French Word of the Day August 2002

Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2002 9:40 PM

Etre au bout du rouleau = to be at the end of one's tether

Bout = the end

Rouleau = roll

I didn't even know this expression in English, but I already love it.

Have a Happy Labor Day Week-End!

Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2002 8:21 PM

Café = Coffee

Thé = Tea

Lait = Milk

Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2002 7:26 PM

Week-end: week-end

Parking: parking

Walkman: walkman

Basketball: basketball

Téléphone: telephone

Football: soccer (there's a trick!!!!)

Sent: Monday, August 26, 2002 6:06 PM

Fatigue = Fatigue (which gives me the idea of starting to list words that are the same in French and English..)

Récupération = Recovery

Repos = Rest

Bienvenu = Welcome

J'ai une telle fatigue, il faut que je recupère…du repos sera le bienvenu.

Sent: Sunday, August 25, 2002 9:52 PM

Amitié = Friendship

Ami = Friend

Copain = Buddy, pal

Some uplifting words to start off the week.

Sent: Friday, August 23, 2002 8:37 AM

Espoir = hope

Avoir de l'espoir = to be hopeful (e.g. "tu as de l'espoir"…often used ironically to tell someone he has no reason to be hopeful)

Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2002 8:50 AM

First the solution of yesterday's translation. We reverse the words and then translate:

· Téma -> mate, slang for look

· Keufs -> flics, slang for cops

· Pécho -> chopé, slang for caught

· Refré -> frère, meaning brother, we've already seen this one

· Véner -> énervé, meaning mad

None of this is worth remembering…Word of the day: vacances (vacation). Thanks to the 35 hour work week we're hearing this one a lot.

Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2002 9:23 AM

Time to say a word about verlan. Verlan is a popular way to speak among the young generation. It consists of pronouncing every word backwards. "Verlan" is actually "à l'envers" ("backwards") pronounced backwards. E.g. femme (woman) becomes meuf, maison (house) becomes zonmé, etc. Hard to follow, especially if used in conjunction with argot (slang). Just an example for fun: "Téma, les keufs ont pécho ton refré; il doit être véner" The translation is worth 1,000 points :)

Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2002 8:54 AM

A la bonne heure! = Well done! or Here you go! (heure = hour, in duration or on the clock, e.g. il est deux heures, it's 2 o'clock)

Just because you've got to love those slightly old-fashioned expressions...

--

Laurent

Sent: Monday, August 19, 2002 8:57 AM

Today, an acronym:

PSG = Paris Saint-Germain

The one and only parisian first-division soccer team. Saint-Germain (en Laye) is a town outside of Paris. PSG has become famous for being one of the funniest soccer teams ever. E.g.:

· Lost 6-1 to Juventus in the Super Euro Cup final. They had apparently forgotten to bring adequate shoes to play on an icy field, although the game was in early January. There was no moment during the game when all 11 PSG players were simultaneously standing on their two feet.

· Lost administratively 3-0 a Euro Cup game because they had a suspended player on the field. Official response: "The secretary didn't see that the fax notifying us of the suspension had rolled underneath the fax machine". They won the second game 5-0 to make it to the following round, though.

· Has a history of losing to amateur teams from small villages. As long as it's on TV and they have a chance to be ridiculous,you can count on them.

Well, as the new season starts, it's time to say "Allez PSG!" anyway...

Sent: Friday, August 16, 2002 9:13 AM

Au revoir = bye bye

Again, not original at all, but we're Friday, and it happens to be pretty appropriate… My contact info is below, if anyone drops by NY one day and wants to give me 271 updates over a Guinness ;-)

--

Laurent Mandorla

KPMG Consulting Infrastructure Solutions

Services Management

Cell: (917) 328-8468

Office: (212) 954-7282

Fax: (212) 954-2671

Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2002 9:13 AM

Avoir la gueule de bois = to be hung over

Gueule = familiar term for face/mouth (ta gueule! = shut up!)

Bois = wood

Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2002 8:52 AM

Ce n'est que partie remise = maybe next time

partie =game, remise = postponed (from the verb remettre = to postpone, to put off),

So litterally: "the game is only postponed"

Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 9:14 AM

Effarouché = coy (the feminine is "effarouchée")

Don't be coy = ne sois pas effarouché

Sent: Monday, August 12, 2002 9:48 AM

Today, a little game to start off the week. Let's take a look at the French White Pages:

<<http://www.pagesblanches.fr>>

Enter the following:

· Adresse: "214 rue Beranger" (yes, adresse only takes one 'd' in French, we like to do things differently)

· Localité: "Colombes" (this is the city)

· Département ou région: 92 (each département has a unique number, this is Hauts de Seine, outside of Paris. Knowing all 96 of them by heart is regarded as an exceptional skill that will earn you respect from your peers, and allow you to impress people at mundane dinners. Departments are then grouped into ~20 regions)

Click Rechercher ("to search"), look who lives there…if you wish, you can even try to call the guy, the country code for France is 33. I haven't tried but it could be interesting :-D

--

Laurent

Sent: Friday, August 09, 2002 8:46 AM

Piscine = swimming pool

Nager = to swim

Bronzer = to tan (être bronzé = to be tanned)

"Je vais aller à la piscine aujourd'hui, pour nager un petit peu et bronzer"

Bon week-end à tous!

Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2002 8:49 AM

A quote from "La cité de la peur" (cult comedy from "Les nuls" <<http://us.imdb.com/Title?0109440>>)

"- Bonjour, c'est vous Odile ?

- Non, je suis le Pape et j'attends ma sœur.

- Ah.

- Mais non, c'est moi Odile, je plaisante. Allons-y!.

- Ah d'accord. Mais on n'attend pas votre sœur avant?"

Cité = city

Peur = fear

Pape = Pope

Sœur = sister (frère = brother)

Plaisanter = to joke, to be kidding

Allons-y = let's go

Attendre = to wait for (j'attends, tu attends, il attend, nous attendons, vous attendez, ils attendent)

Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 2002 8:37 AM

Some cooking terms today (looks like someone made a resolution to start learning how to cook..).

Foie gras frais poêlé: "foie gras" is a goose (most commonly) or duck liver ("foie"), that you usually buy cooked, and serve as an appettizer to be spread on toasts. This is really good. But it starts to be *really* interesting when instead of being cooked, it is thrown raw ("frais") into a frying pan ("poêle", pronounced "poile", hence the adjective poêlé), and gently fried on both sides. Pour some honey, add a few slices of apple, and serve with a chilled white wine (Sauternes maybe). Enjoy ! (ok now I'm hungry)

For those interested they serve a very decent one at Rouge on Rittenhouse Square, though the recipe is slightly different :-)

--

Laurent

Sent: Tuesday, August 06, 2002 10:01 AM

And now with the end of the translation:

Demander = to ask

Savoir = to know (e.g. je sais, tu sais, il sait, nous savons, vous savez, ils savent)

Brûlures = burns

Fier = proud (fière when it's feminine, like here)

Avoir fière allure = to have flair, elegance. Mostly use in a negative sense, meaning someone doesn't look too good. "Il a trop bu, il n'a pas fière allure"

Sent: Monday, August 05, 2002 9:42 AM

First, as some pointed out, I forgot to give the solution to my previous e-mail. The dialogue was of course from Office Space :-)

Indochine is an 80's band that rocked my generation's first surprise parties and recently made a come back with the following song, after 15 years of absence:

"J’ai demandé à la lune Et le soleil ne le sait pas

Je lui ai montré mes brûlures Et la lune s’est moqué de moi

Et […] le ciel n’avait pas fière allure"

soleil = sun

lune = moon

ciel = sky

étoiles = stars

(the rest another day)

Also, as some already know, I'll be rolling off in 2 weeks. Since I'm a rather stubborn guy, I'll keep on sending these e-mails until everybody sends me at least one insult e-mail urging me to stop (and even then I might keep on sending it just to myself). So basically let me know if you don't want to hear form me on a daily basis :)

--

Laurent

Sent: Thursday, August 01, 2002 6:12 PM

First, a little correction, in red below. I've never been good at spelling. Then:

jardinage: gardening

fête: party

plage: beach

"Ce week-end, je vais faire du jardinage, faire la fête et aller a la plage"

(not very original, but it's the end of the week)

Sent: Thursday, August 01, 2002 11:47 AM

Since I got questions on some of the words here, a few translations:

· travailler = to work

· démissioner = to quit (a job)

· licencier (quelqu'un) = to fire/lay off someone

· arrêter = to stop

· aller = to go

--

Laurent

Sent: Thursday, August 01, 2002 8:38 AM

A dialogue today:

"- Je pense que je ne vais plus aller travailler

- Ah. Tu vas démissioner alors?

- Non. Je vais juste arrêter d'aller au travail

- Mais tu ne vas pas te faire licensier ?

- Je ne sais pas, peut-être, mais je vais juste arrêter d'y aller"

Fans will recognize the source. No hints today but questions are welcome :-)