New Feature! - 'Signs I'm A Little Touched In The Head'

My brain is constantly thinking.

The reason I have insomnia is because I can't turn off my brain.

One of the side effects of having over-active grey matter is I often get caught up or obsess about some random little thing.

Like having a certain song stuck in my head.

But more often than not, it is usually a word.

See, I have have this thing for language and words.

I'm fascinated by them.

This includes meaning, evolution, usage, and spontaneous creation due to error.

For example.

I was commenting on someone's post once and I accidentally misspelled 'lesbian' as 'lesbina'.

Well, that cracked me up, and it stuck.

For better or worse, now it's stuck in my vocabulary.

Most recently, was the creation of the phrase, 'I haven't done squish!'.

So yah, I'm a little odd.

Well, the last two days I have had this French word stuck in my head: 'nettoyant'.

Since it has been a while since I took French, it was driving me crazy what its English equivalent is.

For some reason I thought it was 'naturally', but also though that it meant 'annoying'.

Before I would get around to looking it up on a translator, a new thought would pop in my head and I would forget about it for a while.

Well, I looked it up today, and it actually means 'cleaning agent'.

Ha ha.

Figures with my OCD about cleanliness, that that word would be stuck in my brain.

Sidebar: So if bad Asian to English translation is called Engrish, what is bad English to French translation called?

'Franch'?

C'est Super-Cool, Daddi-o!

France Gall - 'Laisse Tomber Les Filles'

Via Quakerjono!

French Ska! Oui! Oui! Oui!

Les Skalopes - 'Chasse à L'enfant'

I think I have found a new fave cheese.

Port Salut

Some of that on a freshly toasted English muffin = yum!

It's syphilis, b*tch.

This poster bugs me.

Why?

Because it talks about how syphilis is on the increase in gay men.

While that may be the case, I don't like how a big bright poster on a busy street is touting the 'mos as disease spreaders.

Heteros pass it around too you know.

Side Note:

'1718, Mod.L., originally from the title of a poem, "Syphilis, sive Morbus Gallicus" "Syphilis, or the French Disease," 1530, by Veronese doctor Girolamo Fracastoro (1483-1553), which tells the tale of the shepherd Syphilus, supposed to be the first sufferer from the disease.

Fracastoro first used the word as a generic term for the disease in 1546 treatise "De Contagione."

Why he chose the name is unknown; it may be intended as L. for "Pig-lover," though there was also a Sipylus, a son of Niobe, in Ovid.'

Syphilis

Jodie Foster sings!

In French even!

Ombreux mince.

Ha.

Eminem in French:

Bonjour !
Mon nom est. (ce qui ?)
Mon nom est. (qui ?)
Mon nom est.
Ombreux mince

Bonjour !
Mon nom est. (huh ?)
Mon nom est. (ce qui ?)
Mon nom est.
Ombreux mince

________________________________


Hi!
My name is.. (what?)
My name is.. (who?)
My name is..
Slim Shady

Hi! My name is.. (huh?)
My name is.. (what?)
My name is..
Slim Shady

Today In - 'Useless Info'

The origin of “nom de guerre”

'The assigning and adopting of noms de guerre was a long standing tradition in the French army; it certainly existed before 1651. In 1716 the practice became more formalised and the French army required all regular soldiers to have a nom de guerre. The names could be arrived at through the choice of the soldier, or perhaps the soldier’s company captain. Some of the naming practices adopted by particular companies enabled the men to be identifiable as members of their companies, much like a serial number: Practices such as assigning men the names of vegetables (the Company of Casaux of the Régiment de Boulonnois-infantrie, between 1764 to 1768) existed.

These names would be retained by the soldiers when they left service and would often be passed on to their wives and children. As a result, it is important to understand the old French practice of assigning noms de guerre when tracing French family histories.'

Plastic Bertrand - 'Ca Plane Pour Moi'

OMG! OMG! OMG!

Le laboratoire de mon Dexter préféré, jamais !
[My favorite Dexter's Lab , ever!]

En Francais, Part Deux

Inspired by the Cailloux song of earlier, I am listening to a French Pop radio webstation. It's a nice change. And actually, the label is misleading. The music is more like Michael Buble, and swinging 60's music. In fact, they even played The Supremes singing in French!

I wonder if listening to it will rub off the way listening to the BBC totally affected my vocabulary.

Mince alors! 'Downtown' by Petula Clark, en Francais!

En Francais, s'il vous plait.

Oui Oui - 'Les Cailloux'

Video directed by Michel Gondry, of 'Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind' fame.

'C'est toi, pas moi'.

I was watching 'Pee Wee's Big Adventure' in French the other night, and noticed, the translation was not literal. The 'I know you are, but what am I scene', was actually translated to, 'that's you, not me'. Kinda loses its edge when translated like that.