R-SDM-...

So it's a recognised term in the business but apparently a local one.

It seems likely that the sense of it is "peintre à la mitaine". Literally this would mean a painter who wears a painting glove, but I think the sense of "à la mitaine" is less literal. As already suggested by Phil and Lorraine in the discussion above, this expression seems to mean "by hand" in Quebec. The following is from a "Répertoire de créativité lexicale québécoise":

"MITAINE n.f. Vêtement qui couvre la main et où les doigts sont solidaires contre le pouce. —Loc. À la mitaine. À la main, de façon primitive. Additionner des factures à la mitaine. Sans calculatrice. Creuser un trou à la mitaine. À la pelle, sans pépine."
https://delitfrancais.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/ledelit...

Here's an example of the expression, from Canada, in a different context, clearly supporting the meaning "by hand". It's about writers using computers:

"Même si j’ai développé un rapport à l’écran, je n’ai pas pour autant cessé d’entretenir un rapport à l’écriture manuelle. Écrire à la mitaine ou au clavier entraîne une virtualité intéressante."
https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/pa/2011-n20-21-pa0143/10103...

What might this mean in the context of construction work? I think it refers to the type of work they do rather than their employment regime. In any case all construction painters tend to be temporary contract workers. It seems to me that by analogy with writing or doing calculations by hand rather than using a computer or a calculator, a "peintre mitaine" is probably a brush painter rather than a spray painter. On-site spray painting is common in construction, but for some parts you need brush painters who paint by hand.

"Two oil-based-paint tasks were selected. One task was oil-based brush painting of the door frame, pillar, railing, and fire hydrants at an office-building construction site (OP 1), and the other task was oil-based spray painting of the steel structure at a logistics center construction site (OP 2). "
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S209379111...


Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 13:12
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Thanks!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  patrickfor: Your explanation is quite convincing and very well documented I buy it!
2 hrs
  -> Thank you, Patrick!

neutral  B D Finch: It is, indeed, a painting glove and they would use that instead of a brush. Technique used specifically for pipes and railings.// Less skill required than for painting with a brush.
2 hrs
  -> Maybe, but I doubt that's what it refers to. I don't believe there would be a special category of worker for glove painters. The apparently québécois context and the use of "mitaine" there need to be taken into account, I think. // Hmm. Well, maybe.

neutral  philgoddard: Sorry, I'm having doubts about this now, well argued though it is!
4 hrs
  -> Thanks, Phil! // Don't worry; so am I, to be honest.
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12 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Glove painter / pipe painter / pipe (glove) painter


Explanation:
Also known as "painting mitts". I can't find any references for this as part of a job title, but this is what they want the painter in question to do, not painting with a glove.

https://www.nour.com/painters-mitt/painters-mitt?lm_lang=fr-...
"Mitaine de Peintre
Traits:
Velours épais absorbant
Avec pouce et gaine
Pour peindre les clôtures, mains courantes, lattes verticales et rampes
Pour nettoyer et dépoussiérer
Idéale pour laver la voiture"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE0-JfRowcw
"Sur ce gant en latex est intégrée une éponge en acrylique. Il vous suffit de plonger cette éponge dans la peinture puis de l'appliquer sur la surface choisie, mur ou meuble, pour une décoration unique. Donnez des couleurs à votre intérieur ! Pratique : votre main est protégée de la peinture pendant l'opération, et vous gardez plus de dextérité qu'avec un pinceau ou un rouleau ! Gant pour peinture à la main Éponge en acrylique ultra-douce intégrée dans le gant pour ne pas endommager les surfaces traitées Vos mains restent sèches et propres Éponge facile à nettoyer comme un pinceau Intérieur doux et agréable Résiste à la moisissure Composition : latex et acrylique Taille universelle : pour une largeur de main jusqu'à 11,5 cm (largeur mesurée sans le pouce, à l'endroit le plus large au-dessus des phalanges) "


https://www.paintingpipes.com/pipe-painting-glove-glasshouse...
"Fleece pipe painting glove. Suitable for use on heating pipes, glasshouses. Preferably apply the paint to hand-warm HEATING PIPES, using the fleece painting glove in combination with the NITRILE PAINTER’S MITT. PIPE PAINTING"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEuS9FCmpbI
Video for pipe (glove) painter
▶ 7:14
Jun 19, 2015 - Uploaded by VideoJoeKnows
VideoJoeKnows.com How to paint a handrail with a painter's glove is easy...when you know how. ...

B D Finch
France
Local time: 13:12
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 83

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Charles Davis: I'm not yet ready to agree, but I admit it could be this.
2 hrs

agree  philgoddard: I didn't know you could paint with a glove. It seems a very specialised job - why not just use whichever tool is most suitable?
3 hrs
  -> Thanks Phil. It's a fairly new technique, I think, because of the materials used. It's much quicker to paint the pipes that way than with a brush and also doesn't require the same skills.
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