Ask M. White for help with French translation

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If you must address me by my prénom, Michael, please to take it from my screen name.

― kovacs laszlo (Ken L), Thursday, 10 November 2005 19:09 (eighteen years ago) link

You're not related to Victor, are you?

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 10 November 2005 19:17 (eighteen years ago) link

Non, in Hungary, Kovacs are a dime a dozen.

― kovacs laszlo (Ken L), Thursday, 10 November 2005 19:40 (eighteen years ago) link

So, about 21 Forints then...

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 10 November 2005 20:46 (eighteen years ago) link

http://www.bvdp.de/files/positionen-studien/images/Laszlo_Kovacs_EU-Kommissar_200x313.jpg

c'est toi?

― Baaderonixx ménage ses forces dans l'attente du Grand Soir (baaderonixx), Friday, 11 November 2005 09:07 (eighteen years ago) link

Ça me paraît peu probable.

― M. White (Miguelito), Friday, 11 November 2005 15:02 (eighteen years ago) link

No, but in fact there is another Laszlo Kovacs here on ILX- after all, it is in fact a common name- perhaps that is an image of him.

― kovacs laszlo (Ken L), Sunday, 13 November 2005 01:02 (eighteen years ago) link

please give me a hand in understanding why edith cressons carp about the stockmarket- "la borse, j'en ai rien a cirer"- is so funny and well remembered. is it true that she's remembered as a sort of mrs. malaprop ?

― m bott, Sunday, 13 November 2005 01:34 (eighteen years ago) link

― m bott, Sunday, 13 November 2005 01:35 (eighteen years ago) link

I think it's because "rien à cirer" is a slangy expression thought to be a bit too vulgar for a prime minister. It'd be like if Tony Blair said at a press conference: "I couldn't give two craps about the stock exchange."

― jz, Monday, 14 November 2005 09:22 (eighteen years ago) link

It's also a spectacularly stupid thing for a modern prime minister to say.

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 14 November 2005 16:56 (eighteen years ago) link

obviously. just like her comparison of the japanese to 'fourmi', and allegation that most english men are gay.

― m bott, Monday, 14 November 2005 19:05 (eighteen years ago) link

"nothing to wax"? it's impossible to even determine the anecdotal origin of such a thing.. my favorite of these inscrutable french sayings is if you want somebody to understand you've got more important things to do you say you have "other cats to whip" -- ????

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 14 November 2005 19:23 (eighteen years ago) link

to correct myself- 'des fourmis'

― m. m bott, Monday, 14 November 2005 19:51 (eighteen years ago) link

les formis croondent.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Monday, 14 November 2005 21:04 (eighteen years ago) link

Quoi sur les fourmis?

(T'ai-je dis, aujourd'hui, combien tu es jolie?) ;-)

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 14 November 2005 21:33 (eighteen years ago) link

*quietly inserts the letter u* bah bah

― Mädchen (Madchen), Monday, 14 November 2005 21:36 (eighteen years ago) link

bonsoir ma puce!

― Mädchen (Madchen), Monday, 14 November 2005 21:37 (eighteen years ago) link

ILX a d'autres chats à fouetter

― Baaderonixx ménage ses forces dans l'attente du Grand Soir (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 15 November 2005 08:45 (eighteen years ago) link

I think the "chat" of that expression refers not to the animal but to the "chat-aux-neuf-queues".

― jz, Tuesday, 15 November 2005 09:21 (eighteen years ago) link

c'est à dire?

― Baaderonixx ménage ses forces dans l'attente du Grand Soir (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 15 November 2005 09:38 (eighteen years ago) link

C'est à dire que le chat-aux-neuf-queues était une sorte de fouet utilisé pour punir les marins à bord des bateaux de la marine du 18ème siècle.

― jz, Tuesday, 15 November 2005 09:55 (eighteen years ago) link

Cat o' nine tails? I doubt it, jz.

― M. White (Miguelito), Tuesday, 15 November 2005 18:41 (eighteen years ago) link

également utilisé par les libertins dans des romans du 18ème siècle..

I think I still have a dictionary somewhere that would explain these sorts of expressions, je vais effectuer une recherche. cela m'intrigue quoi.

― dar1a g (daria g), Tuesday, 15 November 2005 18:55 (eighteen years ago) link

Couquine, va.

― M. White (Miguelito), Tuesday, 15 November 2005 18:56 (eighteen years ago) link

Or 'coquine', as you prefer.

― M. White (Miguelito), Tuesday, 15 November 2005 18:57 (eighteen years ago) link

one month passes...

Dear M. White,

At Le Loir dans la Théière in the Marais recently, I read a quote at the bottom of a poster promoting some theatrical production that referred to it as a "chassé-croisé des actrices" and my partner in crime could not, for the life of her, find even a suitable explanation in English for this phrase, though she knew very well what it meant to her. Can you?

Gratefully yours,

Traceur Main

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 16:39 (eighteen years ago) link

I don't think you'll find a concise equivalent but it can describe the pattern of characters coming and going and narrowly missing each other. I guess a loose translation would be "criss-cross".

― Baaderonixx born in Xyxax (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 16:50 (eighteen years ago) link

My dictionary has chassé-croisé translated as a 'continual coming and going'.

― M. White (Miguelito), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 16:53 (eighteen years ago) link

J'ne profite pour souhaiter une très bonne année à notre petite communauté francophone de ILX!

― Baaderonixx born in Xyxax (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 17:02 (eighteen years ago) link

Cest gentil, baaderonixx. A toi, aussi.

― M. White (Miguelito), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 17:08 (eighteen years ago) link

Geniale!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 17:23 (eighteen years ago) link

Bonjour à tous. Je vous souhaite mes meilleurs voeux de bonheur pour la nouvelle année 2006.

― Redd Harvest (Ken L), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 17:38 (eighteen years ago) link

c'est beau ca ! joyeux noel et bonne annee a tous et a toutes.

― dar1a g (daria g), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 18:02 (eighteen years ago) link

Le grand courage, c’est encore de tenir les yeux
ouverts sur la lumière comme sur la mort. -Camus

Does this mean something like "the greatest courage is to look at life as clearly as we look at death"? That seems to be counter-intuitive, since moste people don't look at death very clearly.

― Bnad (Bnad), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 18:05 (eighteen years ago) link

salut

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 18:06 (eighteen years ago) link

I've been trying to think of slangy, possibly outdated, possibly derogatory, French words for "child." So far I got these:

môme
gosse
rejeton

What am I missing?

― Redd Harvest (Ken L), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 21:10 (eighteen years ago) link

marmot
mioche
morveux

― M. White (Miguelito), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 21:41 (eighteen years ago) link

bambin

― M. White (Miguelito), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 21:44 (eighteen years ago) link

Bnad: lumière = light, not life?

― StanM (StanM), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 21:45 (eighteen years ago) link

Light but also understanding or reason.

Note that the Enlightenment was how the English translated the French expression L'Age des Lumières.

― M. White (Miguelito), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 21:54 (eighteen years ago) link

I thought L'Age des Lumières started in 1895?

― Redd Harvest (Ken L), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 21:55 (eighteen years ago) link

Gros malin, va.

― M. White (Miguelito), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 21:58 (eighteen years ago) link

i think i am going to translate "chassé-croisé" as "clusterfuck"

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 22:28 (eighteen years ago) link

"baratin" is my new fave word, btw

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 4 January 2006 22:28 (eighteen years ago) link

What does nous nous mean in french? Also, je crois que nous nous reunirons encore mean?

― Denise Little, Thursday, 12 January 2006 16:25 (eighteen years ago) link

It means "we we", and this looks like a typo.

"I think we we will succeed again"

― snowballing (snowballing), Thursday, 12 January 2006 16:34 (eighteen years ago) link

It's not a typo and that translation is wrong.

Reflexive verbs take reflexive pronoun. Look up french reflexive verb pronoun on Google if you want the full explanation.

je crois que nous nous reunirons encore = I think we'll meet again

― jz, Thursday, 12 January 2006 16:36 (eighteen years ago) link

Isn't it reflexive? I believe we will bring ourselves together again i.e. we'll meet again.
xpost um yeah

― beanz (beanz), Thursday, 12 January 2006 16:41 (eighteen years ago) link

So Snowball, Paris is your home town...?

― Baaderonixx, born again in Xixax (baaderonixx), Thursday, 12 January 2006 16:57 (eighteen years ago) link

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