[lit-ideas] Re: Franglais 101
- From: David Ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 6 Apr 2009 21:52:27 -0700
On Apr 6, 2009, at 7:55 PM, Mike Geary wrote:
For those who think I don't know French (cf. RP) I translate
Ritchie here line by line:
May I add a footnote or two?
Franglais 101 Lecon Vingt
French 101 Lesson 20
Franglais is not the same as French. My model here was Miles
Kington, who used to write for "Punch." He made a bit of money
writing about, par example, money:
Shopper: C'est combien, cette blouse a six pounds ninety nine?
Shopgirl: C'est 5.50
Shopper: C'est reduit de six pounds ninety nine?
Shopgirl: Non, cest dramatically slashed de seven pounds thirty.
Shopper: Alors, seven pounds thirty est le prix normal?
Shopgirl: Non, cest le Special Pre-Sale Price. Five pounds fifty est
le last Week of Sale Fantastic Reduction.
Shopper: Bon. Size 12, s'il vous plait.
Shopgirl: Helas, size 12 n'est pas dans le Sale. Dans le Sale il y a
seulement le Larger Woman, le Shorter Girl, le Extra Long arms et le
Outsize Shoulders. Size 12 est normal price.
and so on. Some of it--not this obviously--quite funny.
Mec? T'as vu Jean-Michel Gearie?
Hey, guy, have you've seen John Michael Geary?
Il est en train de fixer le frigo et son roman nouveau.
He's busy fixing refrigerators and his novel.
Tien? Est ce que son roman nouveau est un nouveau roman?
Get outta here! Is his novel a really new one?
Le reference here, which I am referencing, is to folk like Alain
Robbe-Grillet and Nathalie Sarraute, who went around describing
stains on walls in glorious technicolor. Back when lit-tri-chure was
young and I was studying it, they wuz noo and so called themselves
writers of "the noo novel." Maybe you noo all this?
Pas du tout. Quel horreur. C'est groundbreaking, de la poesie.
Not at all. What a horror it is. It's ground breaking (for
burial) of poetry.
Too right, mate. Put the stuff in the ground is my advice. Let it
sprout like a daff.
Et le frigo?
And the refrigeration [work]?
Crapaud.
[I'm not sure whether he means here: "crap" or "toad work"]
Ref to earlier exchange with Judy about Trinidadian slang, also what
the British called the French in the Napoleonic era.
French engineering, it should be added, is good stuff.
In any event I thank Ritchie for his French kiss.
Turn the other cheek and I'll plant another near you.
David Ritchie,
passing Portland clockwise
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
