{"id":34714,"date":"2022-06-14T05:30:08","date_gmt":"2022-06-14T03:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=34714"},"modified":"2022-06-04T16:22:05","modified_gmt":"2022-06-04T14:22:05","slug":"did-you-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/did-you-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Did you know?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I keep a file where I collect ideas for future blog posts. Sometimes these ideas turn into full posts, sometimes they find their way into longer posts as bonus content \u2026 and somtimes enough of them build up that I think \u201cok, let\u2019s get these out into the world!\u201d This week I\u2019m sharing a round-up of these items in a little post I\u2019m calling Le saviez-vous?<\/strong>1<\/a><\/sup>Did you know?<\/em> in French uses the imperative. You can read more about it, and about the differences between the verbs savoir<\/em> and\u00a0conna\u00eetre\u00a0<\/em>in the posts linked at the bottom of today\u2019s post.<\/span><\/p>\n

Le saviez-vous?<\/h3>\n
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Photo CC0 from www.pexels.com<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Saviez-vous que le jeu de soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Risk a \u00e9t\u00e9 invent\u00e9 par un Fran\u00e7ais?<\/strong>2<\/a><\/sup>Did you know that the board game Risk was invented by a Frenchman?<\/em><\/span> Originally called\u00a0La conqu\u00eate du monde<\/strong>3<\/a><\/sup>Conquer the world<\/em><\/span>, Risk was first developed by the French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse<\/a> (of Le Ballon rouge<\/strong>\/The Red Balloon<\/em> fame \u2026 you can watch it here<\/a>.) before being licensed first to French game maker Miro and then to Parker Brothers. Learn more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Les quartiers d\u2019Auteuil, Passy, Les Batignolles, Montmartre, La Chapelle, La Villette, Belleville, Charonne, Bercy, Vaugirard, et Grenelle n\u2019ont pas toujours faites partie de Paris. Le saviez-vous?<\/strong>4<\/a><\/sup>The neighborhoods of \u2026 were not always part of Paris. Did you know?<\/em><\/span> It wasn\u2019t until 1860, under Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann<\/a> (whose grand works we\u2019ve discussed before<\/a>), that these\u00a0communes<\/strong><\/a> were incorporated into the city, growing Paris from 12 arrondissements<\/strong><\/a> to 20.<\/p>\n

Mini-grammar minute!<\/strong> Did you notice the two different forms of Did you know?<\/em> in French? In English, the pronoun\u00a0it <\/em>is implied in the question and so can be omitted while in French you have to include it. At the start of a complete question (like Saviez-vous que le jeu de soci\u00e9t\u00e9\u2026) you don\u2019t need\u00a0it\/le<\/em> but when you are asking simply Did you know (it\/that)?<\/em> in French, you have to say Le saviez-vous?<\/em><\/div>\n

The English words gargoyle\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0dandelion<\/em> come to us from the French. Le saviez-vous?<\/strong>\u00a0The French word for\u00a0gargoyle <\/em>is\u00a0gargouille\u00a0<\/strong>and comes from the French verb\u00a0gargouiller<\/strong> \u2026 which means to gargle<\/em>!<\/p>\n

The English\u00a0dandelion\u00a0<\/em>is thought to come from the French\u00a0dent-de-lion<\/strong>\/lion\u2019s tooth\u00a0<\/em>though today in France, dandelions are more commonly referred to as des pissenlits<\/strong>.\u00a0The name pissenlit<\/strong> comes from the fact that eating the leaves of dandelions serves as a diuretic. If you eat too many pissenlits<\/strong> you are likely to literally\u00a0wet the bed<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Aimez-vous les chevaux? Saviez-vous qu\u2019il y a un championnat du monde de cheval \u2026\u00a0\u00e0 deux pattes?!!<\/strong>5<\/a><\/sup>Do you like horses? Did you know that there is a world championship for \u2026 two-legged horse riding?!!<\/em><\/span>\u00a0First developed in Finland and imported to France in 2017, les competitions de cheval\u00a0\u00e0 deux pattes\u00a0<\/strong>(or hobby-horse racing<\/em>) include three rounds: la reprise de dressage, le saut d\u2019obstacles, et le hennissement<\/strong>6<\/a><\/sup>dressage\/choreography, jumping, and neighing<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n

You can read more about the history and the events as well as see some quite interesting videos from previous competitions here<\/a> on the organizations\u2019 official website.<\/p>\n

Et maintenant \u2026 vous savez<\/strong>! And now you know<\/em>!<\/p>\n

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Zazie . . . bis!*<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n