French term
il en avait des heures de vol au compteur !!
Aug 26, 2017 15:01: writeaway changed "Field" from "Art/Literary" to "Other" , "Field (write-in)" from "(none)" to "colloquial expression"
Aug 26, 2017 16:35: Michele Fauble changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Aug 26, 2017 18:16: Yolanda Broad changed "Term asked" from "\\\'il en avait des heures de vol au compteur !!" to "il en avait des heures de vol au compteur !! "
PRO (1): Victoria Britten
Non-PRO (3): writeaway, Rachel Fell, Michele Fauble
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Proposed translations
Native in: English 
, French
Works in: English to French, French to English, German to French, and 4 more.
he was no spring chicken
He had a lot of miles on the clock
| neutral |
B D Finch
: How does that take into account: "vu le nombre de voyages qu'il faisait"?
1 hr
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he can't be young to have got it all in
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| agree |
writeaway
: also fine and idiomatic (especially lots of miles on the clock, given the context). I think miles on the clock works particularly well
1 hr
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| agree |
Rachel Fell
2 hrs
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| neutral |
Tony M
: Again, the reference to travelling seems to me not immediately obviously connected with the person's age.
2 hrs
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| agree |
Michele Fauble
: Depending on further context.
2 hrs
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United Kingdom
Sensible solutions
Native in: English (Variant: Wessexois) 
Works in: French to English, English, English to French
he wasn't getting any younger
| neutral |
Tony M
: Again, the reference to travelling seems to me not immediately obviously connected with the person's age.
1 min
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des heures de vol?
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He'd been around the block a few times
| neutral |
Tony M
: Although the idiom is certainly an applicable one, I can't help feeling that it would be unsuitable in this specific context, where it might sound rather comical alongside the reference to the person's extensive travels...
1 hr
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Maybe - or it could just tally with the author's choice to use an idiom to describe the chap's extensive experience :)
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he'd been about a bit!
In a figurative sense, it often carries the connotation of "he'd knocked about a bit", or soemthing that is "high mileage".
It can also, of course, suggest an experienced / seasoned pilot / traveller etc.
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Note added at 1 jour9 minutes (2017-08-27 13:11:04 GMT)
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Note the 'flying hours' are a recognized indicator of experience for pilots — not their age! So its figurative use, even for a non-pilot, seems entirely appropriate, especially as 'travel' is also mentioned; the person might have flown a lot, even though they were not actually piloting the aircraft!
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Note added at 2 jours2 heures (2017-08-28 15:30:15 GMT)
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Chrales and ph-b both mention the use of 'en' here — and that's what i was trying to convey with my suggestion. Another example of the use of 'en' with a similar nuance is, I would say, « il en a eu pour son argent ! » which (when used with its literal, positive connotation) really suggests "he certainly got his money's worth there!"
| agree |
B D Finch
: I think that is, probably suitably, ambiguous.
1 hr
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Thanks, B! :-) Yes, particularly given the lack of context.
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| agree |
Charles Davis
8 hrs
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Thanks, Charles!
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| agree |
Michele Fauble
: Depending on further context.
10 hrs
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Merci, Michele !
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| agree |
Victoria Britten
19 hrs
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Thanks, Victoria!
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| agree |
ph-b (X)
: My understanding too - with perhaps une petite nuance (cf. discussion box).
1 day 23 hrs
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Merci, ph-b ! Yes, it is exactly that nuance (which had not escaped me) that I was seeking to convey in suggesting this expression, which in my view nicely encapsulates that whole idea: he's been about a bit = hasn't he been about a lot?!
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Belgium
Marketing, Tourism & Cinema
Native in: French (Variants: Standard-France, Canadian, Belgian)
Works in: English to French, Italian to French, French to English, and 2 more.
he'd flown his fair share of miles!
| neutral |
Tony M
: Not really terribly idiomatic in EN; since most people don't normally 'fly' (at least in the sense of a pilot), the sense is "his fair share of" is rather lost.
20 mins
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Discussion
"J'ai des heures de vol au compteur en ce qui concerne la psychiatrie"
https://books.google.es/books?id=DoR4U0PcJloC&pg=PA82
"je suis un bassiste amateur, je bassouille quoi, mais j'ai quand même des heures de vol au compteur et c'est la première fois que j'utilise un compresseur"
https://www.slappyto.net/Forum-Basse/Topic-Basse.aspx?id=127...
It may be worth noting are that it says "le nombre de voyages qu\'il faisait", not "qu'il avait faits"; not that he had travelled a lot (which might imply advanced age), but that he travelled frequently (which doesn't imply anything about age). There is also "en", which is not usually part of this expression. It may not mean much at all, but it could mean that he had "a lot of miles on the clock" in respect of this matter, which implies experience rather than mere age.