Archive for September, 2010
Madame JE-SAIS-TOUT (and more of the ABC of French Slang!) Posted by Hichem on Sep 29, 2010
Today in our ABCs of French slang, we’re on la lettre ‘J.‘ “J comme…” (“J as in…”) * Je-m’en-foutisme: In his book “The Devil in France – My Encounter with Him in the Summer of 1940” (during the Nazi invasion of France, that is), le dramaturge (playwright) Lion Feuchtwanger defines Je-m’en-foutisme as “an attitude toward life…
Still Lost in (Abréviation) Translation? (Part 2) Posted by Hichem on Sep 27, 2010
French abréviations are virtually partout (everywhere): In les journaux (newspapers), les magazines, les films (movies), les conversations quotidiennes (daily conversations), including les SMS (text messages), etc. We continue today the list of must-know French abbreviations, which we have started last week (Lost in (Abréviation) Translation? (Part 1)) À vos marques! Prêts! Partez! (Ready! Steady! Go!) * CEDEX…
“Foule Sentimentale” by Alain Souchon Posted by Hichem on Sep 23, 2010
After Charles Aznavour and mes amis arméniens (regardez La Bohème (Charles Aznavour)), here comes the turn of my many amis russes, who love listening to Patricia Kaas -among others- probably more than French people do today in France! Ever since the time of Pierre Ier de Russie, known as “Pierre le Grand” (“Peter the Great”), Russians have been…
Lost in (Abréviation) Translation? (Part 1) Posted by Hichem on Sep 22, 2010
Le dernier mois (last month), many internautes rejoiced to find here on the “French Blog” a list of must-know abréviations commonly used in les textos français (French SMS), together with brief explanations and examples of their daily use. See “Lost in (Textos/SMS) Translation?” Today, we’re going to go encore plus loin (even further), and show you the abbreviations commonly…
Encore, Édith PIAF !—“Milord” Posted by Hichem on Sep 18, 2010
Vous avez été nombreux la dernière fois à aimer la célèbre chanson de Édith Piaf intitulée “Non, je ne regrette rien” (You have been many last time to like the famous Édith Piaf song titled “No, I regret nothing”), which you can find here: “Non, je ne regrette rien! (Édith Piaf).” Another famous song by Édith Piaf -whose real nom…
Ô Canada: The Canadian National Anthem in French Posted by Jennie on Sep 16, 2010
Alors, quoi dire de la culture française à Terre-Neuve? Actually, although it’s bilingual, Newfoundland is not very French. (It is awfully irlandais—Irish—however, for reasons of historical migration.) One element of bilinguality les Terre-neuviens can’t get away from, however, is l’hymne national, the national anthem. “O Canada,” or “Ô Canada” (with a chapeau on the…
French Slang ABCs: Expressions with the Letter I Posted by Hichem on Sep 15, 2010
From the letter ‘G’, nous sautons directement vers la lettre ‘I’ (we jump straight towards the letter ‘I’), since there aren’t any French slang words starting with ‘H‘ that belong to the “must know” category of argot that we have so far covered in this series, “le B.A.-BA de l’Argot (The ABC of French Slang.)” “I comme…” (“I…