If French plumbing could talk… Water Fountain (to Shutters): "Ever heard the one about…"

une plaisanterie (play-zon-tree) noun, feminine
  : joke,
jest, prank

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::
Audio File :: (follows, in the "reference" section,
below…)

I overheard the following plaisanterie* while driving Max
and his friend, Bastien, home from the town of Pontet (where they lost their
basketball match):

Bastien: Max, what is the most fruity sport?
Max: 
FRUITY sport? I don't know.

Bastien: La boxe française …car je te mets
une "pêche" … en plein "poire"… et toi, tu tombes dans les "pommes" où tu
ne peux plus ramener ta "fraise"…..et tout ça pour des
"prunes"!

(Translation)
Bastien explained to Max that the fruitiest
sport is French boxing: "Because (when I'm boxing) I give you a "peach" …
right there in the "pear" … and you fall into the "apples" … where you don't dare show your "strawberry" (or "turn up" around here again)… and all that for a mere
"prune"!

                                     *     *     *
To better
understand Bastien's blague* here are some fruity French idioms:
   * une
pêche (peach) = a "punch" or a "clout"
   * "en plein poire" (pear) = "right
in the face"
   * "tomber dans les pommes" = to pass out
   * la fraise =
"strawberry" (synonymous with "head")
   * "pour des prunes" ("for plums") =
for nothing

We might throw a tomato or two into that fruity French boxing
farce…. We could, for example, have the winning boxer (he who is now doing
the tutti frutti victory dance, self-satisfied expression on his sweaty
"poire" )… we could have him face an unhappy, rooting-for-the-other-guy
crowd. Then, because we're a
little bit evil, spoiled sports and all, we could
have that crowd "lancer des tomates"* (this, in a kiwi-quick manner before the
sour-grape guards arrive — and give us crab-apples a prune*). If you
are confused, that's because this last paragraph was nothing but a salade* – a
fruity one at that!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~References~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
une
plaisanterie (f) = joke; blague; lancer des tomates = to throw tomatoes; une
prune (f) = slang for "ticket"; une salade (f) = "tossed" tale
(lie)

Listen to Jean-Marc pronounce the word "plaisanterie". He'll also
read Bastien's "most fruity sport" blague,
here: Download plaisanterie.mp3 . Download plaisanterie.wav

~~~~~~~~BOOK
STORE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Price of Water in Finistère :
At the age of 55, Swedish
writer Bodil Malmsten abandons her native land and settles in Brittany.
Embroidered in this memoir are poignant, outraged, thought-provoking
observations on a sweeping range of subjects-the elicit pleasures of
bargain-hunting, the misery of writer's block, social democracy, racism,
tulipomania, the controlling of moles and slugs, death, and the delights of
wild weather. Malmsten's passion and humor shine through every episode. Read more, here.

A Pig in Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of
France:
Georgeanne Brennan moved to Provence in 1970, seeking a simpler
life. She set off on her many adventures in Provençale cuisine by tracking
down a herd of goats, a cool workshop, some rennet, and the lost art of
making fresh goat cheese. From this first effort throughout her time in
Provence, Brennan
transformed from novice fromagère to renowned, James Beard
Foundation Award-winning cookbook author and food writer. Order this book, here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Terms
& Expressions:
  par plaisanterie = for fun, for a laugh
  une mauvaise plaisanterie = a silly joke (also: a spiteful trick)
  entendre la plaisanterie = to know how to take a joke
  tourner
quelque chose en plaisanterie = to laugh something off
  faire des
plaisanteries sur = to joke (at the expense of
someone)

~~~~~~~~Shopping~~~~~~~~~~~~
In French film (comedy): The
Dinner Game
In
stand-up comedy: Coluche (France's beloved comic) and his best
political sketches, here (in French)
For
the Francophile cook in your life: Eiffel Tower Chocolate Candy Mold