Literal translation
to squeeze the throat
Meaning
to grip the throat, strangle
Explanation
This verbal phrase means 'to grip the throat', 'to strangle', most often in the literal sense, though a figurative use is not excluded to describe strong pressure or a threat exerted on someone. The verb covers, in Provençal, a whole range of gestures of compression: to press, to crush, to squeeze, to compress, to oppress, with a rich set of nuances depending on context, whether it concerns a fruit being pressed or a body being compressed. The word for throat here names precisely the passage, that is, the gullet, the windpipe, or the larynx, the part of the body through which air and voice pass, which explains why compressing it causes choking. The pairing of the two words produces a very concrete, almost onomatopoeic image in its rhythm, typical of Provençal body vocabulary, which names body parts with particular precision and flavor. The register is neutral to familiar, used equally in an account of a fight or in a joke about a mock threatening gesture between close friends.