potter's field | Idiomator

Meaning: (idiomatic)A public place wherestrangers,paupers, andcriminalsareburied.Synonyms:pauper's grave,common grave1862. David W. Mitchell,Ten Years in the United States(Elder Smith, p. 157):The despised pauper, most likely a foreigner, when his spirit has gone to its final resting-place, is probably carried to thePotter's Field.1917. Anna Alice Chapin,Greenwich Village(Mead Dodd, p. 10):There was aPotter's Field, a cemetery for the poor and friendless, far out in the country.1925. Hastings Hornell Hart,Two Reports on the Reorganization and Reconstruction of the New York Prison System(Prison Association of New York 1925, p. 30):Hart's Island has been used for the past 50 years as apotter's fieldfor the burial of the paupers.1941(amendment): Administrative Code of the City of New York, 21-110, originally chapter 24, Department of Public Welfare, Title A, 603-10.0 (also 1953; this is the current, 2007, version):Potter's field.The commissioner shall have charge of thePotter's Fields, and when the necessity therefor shall arise, shall have power to lay out additionalPotter's Fieldsor other public burial places for the poor and strangers and from time to time enclose and extend the same to make enclosures therein and to build vaults therein, and to provide all necessary labor and for interments therein. ThePotter's Fieldon Hart's island, however, shall remain under the control of the department of correction, and the burial of deceased paupers therein shall continue under rules and regulations established by the joint action of the departments of social services and correction, or in case of disagreement between such departments, under such regulations as may be established by the mayor.1976September,Saul Bellow,Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.:Avon Books,→ISBN,page467:Humboldt had been buried not inpotter's fieldbut far out in Deathsille, New Jersey, one of those vast, necropolitan developments …1984December 29, Raymond Latham, “The Plight of a Lover”, inGay Community News, volume12, number25, page 5:The old, helpless, bedridden inmates lying often in their own filth awaiting death and burial inpotters field, alone and unknown.

Examples:

EN: All of which have been legislated into potter's field by English law.
ES: Todos condenados a una fosa común por la ley inglesa.
EN: If you lost that kitty, it's potter's field.
ES: ¡Como lo pierdas irás a una fosa común!
EN: Look, Tiger, if... if I was to be buried in potter's field... it'd just about kill me.
ES: Mire, Tiger... si me entierran en una fosa común... me muero.
EN: She'll complete the morning load to potter's field.
ES: La enterrarán en una fosa común. Vaya.
EN: In potter's field.
ES: En la fosa común.
EN: We will use it to buy the potter's field as a burial place for strangers; to be known as the field of blood.
ES: Con ese dinero podemos comprar el Campo del Alfarero y dedicarlo a sepultura de exranjeros, lo llamaremos "Campo de Sangre"
EN: But it wasn't in refinement, and no thousand people "weeped" over her grave... but in a potter's field, like she was nothin'... human or flesh.
ES: Pero no fue en el refinamiento, y no hay miles de personas "weeped" sobre su tumba ... pero en el campo de un alfarero, como si fuera nada ... humanao carne.
EN: Next stop, potter's field.
ES: Próxima parada, cementerio para indigentes.
EN: Felix gets Stage 15 and Burgess winds up in potter's field.
ES: A Felix le toca el Estudio 15 y a Burgess, una fosa común.
EN: No one claimed the body, so it went from a ditch to potter's field.
ES: Como nadie reclamó el cuerpo, pasó de la zanja a la fosa común.
EN: She'll be buried in an unmarked grave in a potter's field.
ES: La enterrarán en una tumba sin nombre de un cementerio de pobres.
EN: Most of them just go to the potter's field.
ES: A la mayoría los entierran en Potter's Field.
EN: Well, looks like you're gonna have to bury her in potter's field.
ES: Tendrás que enterrarla en la fosa común.
EN: We buried her in potter's field and sent the infant to the orphanage.
ES: La enterramos en la fosa común, y enviamos al niño al orfanato.
EN: So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners.
ES: Así que decidieron usar el dinero para comprar el campo del alfarero como lugar de entierro para los extranjeros.

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