D. Allan Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 puer (pooay), v. infinitive to stink, to have a very bad smell puant pres. part. stinking pué past part. stank Expressions: puer de la gueule = to have bad breath puer des pieds = to have stinky feet ça pue! = it stinks! To show that something smells badly or is repugnant, hold your nose. Quote dAb O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Gail Posted February 28, 2008 Administrators Share Posted February 28, 2008 Ah, yes! I know this word! So easy to remember because it sounds like "poo" Quote Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Allan Posted February 29, 2008 Author Share Posted February 29, 2008 la gueule (guhl) 1. mouth of an animal (zoo.) 2. mouth or face of a person expressions: Coup de gueule 1 Dispute entre plusieurs personnes. [Familier]. "A dispute between several persons". 2 Expression d'un mécontentement émise par une seule personne. "An expression of displeasure by one person." Grande gueule Personne qui parle haut et fort. "A person who speaks loudly and strongly." "A big-mouth." Fine gueule Fin gourmet "A fine gourmet" Quote dAb O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Allan Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 oiseau (wah-zoh), masculine noun bird Avoir une cervelle d'oiseau, Etre étourdi (to be scatterbrained) lit. "To have a bird brain." Etre un oiseau rare to be a person of many good qualities. lit. "To be a rare bird." Un drôle d'oiseau Une personne bizarre. A Bizarre person. lit. "Funny bird" Quote dAb O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Allan Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 avoir raison, expression to be right Prouver que j'ai raison serait accorder que je puis avoir tort. - Pierre Augustin Caron de BEAUMARCHAIS, Le Mariage de Figaro, acte I, scène I Proving that I am right would be to admit that I could be wrong. "C'est une belle chose d'être honnête, mais il est également important d' avoir raison." - Winston Churchill It's a beautiful thing to be honest, but it's just as important to be right. "L'amitié, ce n'est pas d'être avec ses amis quand ils ont raison, c'est d'être avec eux même quand ils ont tort." -André Malraux Friendship, it's not to be with your friends when they are right, it's to be with them also when they are wrong. Quote dAb O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Allan Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 "C'est une belle chose d'être honnête, mais il est également important d' avoir raison." - Winston Churchill It would be more idiomatic English to translate the Churchill saying, "It's a good thing to be truthful, but it is just as important to be right." Quote dAb O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Gail Posted March 4, 2008 Administrators Share Posted March 4, 2008 I like the second one better. It is less literal and probably closer to how it is supposed to be translated. Quote Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Allan Posted March 4, 2008 Author Share Posted March 4, 2008 I found Winston's original words. Quote: It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right. Winston Churchill Quote dAb O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Allan Posted March 4, 2008 Author Share Posted March 4, 2008 glouglou masc. noun 1. glug-glug, gurgle, bubbling; faire glouglou to bubble, to gurgle 2. Gobble-gobble (of turkey); coo (of pigeon) glouglouter verb 1. (of liquid) to gurgle, bubble 2. (of turkey) to gobble Mansion's French-English Dictionary "Le dindon glougloute." The turkey gobbles. "Les bébés glougloutent." The babies are qurgling. Quote dAb O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Allan Posted March 5, 2008 Author Share Posted March 5, 2008 le baba , noun Sponge-cake (usually with currents) steeped in rum syrup baba invarient adj. Dumfounded, flabbergasted. J'en suis resté baba. Quote dAb O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Gail Posted March 5, 2008 Administrators Share Posted March 5, 2008 la gueule (guhl) 1. mouth of an animal (zoo.) 2. mouth or face of a person expressions: Coup de gueule 1 Dispute entre plusieurs personnes. [Familier]. "A dispute between several persons". 2 Expression d'un mécontentement émise par une seule personne. "An expression of displeasure by one person." Grande gueule Personne qui parle haut et fort. "A person who speaks loudly and strongly." "A big-mouth." Fine gueule Fin gourmet "A fine gourmet" I'm too lazy to look it up, but I think that this word is used in the expression also to "shut up!" I think it's "Ta gueule!" Quote Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Gail Posted March 5, 2008 Administrators Share Posted March 5, 2008 I've never had occasion to use that expression... Quote Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Allan Posted March 5, 2008 Author Share Posted March 5, 2008 Your right! ta bouche ! (fam) Shut up! Shut your trap! ta bouche bébé ! (fam) Shut up! Shut your trap! - http://french.about.com/library/express/blex-bouche.htm I have a book full of expressions I'll never use, "The Real French You Were Never Taught in School!" for "shut up" : écrase* crush it!, imp. v. écraser, to crush, (cigarette) to put out ferme-la*, shut-it! ta gueule**, your maw! ("gueule" is literally an animal's mouth, but is used pejoratively for people's mouths or faces!) The preface of the book says: "Asterisks after argot words indicate a dergree of rudeness above the ordinary colloquial. Two asterisks show a whopper, although you should not assume that strength and rudeness cause a word to be used less frequently; au contraire." Quote dAb O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Gail Posted March 5, 2008 Administrators Share Posted March 5, 2008 Quote: I have a book full of expressions I'll never use, "The Real French You Were Never Taught in School!" The way I learned it, the Québecois way of doing bad words was mostly religious sayings, not unlike, "Holy Mary Mother of God". I have no idea what it means, but I think you consider the context. I don't know if the continental French do that. The Quebecers and the European French have definite differences! Quote Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Allan Posted March 6, 2008 Author Share Posted March 6, 2008 cinglé 1. adj. crazy 2. noun crazy person, "nut" The term is the past participle of the verb cingler int., to sail (before the wind); to scud along; trans. to lash, whip;(metallurgy) to forge. Gesture: To show that someone is crazy, put your index finger to your temple and turn your hand back and forth. Quote dAb O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Hey ... this is good. Mind if I copy this for later use? I can think of a few occasions where it might be appropriate to use. Quote May we be one so that the world may be won. Christian from the cradle to the grave I believe in Hematology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Allan Posted March 6, 2008 Author Share Posted March 6, 2008 Help yourself to it! :) Quote dAb O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Allan Posted March 7, 2008 Author Share Posted March 7, 2008 blesser verbe transitif to wound, to hurt, offend "On blesse l'amour-propre ; on ne le tue pas." - Henry de Montherlant "One wounds self-love; one does not kill it." infinitif: blesser, to wound participe présent: blessant, wounding participe passé: blessé, wounded Quote dAb O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators John317 Posted March 7, 2008 Moderators Share Posted March 7, 2008 Hi D. Allen, I always appreciate and enjoy your posts on words. I'd be very interested in what you can find sometime in research regarding the word "willful." Regards, "John3:17" Quote John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Gail Posted March 7, 2008 Administrators Share Posted March 7, 2008 blesser verbe transitif to wound, to hurt, offend infinitif: blesser, to wound participe présent: blessant, wounding participe passé: blessé, wounded Isn't it interesting how the word "blesser" is opposite to "bless" in English? How did that happen??? Quote Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Gail Posted March 7, 2008 Administrators Share Posted March 7, 2008 It's all just part of the fun, I guess! Quote Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Allan Posted March 7, 2008 Author Share Posted March 7, 2008 Blesser, to wound, why is the meaning so different in English? That's a good question. OK here is what i find at dictionary.com Quote: Word History: The verb bless comes from Old English bldsian, blēdsian, blētsian, "to bless, wish happiness, consecrate." Although the Old English verb has no cognates in any other Germanic language, it can be shown to derive from the Germanic noun *blōdan, "blood." Bldsian therefore literally means "to consecrate with blood, sprinkle with blood." The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, the early Germanic migrants to Britain, used bldsian for their pagan sacrifices. After they converted to Christianity, bldsian acquired new meanings as a result of its use in translations of the Latin Bible, but it kept its pagan Germanic senses as well. A wound - then blood. And: Quote: bless O.E. bletsian, bledsian, Northumbrian bloedsian "to consecrate, make holy," from P.Gmc. *blothisojan "mark with blood," from *blotham "blood" (see blood). Originally a blood sprinkling on pagan altars. This word was chosen in O.E. bibles to translate L. benedicere and Gk. eulogein, both of which have a ground sense of "to speak well of, to praise," but were used in Scripture to translate Heb. brk "to bend (the knee), worship, praise, invoke blessings." Meaning shifted in late O.E. toward "to confer happiness, well-being," by resemblance to unrelated bliss. No cognates in other languages. Blessing is O.E. bledsung. Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper Quote dAb O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Allan Posted March 7, 2008 Author Share Posted March 7, 2008 Hi D. Allen, I always appreciate and enjoy your posts on words. I'd be very interested in what you can find sometime in research regarding the word "willful." Regards, "John3:17" I'll check that out, John. Quote dAb O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Allan Posted March 9, 2008 Author Share Posted March 9, 2008 seul fem. seule, adjectif 1 alone, by oneself 2 isolated, alone 3 unique, the only Faire cavalier seul - to act alone, on one's own literally: to do the single horseman Au XIXe siècle, le quadrille était une danse où l’on exécutait des figures, dont le "cavalier seul", qui était pratiqué par un homme seul. C'est en référence à cette danse que l'on emploie l'expression "faire cavalier seul", qui signifie que l'on agit sans l'aide de personne. - Linternaute Encyclopedia In the 19th century, the quadrille was a dance in which one executed certain figures, among them the "cavalier seul" which was preformed by a solitary person. It is in reference to this dance that one uses the expression "faire cavalier seul" , which means that one acts without anyone's help." "Être adulte, c'est être seul." - Jean ROSTAND, Pensées d'un biologiste "To be an adult is to be alone." Quote dAb O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Allan Posted March 10, 2008 Author Share Posted March 10, 2008 jeu de patience , idiom puzzle; esp. jig-saw puzzle. (literally "game/play of patience") "Avec du temps et de la patience, les feuilles de mûrier se transforment en robe de soie." - proverbe "With time and patience, mulberry leaves become a robe of silk." "Goutte à goutte, l'eau creuse la pierre." - proverbe "Drop by drop, water hollows stone." " Petit à petit, l'oiseau fait son nid." - proverbe "Bit by bit, the bird builds its nest." Quote dAb O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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