French Word of the Day January 2003

Sent: Friday, January 31, 2003 9:06 AM

(un) malentendu = a misunderstanding

E.g. "On ne sait jamais, sur un malentendu ça peut marcher" = You never know, based on a misunderstanding, things could work out

Michel Blanc playing loser Jean-Claude Duss in cult movies "Les Bronzés" and "Les bronzés font du ski", trying to convince himself that he can score despite a handful of handicaps.

Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 9:52 AM

Fracasser = to smash something

Être fracassé = to be drunk or exhausted

Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 8:07 AM

Some new words that were invented to replace English computer-related terms:

i Mel = Email

Oueb = Web

Butineur = Browser (this is a literal translation)

Foire aux questions = … to keep the FAQ acronym

Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 4:09 PM

(un) ver = a worm

Sent: Monday, January 27, 2003 7:58 AM

(un) pirate = a pirate

(un) corsaire = a corsair

(un) boucanier = a buccaneer

Sent: Friday, January 24, 2003 9:14 AM

It's been a while since we had some French hip-hop lyrics. From "Maudits soient les yeux fermés" by Chien de paille.

"Mon coeur, mes textes, comme les temps sont durs.

Mais qu'est-ce que tu veux que je te dise ? Tu sais, les tensions durent.

Réminiscences sombres aux couleurs d'améthyste,

Mais qu'est-ce que tu veux que je te dise ? Tu sais, mon âme est triste."

I'm too lazy to translate…It's on the "Taxi" (<http://us.imdb.com/Title?0152930>) OST, huge success in France that spawned 2 sequels, all produced by Luc "La femme Nikita" Besson..

Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2003 9:24 AM

Subject: RE: French joke of the day

Three men, an Italian, a French and a Spanish went for a job interview in England. Before the interview, they were told that they must compose a sentence in English with three main words: green, pink and yellow.

The Italian was first:

"I wake up in the morning. I see the yellow sun. I see the green grass and I think to myself, I hope it will be a pink day."

The Spanish was next:

"I wake up in the morning, I eat a yellow banana, a green pepper and in the evening I watch the pink panther on TV."

Last was the French:

"I wake up in the morning, I hear the phone "green...green...", I pink up the phone and I say "Yellow ?..."

Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 8:40 AM

mettre la charrue avant les bœufs = to put the cart before the horse.

(une) charrue = plow

(un) boeuf = ox

Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 9:12 AM

(un) schtroumpf = a smurf

<http://www.schtroumpf.com/>

Sent: Monday, January 20, 2003 8:19 AM

(un) jour ferié = a holiday

Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 9:31 AM

(la) neige = snow

(la) glace = ice

(le) verglas = black ice

Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2003 8:06 AM

Tout est bien qui finit bien = All's well that ends well

Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2003 8:29 AM

Colloquial superlatives:

Super

Hyper

Trop = too much

E.g.: "C'est trop cool!" "Je suis super enervé" "C'est hyper cher" etc.

Enervé = upset, irritated

Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2003 9:11 AM

(un) cri = a cry / shout / scream

Un cri du coeur = a cry from the heart

Sent: Monday, January 13, 2003 8:48 AM

(un) régime = a diet

Être au régime = to be on a diet

Sent: Friday, January 10, 2003 8:50 AM

Avouer = to confess

Faute avouée est à moitié pardonnée = a fault confessed is half redressed

Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2003 8:38 AM

Today, synonyms of "mess", most acceptable ones first, most familiar ones last. The top of the list would be more likely to be used with verbs like "mettre" (to put), the others with its slang equivalent "foutre":

(un) désordre

(une) pagaille

(un) chantier

(un) fouillis

(un) tohu-bohu

(un) bazar

(un) souk

(un) barnum

(un) fourbi

(un) foutoir

(un) binz

(un) dawa (not sure this one made it to the dictionary yet)

(un) bounsa (this one is used by the younger generation, don't ask me)

(un) boxon

(un) merdier

(un) bordel (a classic, not to be used in any cicumstance, but my personal favorite)

E.g. "Il a mis la pagaille" = "Il a foutu le bordel" = "he made a mess"

A box of Petits Ecolier LU Extra-Dark Chocolate (http://www.danoneconseils.com/marques/lu_petit_ecolier.html) to anyone with more synonyms :-)

Sent: Wednesday, January 08, 2003 7:35 AM

touche-à-tout = someone who's into everything, a jack of all trades (someone who "touches everything")

E.g. Julien est un vrai touche-à-tout = Julien is a real jack of all trades

Sent: Tuesday, January 07, 2003 7:28 AM

(une) chatouille (sha - too - ye) = a tickle

Mostly plural: faire des chatouilles = to tickle

être chatouilleux = to be ticklish