Retarded French Grammarian Trolls, the Blog Rulez warning goes double. In the words of some dumbass lawyer I interviewed with once (who gets called a dumbass because he shortlisted me for like two months because he was waiting on Candidate 1 to sign, but that is ok because she left the job six months later), “Wow DP, you type really fast. You made some spelling mistakes but they look like typos and not bad spelling.” That’s what I am talking about.
Oh btw my laptop has a US keyboard and without a number pad (yes I know how to do alt 130 etc) typing accents is a PITA so yeah no accents unless I hit the copy and paste.
Since tonight I am so freakin tired my IQ has probably gone down by ten points, tonights Frenchitude will be a series of cute articles I have read this weeek, with translations of choice phrases.
This BondyBlog link about Rachida Dati trying to “connect with the people” made me snarf my coffee Friday morning at work, especially this quote:
« Hé, hé ! La patronne arrive, vous avez tous vos fafs (papiers) ? » (Translation: Hey y’all, Bosslady is here, everyone got their passports?)
If you need a quick laugh en francais, dÉsencyclopédie is the French version of Uncyclopedia.
Some of my favorite quotes:
The article on Kabyles is still a stub, but has the most succint definition of a Kabyle I have ever read:
« Les Kabyles boivent de l’huile d’olive au petit déjeuner, à midi et au diner. » (Translation: Kabyles drink olive oil for breakfast, lunch and dinner.) Desencyclopedie is not lying to us on that one.
On Louisiana: « C’est tout plat, plein de flotte et rempli de moustiques et d’alligators. Faut être un peu con ou malade pour aller vivre là-bas. » (Translation: It is completely flat there, full of water and full of mosquitos and alligators. One must be a little stupid or crazy to go live there.)
And finally, Geneva: This is arguably the most well known article from Desencyclopedie. One of my favorite quotes from the article gives me flashbacks to trying to go to work in that stupid village on crutches:
«Les célèbres tramways de Genève sont chers, lents et inconfortables. Les derniers modèles venant de chez Bombardier sont d’un inconfort total. Le prix du billet est de 3 Frs pour 60 minutes de trajet. Mais comme le tram arrive en général 10 minutes après que tu aies oblitéré ton ticket, il te reste en réalité 50 minutes de trajet en général debout. Les personnes âgées n’ont plus droit aux places assises. Les places assises sont réservées aux enfants en âge d’aller à l’école. »
(Translation: The famous tramways of Geneva are expensive, slow and uncomfortable. The latest models from Bombardier completely uncomfortable. Tickets cost 3 francs and last sixty minutes. However as the tram usually arrives ten minutes after you “stamp” your ticket, you then have fifty minutes of travel time left which is usually done standing up. Old people no longer have the right to sit down, seated places are generally reserved for school-aged children.)
I had to beat people down with my cane to get a seat on a tram in Geneva and even then some efftard would sit there with his elbows in my ribs.
I like odd numbers, so I will leave you with my favorite translation website of all time: le Grand dictionnaire terminologique from the Office quebecoise de la langue francaise. Loves it.
Tags : Language Week
1 juillet 2008 à 10:19
As-Salaamu ‘alaikum,
The thing about the trams in Geneva is just as true of trams in south London. The other day on a tram to Wimbledon (not for the tennis - just going home) I saw a young mum stand while her two pre-school kids sat, and the workers going home had to stand as well. Of course, nobody would have said “will you get one of your kids up so I can sit down because I am tired on account of having been working since before you were up this morning”.