{"id":26965,"date":"2017-05-30T05:16:59","date_gmt":"2017-05-30T03:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=26965"},"modified":"2019-06-08T23:33:11","modified_gmt":"2019-06-08T21:33:11","slug":"back-to-the-store","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/back-to-the-store\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to the store . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"

… For a love story! Between the world wars (la grande et la deuxieme<\/strong>*), France saw the creation of three stores dedicated to providing convenience and savings to urban shoppers. All three offered products \u201cfor a single price\u201d and their names played on that concept.<\/p>\n

While all three evolved over the years, Monoprix (Mono-price), Uniprix (Uni-price), and Prisunic (a play on \u2018prix unique\u2019 \u2013 unique price) were all dedicated to low prices on a wide range of products, of the alimentary and elementary kind (think Walmart, or Target, if you\u2019re familiar with those brands). Over the years, the doyen** of the bunch Monoprix acquired the other two, and is now the last one standing.<\/p>\n

To celebrate 85 years in business, Monoprix has introduced a charming campaigne publicitaire <\/strong>(ad campaign)<\/em> that harkens back to a simpler time, leveraging Monoprix packaging that incorporated des jeux de mots<\/strong> (word games, or puns<\/em>).<\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/w80JOMYVehE<\/a><\/p>\n

There is no dialogue, but the following should help you follow along:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
En voil\u00e0 un joli petit c\u0153ur<\/strong><\/td>\nWell there\u2019s a pretty little heart (\u2018un petit c\u0153ur\u2019 is a type of coockie)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tu me fais \u2018crackers\u2019<\/strong><\/td>\nYou make me \u2018crackers\u2019 (<\/em>The French expression \u2018tu me fais craquer\u2019 <\/em>is a term of endearment akin to \u2018I\u2019m crazy for you\u2019)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
T\u2019es l\u2019ananas de ma vie<\/strong><\/td>\nYou\u2019re the pineapple of my life (<\/em>Most likely from \u2018t\u2019es l\u2019amour de ma vie\u2019 \/ \u2018you\u2019re the love of my life\u2019<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Je te nem<\/strong><\/td>\nI \u2018spring roll\u2019 you (<\/em>A play on \u2018je t\u2019aime<\/em>\u2019 \/ \u2018I love you,<\/em>\u2019 \u2018des nems<\/em>\u2019 is French for \u2018Chinese spring rolls\u2019)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pr\u00eate pour une l\u2019\u0153uf story?<\/strong><\/td>\nReady for an \u2018egg story\u2019? (\u2018Ready for a love story?)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cake tu m\u2019as manqu\u00e9\u00a0!<\/strong><\/td>\nCake I missed you\u00a0! (\u2018How I have missed you\u00a0!\u2019 <\/em>from the French \u2018Qu\u2019est-ce-que tu m\u2019as manqu\u00e9!\u2019)***<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
[Vendu]<\/strong><\/td>\n[Sold]<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lait dr\u00f4le la vie<\/strong><\/td>\nMilk funny life. <\/em>(\u2018C\u2019est dr\u00f4le la vie\u2019 \/ \u2018Life is funny\u2019)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Au c\u0153ur de votre vie<\/strong><\/td>\nIn the heart of your life<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Au c\u0153ur de votre ville<\/strong><\/td>\nIn the heart of your city \/ town<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Depuis 85 ans<\/strong><\/td>\nFor (since) 85 years<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

But where it really gets interesting is \u2026 as a \u2018kicker\u2019, Monoprix produced a series of \u201calternate endings\u201d that play off of other packaging puns including:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/FyG9lRx1g5c<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sauce qui peut!<\/strong><\/td>\n(From the French \u2018sauve qui peut!\u2019<\/em> which literally means \u2018save yourself if you can!<\/em>\u2019 but familiarly means \u2018get out\u2019<\/em>, \u2018save yourself<\/em>\u2019, or \u2018run!<\/em>\u2019.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/8Vwt2Am7jUc<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tu peux me faire le mayo?<\/strong><\/td>\nCan you make the mayonnaise? <\/em>(<\/em>From the French \u2018tu peux me faire le maillot?\u2019\/ <\/em>\u2018maillot\u2019 <\/em>is the word for bathing suit, which here refers to a \u2018bikini wax\u2019!!!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/godfBfqUC0M<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh\u00a0! Citron mignon\u00a0!<\/strong><\/td>\nOh! Lemon cute! (<\/em>From the French \u2018oh! <\/em>C\u2019est trop mignon\u2019 \/ \u2018Oh! Too cute\u00a0!\u2019<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/tzEDGJJdzzI<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Attention \u00e0 la peau lisse!
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		Watch out for the smooth skin! (<\/em>From the French \u2018Attention \u00e0 la police!<\/em>\u2019 \/ \u2018Watch out for the police!\u2019<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

* See here <\/a>for a discussion of \u2018deuxi\u00e8me\u2019 vs. \u2018seconde\u2019.
\n<\/em>** \u2018doyen\u2019 is a word that means \u2018most senior\u2019 or \u2018oldest\u2019, but in terms of \u2018the first on the scene\u2019 more than simply in terms of age.
\n*** Remember that the expression ‘to miss someone’<\/a> is tricky in French.<\/p>\n

Image Credit: By Julien Paquin – Self-photographed, CC BY 4.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=34592671<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

… For a love story! Between the world wars (la grande et la deuxieme*), France saw the creation of three stores dedicated to providing convenience and savings to urban shoppers. All three offered products \u201cfor a single price\u201d and their names played on that concept. While all three evolved over the years, Monoprix (Mono-price), Uniprix…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":26972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[2149,284,357,432,13218,12514],"class_list":["post-26965","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vocabulary","tag-france","tag-free-french-lessons","tag-french-language","tag-french-vocabulary","tag-the-french-blog","tag-vocabulaire-francais"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t