Quote Originally Posted by kwatts59
Quote Originally Posted by laxxy
калены=каленые=hard (e.g. каленая пластина=a (steel) plate that has undergone "закаливание", a thermal hardening process, not sure about the english word)
The technical term is "tempered".
"tempered steel" is steel that has undergone thermal hardening.

IMHO, only metallugists would know this word. I worked in a Titanium metal factory for several years.
Thanks. The words (both the one for the result and for the process) are relatively popular in russian, you can expect most people to know them (including backward village girls, most villages used to have smithies back when people actually spoke like that).
US is a bit different society (I work with a ~45-year old woman from a very common family, and she's never seen a cow in her life...)