cheaters, readers (reading glasses)

[Kelly B]

Cheaters is an informal, but not rude or especially pejorative, term for inexpensive, non-prescription reading glasses in US English, see cheaters (glasses).

In that English Only discussion, Arzhela said they're called reading glasses by French people too, and we have lunettes de lecture in the on-site dictionary, but I wondered if there are any similarly informal terms for these? It's just idle curiosity....

 

[Kecha]

They are also called "lunettes loupes" as they are basically small magnifying glasses on a frame, as they are meant for small-scale issues with near-vision (if you need anything stronger or have other issues, then you have to have a prescription).

But in France it is not in people's habit to use glasses without seeing a doctor about it, so the term is not very common.

"Lunettes de lecture" is broader and could also be pescription glasses, but only used for reading and screen time, and not all day.

 

[DearPrudence]

Dans ma famille où la moitié a des problèmes de vue depuis la naissance et l'autre non, on utilise "loupes". Cela m'avait semblait bizarre au début, car les adultes se les échangeaient, alors que pour moi qui porte des lunettes depuis toujours, cela paraissait inconcevable.

Comment bien choisir ses lunettes loupes

J’utilise mes loupes pour bricoler [...]

Les lunettes de lecture en pharmacie : ce qu'il faut savoir

Non ça n’est pas une solution de dépannage, c’est vos lunettes à xxx € que j’utilise les rares fois où mes loupes à 5€ sont égarées…

Mais oui, c'est familier. Sinon, on utilise "lunettes loupes" ou "lunettes de lecture", comme l'a dit Kecha.
Discuté dans ce fil du forum français seulement :
lunettes loupes

 

[Kelly B]

Thank you both! Perfect. It's interesting - we use the word loupe in English for the single lens a jeweler uses in evaluating stones.

 

[Keith Bradford]

... in France it is not in people's habit to use glasses without seeing a doctor about it, so the term is not very common...

Who buys all those ten-euro specs on sale in the supermarkets then?

Carreaux, hublots...?

 

[DearPrudence]

Carreaux, hublots...?

As far as I know, "hublots" would only be used for prescription glasses with very thick lenses.
And I've never heard "carreaux" on its own to refer to glasses.

Who buys all those ten-euro specs on sale in the supermarkets then?

British tourists?

 

[Keith Bradford]

I'll correct my source. (Brunet & Cavana, Dictionnaire bilingue de l'argot d'aujourd'hui, Pocket 1996)

 

[DearPrudence]

Sorry, I'm not familiar with today's slang of 1996

 

[mehoul]

A mon avis carreaux est un mot d'argot qui désigne les lunettes quel que soit leur type, comme binocles par exemple.

 

[ain'ttranslationfun?]

I've always thought that "cheaters" were sunglasses, not reading glasses, so I don't it's the same as "readers".

 

[Kelly B]

Not in my region, at least - cheaters here are definitely drugstore-type nonprescription reading glasses.

 

[ain'ttranslationfun?]

I've always thought that "cheaters" were sunglasses, not reading glasses, so I don't it's the same as "readers".

Not in my region, at least - cheaters here are definitely drugstore-type nonprescription reading glasses.

Well, it wouldn't be the first time the same thing has different meanings in different cultures!