Humor will not be tolerated!! -Portia

Katya wrote:The French word for "hat" is chapeau ("sha-poh") and the French word for "choice" is choix ("shwa"), so in the French version of the first Harry Potter book, the Sorting Hat is translated as the pun "choixpeau."

So...I've read that book 3 times in French, and somehow I didn't notice that. I guess my brain just read it as chapeau. That is fantastic! There are definitely some great puns in that translation.

luciole

The French word for firefly, which of course comes from Latin lux, light.

In French, if you hang onto someone's every word you "drink their words" (boire ses paroles).

lisibilité -- readability

Glockenturm -- clocktower

Maledire and Benedire are "to curse" and "to bless," respectively. Makes sense.

The French-Canadian word poutine probably comes from the English word pudding, which in turn comes from Norman/French word bodin, referring to a type of sausage. Redundant borrowings for the win! (Also, someone needs to start serving poutine with sausage, just so we can come full circle.)

Katya wrote:(Also, someone needs to start serving poutine with sausage, just so we can come full circle.)

That..... might actually not be too bad.

I never knew that papier-mâché translated to "chewed paper."