tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009744383586622251.post1852200433068381088..comments2023-11-14T11:26:56.672+01:00Comments on Blundering In Besançon: French Word Girl Returns!D. André Dhondthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16225142045250065292noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009744383586622251.post-40651195158778283642010-06-05T03:22:15.770+02:002010-06-05T03:22:15.770+02:00(Part 3)
We say: Sick and Tired
They say: Ras le ...(Part 3)<br /><br />We say: Sick and Tired<br />They say: Ras le bol<br /><br />A Play on words: (these are tough for me)<br />If someone says: Qu’alors y faire? to you the perfect response is “Calorifiere” <br />What should I do? Burn some calories (i.e. work harder)<br /><br />It is a pun, in fact.<br />We never say "Qu’alors y faire?"<br />We use it just to make the pun, but it is very awkward otherwise.<br />And the answer is "Calorifère".<br />The two are pronounced the same way ; that's the pun. <br />But I am not sure it does really mean anything...<br /><br /><br />Words:<br />We say: Bucks<br />They say: Tune<br /><br />Or also with an "h" = "Thune"<br />It's like : fric, pognon, etc. (money - it's slang)<br /><br />We say: Freckles<br />They say: Red stains (Tache dans rousseur)<br /><br />It is : taches de rousseur (or sometimes : tache de son = bran stains)<br /><br /><br />We say: Snap<br />They say: Break the fingers (Casser les doigts)<br /><br />"Casser les doigts" is rather : Break the fingers...<br />In fact "snap" is : Claquer des doigts - which is totally different.<br /><br />We say: Kneel<br />They say: Fall on your knees (Tomber a genoux)<br /><br />To kneel : s'agenouiller<br />To fall down on your knees : tomber à genoux<br /><br /><br />And my personal favorite:<br />We say: 6-pack abs<br />They say: bar of chocolate abs (tablet du chocolat) <br /><br />Tablette de chocolatAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009744383586622251.post-87861532722830780442010-06-05T03:22:15.769+02:002010-06-05T03:22:15.769+02:00(Part 2)
We say: Caught red-handed.
They say: Flag...(Part 2)<br />We say: Caught red-handed.<br />They say: Flagrantly illicit (En flagrance d’elicit) <br /><br />Not " En flagrance d’elicit" which does not mean anything at all and is not French, but "En flagrant délit"<br /><br />We say: Everyday concerns<br />They say: Worry quota (soucis quotite)<br /><br />Here again, "soucis quotite" does not mean anything at all and is not French.<br />It is : "soucis quotidiens" (meaning : daily concerns)<br /><br />We refer to the first 10 years of this millennium as: ???? (No consensus that I know of)<br />They say: The years 20 hundred (Les anees vente cent)<br /><br />Not " Les anees vente cent" which is not French <br />At least it would be "Les années vingt cent" correctly spelt, but I do not know such an expression in French... ? (because it means literally : "the years twenty hundred", but we do not say this in French)<br />Did you mean : Les années deux mille (The year two thousand) ?<br />We say : deux mille, deux mille un, deux mille deux, deux mille trois, and so on.<br /><br /><br />We say: Can of worms<br />They say: Pandora’s box (Boite de Pandora)<br /><br />It is : Boîte de Pandore<br /><br /><br />When someone is being stupid about something (say dating) we say: That’s like, Dating 101!<br />They say: That’s like B.A.B! (C’est comme le B.A.B) Apparently, that is supposed to mean it is as easy as saying the alphabet, but, of course, the alphabet would be ABC – not BAB – so maybe I’m still missing something.<br /><br />In fact, it is not "B.A.B" but : "B. A. BA"<br />We say and pronounce the two letters separately "B" "A" and then we make (pronounce) the syllable "BA".<br />Because at school, to learn reading, we use the "syllabic method" (which is the base, the basic thing)<br />We say: The plane is taxiing<br />They say: Its rolling down the strip (Il roule dans la piste)<br /><br />Il roule sur la pisteAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009744383586622251.post-48322592453573195792010-06-05T03:20:30.664+02:002010-06-05T03:20:30.664+02:00Hello, I really enjoy the comparison between the t...Hello, I really enjoy the comparison between the two languages !<br /><br />Here, I'd like to bring some corrections - in a very humble way :)<br /><br />Je n’en pouvais plus - with an "s" not a "t" to "pouvais" (imparfait première personne de "pouvoir")<br />Laisser tout le monde tomber - with an "r" at the end of "tomber"<br /><br />We say: There are lots of fish in the sea<br />They say: Lose one, find 10 (Perdre un, trouver dix)<br /><br />In French, in fact, it is : Un de perdu, dix de trouvés = One lost, 10 found<br /><br />We say: I wouldn’t want to live in the spotlight.<br />They say: A happy life, is a hidden life. (Pour vivre heureux, vivant cachée)<br /><br />In fact it is : Pour vivre heureux, vivons cachés<br /><br /><br />We say: I’m out of cash<br />They say: J’ai pas du fric<br /><br />You mean : "Je n'ai pas de fric" or "J'ai pas de fric" (fric = money in a familiar way)<br /><br /><br />We say: Life is good<br />They say: It’s a wonderful world, isn’t it? (C’est du beau monde, hein?)<br /><br />It means : Quel monde merveilleux, n'est-ce pas ? (and not "C'est du beau monde, hein ?" translated rather like "These are nice, wealthy people")<br /><br />We say: This is awesome!<br />They say: This is crazy good! (C’est un bien fou)<br /><br />"This is crazy good" means literally : C'est follement bon (We would not say "C'est un bien fou" ; it sounds strange)<br />"This is awesome" means : C'est génial ! (That's really great)<br /><br />We say: I’ll be right back or In a jiffy<br />They say: Tout suite or En moins de deux<br /><br />It is Tout de suite or En moins de deux (secondes)<br /><br />We say: 5’o-clock shadow<br />They say: 3-day beard (Barbe a trois jours)<br />It is : Barbe de trois joursAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009744383586622251.post-39720065518094035262010-05-15T01:38:25.966+02:002010-05-15T01:38:25.966+02:00A few comments on your post:
- we don't say fa...A few comments on your post:<br />- we don't say far from the eyes, far from the earth, but far from the eyes, far from the heart (loin des yeux, loin du coeur)<br />- we do say letting someone down too, and not letting the world collapse...tout le monde here means everyone, not the world...tricky French language!!! <br />- when you say C’est du beau monde, it means they're nice people (VIPs)...not that the world is beautiful.<br />- the affair is aventure in French...histoire d'amour is a love story<br /><br />Adeline (who signed up again with I guess a new password!!!)Adelinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04998434774913832060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009744383586622251.post-29259444562031872652010-05-03T12:43:25.084+02:002010-05-03T12:43:25.084+02:00just to explain one thing : we say B.A.-BA, to say...just to explain one thing : we say B.A.-BA, to say that's the base or that easy. And it's come from when you learn to speak at the begining : B + A = BA !<br />C'est un article amusant !<br />Bises.Marie Desgroppeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18336620766302825658noreply@blogger.com