Archive for 'Vocabulary'
The Godfather of l’Opéra français Part 2 Posted by Hichem on Feb 4, 2011
Molière and Jean de la Fontaine: Two famous victims of the intrigues devised by le Parrain (the Godfather) of French Opera. As such, they join a long list of hommes de lettreswho were -it’s tempting to say- “lulled by Lully” * * * If le cardinal Mazarin were to be regarded as the “Overall Godfather“, the capo…
Jean-Baptiste Lully and l’Opéra français Part 1 Posted by Hichem on Feb 3, 2011
It seems that whenever people around the world think of the term opera, it is l’opéra italien that comes up first in their minds. But, all “chauvinistic” considerations aside (no doubt more suitable for the purpose of rehashing the “intricacies” of, say, some highly “theatrical” match finalde la Coupe du Monde de la FIFA), it is…
The Fable of an Out-foxed Crow Posted by Hichem on Jan 31, 2011
Combien de leçons peut-on tirer de cette fable? (How many lessons can one draw from this fable?) Jean de La Fontaine’s Le corbeau et le renard (The Crow and the Fox) tells the story of a literally -and even “literaturely”- “outfoxed” corbeau (crow), who was duped by the –shall we say- “cheesy lines” of a Master Fox—A…
Tribute to a Celtic Tune: “La tribu de Dana” by Manau Posted by Hichem on Jan 30, 2011
With a tune hailing all the way from the proud shores of Bretagne (Brittany),Celtic group Manau sang this immensely successful chanson (song) in France: “La tribu de Dana” (“The tribe of Dana”)—about thirteen years ago already! “La tribu de Dana” is actually inspired from an old traditional Breton song called “Tri Martolod“, which means “The Three…
Like Coffee, I like my Humour Noir! Posted by Hichem on Jan 27, 2011
Garçon! French Dark Sense of Humor, S’il vous plait. Take a tad bit of unbridled cynisme (cynicism), a little dose of the desperately tragique, mix up with un soupçon (a hint)of the morbidly discomforting, preferablyverging onthe edge of the macabre, or any social “taboo” flavor that tickles your fancy, and you may very well end up with what…
MDR/LOL! Blagues (jokes) françaises Part 2 Posted by Hichem on Jan 27, 2011
MDR = “Mort De Rire!” = LOL * Quand j’étais plus jeune, je détestais aller aux mariages (When I was younger, I used to hate going to weddings) parce que mes vieilles tantes et mes grands parents venaient près de moi (because my old aunts and grandparents used to come towards me), me donnaient une grande…
Blagues (Jokes) à la Française Part1 Posted by Hichem on Jan 26, 2011
To each his own bouc émissaire (“scapegoat”, literally, meaning “the butt of a joke”): For a long time,les Anglais (the English) picked on les Irlandais (the Irish), the Americans on their “Southerner” Rednecks, the Egyptians on their own version of “Southerners”, so to speak, the Sa’idis (From la Haute-Égypte, or Upper Egypt), les Canadiens ontheir Newfies (referring to…