Mot du jour, etc.
Re: Mot du jour, etc.
molles collines
mailles redoublées
la roideur
Oh, Hugo, the back page of your book makes me question my major.
mailles redoublées
la roideur
Oh, Hugo, the back page of your book makes me question my major.
Re: Mot du jour, etc.
Are you going to deign to define any of those?Portia wrote:molles collines
mailles redoublées
la roideur
Oh, Hugo, the back page of your book makes me question my major.
Re: Mot du jour, etc.
piètre (adj) - mediocre, poor, substandard, paltry
It's also notable that this adjective generally precedes the noun it modifies (unlike most French adjectives).
It's also notable that this adjective generally precedes the noun it modifies (unlike most French adjectives).
Re: Mot du jour, etc.
I took a French class in college many years ago, and I think I remember a mnemonic the teacher said regarding that (a fairly reliable set of classes of adjective types for which the French versions come before their nouns): BAGS, which stands for Beauty, Age, Goodness (whether good or bad), and Size. Kind of a general rule of thumb and not hard and fast.
That one looks like it fits in the Goodness category.
That one looks like it fits in the Goodness category.
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
Re: Mot du jour, etc.
I learned the same mnemonic, but that device serves mainly to help students remember a small set of very common adjectives: beau/laid; vieux/jeune; bon/mauvais; and grand/petit. By contrast, adjectives such as terrible and énorme ("terrible" and "enormous," respectively) are arguably also qualities of goodness and size, but both adjectives follow the nouns they modify. So I'd still consider piètre an exception, of sorts.Digit wrote:I took a French class in college many years ago, and I think I remember a mnemonic the teacher said regarding that (a fairly reliable set of classes of adjective types for which the French versions come before their nouns): BAGS, which stands for Beauty, Age, Goodness (whether good or bad), and Size. Kind of a general rule of thumb and not hard and fast.
That one looks like it fits in the Goodness category.
Re: Mot du jour, etc.
affluent (nm.) - tributary
notable for being a faux ami (false cognate)
notable for being a faux ami (false cognate)
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Re: Mot du jour, etc.
My miniscule amount of French at this point has learned me that "ami" means at least friend, investigator, cognate, and I swear there's something else I'm forgetting. I was going to ask why so many words sound the same in French, then I realized I speak Chinese.
Re: Mot du jour, etc.
Giovanni Schwartz wrote:My miniscule amount of French at this point has learned me that "ami" means at least friend, investigator, cognate, and I swear there's something else I'm forgetting. I was going to ask why so many words sound the same in French, then I realized I speak Chinese.
I don't know if ami actually means "cognate" outside of the expression faux ami. (My limited searching suggest that mot apparenté is a better translation for "cognate.")
It would be interesting to do a survey of the words used by missionaries for "investigator" and "companion," since the latter could have some problematic implications if you picked the wrong translation (and the former just sounds weird, even in English).
Last edited by Katya on Fri Jan 11, 2013 3:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Mot du jour, etc.
Also, I wanted to say that I'm really enjoying this thread. I had no idea if anyone else would have any interest in participating and instead I'm loving every contribution and response.
Re: Mot du jour, etc.
SmurfGiovanni Schwartz wrote:My miniscule amount of French at this point has learned me that "ami" means at least friend, investigator, cognate, and I swear there's something else I'm forgetting. I was going to ask why so many words sound the same in French, then I realized I speak Chinese.
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
Re: Mot du jour, etc.
septentrional (adj.) - northern
Re: Mot du jour, etc.
revendiquer (vtr) - to demand, claim
Re: Mot du jour, etc.
Otaku: a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly (but not limited to) anime and manga.
Korean otaku marries anime character pillow
Korean otaku marries anime character pillow
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
Re: Mot du jour, etc.
temple de la renommée (nm) - hall of fame (lit. "temple of renown")
Re: Mot du jour, etc.
fantoche (adj) - puppet (as in "puppet government" or "puppet regime")
- Giovanni Schwartz
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Re: Mot du jour, etc.
靈車--literally, spirit car. Anyone want to guess the meaning of it?
Re: Mot du jour, etc.
Is it the River Styx boat (or whatever the cultural equivalent is)?Giovanni Schwartz wrote:靈車--literally, spirit car. Anyone want to guess the meaning of it?
"If you don't put enough commas in, you won't know where to breathe and will die of asphyxiation"
--Jasper Fforde
--Jasper Fforde
- Giovanni Schwartz
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Re: Mot du jour, etc.
Nope! Guess again!
Re: Mot du jour, etc.
Umm, your dream car or vehicle.
- Giovanni Schwartz
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Re: Mot du jour, etc.
Nope!
It's actually a hearse.
It's actually a hearse.