[lit-ideas] French Help (was Re: Willie Pete)
- From: "Henninge, Richard" <henninri@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 01:03:02 +0100
Wonderful, Mike, buddy! Mon semblable, when I needed you!
Uh, guys, the joke is, well, that Mike Chase has been in France so long that
his English has turned "fry." I mean, read it: Is this English as you know it?
> > M. Chase wrote:
> >
> > "If it were troubling enough to awaken P. Enns and E. Yoist from the
> > dogmatic slumber of their jingoist self-satisfaction, I'd be even
> > happier."
I can't make head nor tails of that and I assume others are with me in that
boat--that Phil could reply with such aplomb is what nonplussed me. He's
probably just skim-reading and seeing (correctly) that he's being pigeon-holed
by M. Chase with dogmatically slumbering jingoistic self-satisfieds--and
ignoring the rest of the fireworks (come to think of it, I remember Phil
complaining about the same such--was it "bells and whistles" [?] on my
part--the joke is that he's just playing like he's reading this stuff). But
"[i]f it were troubling enough to awaken...I'd be even happier" only makes
sense *in French* (and even there I'm not sure it makes any), and therefore,
"for those who don't [happen to] speak French, I tried to give the more
flattering (for Mike) French version of his statement.
> <<For those who don't speak French, I believe Mike is trying to say:
"Si ca
> > aurait valu la peine d'eveiller Messieurs Enns et Yoist du sommeil
dogmatique
> > de leur auto-satisfaction jingoiste, je serais encore plus comblé.">>
> >
> > I'm sure that clears it all up for those who don't speak French.
> >
[A Phil-Lit Moment: Does anyone still remember the thread on the proverbial
"dead horse"? Ah, those were the good old days....]
And so to recapitulate:
(a) Mike Chase's statement clearly doesn't make any sense (even if negated to
"[i]f it were not troubling enough to awaken X and Y from the dogmatic slumber
of their jingoist self-satisfaction, I'd be even happier") because
(b) "troubling enough" contains two errors in translation, presumably of
"donner assez de peine à" (as you can see, a revision of my proposed French
phrase) which could be translated as
(c) "to be so much trouble to [awaken]" or, better, "have so much trouble
[awakening]," and that
(d) negated, to create
(e) "if it weren't so much trouble to awaken" or "if I didn't have so much
trouble awakening P. Enns and E. Yoist (that's actually 'Yost' of course, but
there must be a little subconscious 'being *foisted* on one's own petard' going
on in there somewhere, so I left it in for the coolness of that) from their
jingoistic self-satisfaction, I'd be even happier."
So there you have it.
Richard Henninge
University of Mainz
________________________________
Von: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx im Auftrag von Andy Amago
Gesendet: Do 10.11.2005 22:53
An: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Betreff: [lit-ideas] Re: French Help (was Re: Willie Pete)
Oui. Maybe Mike can explain where the joke is. I thought it was a typo,
even apologized to Richard for my crassness until Mike said it was a joke.
Okay Mike, where's the joke?
> [Original Message]
> From: <wokshevs@xxxxxx>
> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 11/10/2005 3:23:46 PM
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: French Help (was Re: Willie Pete)
>
>
> Not to worry! I'm presently working on a Russian translation.
>
> Walter Vladimir Mihailovitch Gavrilov Okshevsky
> Director,
> Odessa Translation Services
>
>
> Quoting Andy Amago <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From:
> > To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Sent: 11/10/2005 8:59:11 AM
> > Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: French Help (was Re: Willie Pete)
> >
> >
> > Andy.....I was being a smart-alec .....something I'm prone to before the
> > first full mug. Chill, dude.
> >
> >
> > A.A. I was being serious. Clarifying something to me in French is not
> > helpful.
> >
> >
> > Andy Amago
> >
> >
> >
> > Julie Krueger
> >
> > ========Original Message======== Subj:[lit-ideas] Re: French Help (was
Re:
> > Willie Pete)
> > Date:11/10/05 7:57:46 AM Central Standard Time
> > From:aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > To:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Sent on:
> >
> >
> > ---- Original Message -----
> > From:
> > To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Sent: 11/10/2005 8:45:30 AM
> > Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: French Help (was Re: Willie Pete)
> >
> >
> >
>> >
> > A.A. Uh, not really. Saying something in French for those who don't
speak
> > French doesn't strike me as furthering communication, but maybe it's
just
> > me.
> >
> >
> > Andy Amago
> >
> >
> >
> > But how about some clarity for those who do?
> >
> > Julie Krueger
> > just beginning coffee
> >
> >
> >
> > ========Original Message======== Subj:[lit-ideas] French Help (was Re:
Willie
> > Pete)
> > Date:11/10/05 7:39:02 AM Central Standard Time
> > From:henninri@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> > To:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Sent on:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> > Von: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx im Auftrag von Phil Enns
> > Gesendet: Do 10.11.2005 14:15
> > An: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Betreff: [lit-ideas] Re: Willie Pete
> >> > M. Chase wrote:
> >
> > "If it were troubling enough to awaken P. Enns and E. Yoist from the
> > dogmatic slumber of their jingoist self-satisfaction, I'd be even
> > happier."
> >
> > For those who don't speak French, I believe Mike is trying to say: "Si
ca
> > aurait valu la peine d'eveiller Messieurs Enns et Yoist du sommeil
dogmatique
> > de leur auto-satisfaction jingoiste, je serais encore plus comblé."
> >
> > Richard Henninge
> > University of Mainz
>
>
>
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