I told you we vacationed on the "Planet of the Apes"… but you didn't seem to believe me.
jeu (m) de mots (zheuh deuh moh) locution
: a play on words, a pun
Do you have a favorite French "jeu de mots"? Example: ever said goodbye to somebody like this: "A demain!" ("See you tomorrow!") only to be perplexed by their "à deux pieds!" ("to two feet!") response? Share with us, here in the comments box, any examples that you know, concerning les jeux de mots.
Explanation: "à demain" sounds like "à deux mains" ("to two hands")… an irresistible opportunity for fun-loving francophone to wish you "a deux pieds!".
Sound File: Download MP3
"Exemple d'un jeu de mots: Tu as raisin, Banane!"
"An example of a play on words is: You have "raisin", Banana!"
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A Day in a French Life… by Kristin Espinasse
"One French Expression, Seamlessly Illustrated"
On the last day of harvest holiday Chef Grape is so relaxed that the very seams of his chemise are showing. Such a detail might go on, casually unnoticed, but for the presence of our 13-year-old fille, "The Fashion Police". Jackie, who, like every French girl, can manage to twist her hair into seemingly unstudied elegance (the truth is, she and her French friends spend saisons learning such "haphazard" hairstyles to go along with their well-thought-out wardrobes) is quick to notice her father's fashion faux pas:
"Papa, retourne ton tee-shirt!" cautions our daughter. Her eyes dart around the pool area, over which we are crossing on our way to the breakfast buffet. Heureusement, no one is here to witness her father's own "unstudied" elegance.
In that delayed response mode which is characteristic of a man en vacances, Jean-Marc, slow as lava,* looks down at his shirt. Things must look just fine to him, for he's not budgin'.
"Papa!" Jackie repeats, "Regarde! Ton T-shirt est à l'envers!"
A revelation is had. Jean-Marc, this time without missing a beat, acknowledges the little fashionista's forthrightness… but not without a lighthearted language jest:
"T'as 'raisin', Banane!" With that, he flips over his T-shirt and we can now see the letters "ESPAGNE!", written vertically down the front.
Meantime, two paces behind the father-daughter duo (otherwise known, for the sake of this story, as "Chef Grape" and "Banana") I am mental-noting the latest jeu de mots, but also concerned… wondering whether raisins or grapes will ever leave the vacationing farmer's mind, even on Harvest Holiday.
Corrections, comments, and stories of your own are welcome here, in the comments box.
Merci d'avance!
Reminder: if you happen to be in Paris on Monday… come to Shakespeare & Co bookshop and listen with me to author Ann Mah. Jean Marc will be serving up some of our Domaine Rouge-Bleu wine after the book reading! 7 pm, Rue de la Bûcherie, 75005 - hope to see you!
French Vocabulary
la chemise = shirt
la fille = daughter
la saison = season
le faux pas = the error
Papa, retourne ton tee-shirt = Dad! Turn over your T-shirt!
heureusement = fortunately
en vacances = on vacation
lava = (one more hint, after "Planete of the Apes", as to where we spent our vacation)
Papa! Regarde! Ton T-shirt est à l'envers! = Dad! Look! Your T-shirt is on inside out!
Tu as 'raisin', Banane! = You're right, Banana!
Espagne = Spain
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Smokey gained so much weight while we were away on vacation that you'd hardly recognize him… but for that tongue! Update, last month his face finally and completely healed! The open sore closed completely. (Perhaps this is why he is now so "meatly"?)
Only a little dent, there to the right, hints at the horrible misadventure he had one year ago… Read the story here, if you missed it.
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A better response to Ca va? is Ca baigne dans l’huile!! Everything is goving sweetly!
Smokey est beau, bien sur; mais comment s’appelle la plante derriere? Les couleurs sont remarkables.
Judy, I just went through my inbox and found your answer in Newforest’s recent comment: it is a Parthenocissus (“Vigne vierge”). Newforest had asked (before seing the flowers) whether that is a Morning glory climbing its way up the vine. Indeed, it is! I got the idea to plant this combo from my dear friend Tessa http://www.painters-poets-and-puddin.typepad.com whose home, with David, is covered with both the vine and the flower.
“Tu as raison” → you are right
Aaahah! Nasal sounds playing little tricks!
→ raisIN for → raisON
which ended up with Jackie being called … a banana. Oh! that’s the start for a “belle salade de fruits”!
Well Jean-Marc, your daughter Jackie ‘was right’, wasn’t she? Elle avait “raiSON”, but you could only think and say “raiSIN”!!!… (of course, Chef Grape!) and couldn’t resist “le jeu de mots”. After all, NASAL SOUNDS in Marseilles and in Southern France can be a bit (oh dear, how shall I put it?)… “fantaisistes”…, compared with, for ex, the way people from Tours and The Loire Valley pronounce them!
This reminds me of a situation years ago, when someone sitting in front of me in the train going to “Saint Bonnet le Château” was pointing at the sky and insisting there was “beaucoup de VIN” (what? wine in the sky? ??) OK, as you might have guessed, he was talking about “le VENT”… it was indeed very windy!
BTW, I tried to listen to the sound file, but it didn’t work.
I have occasionally seen my husband, or my son, (never my daughter!) wearing their T-shirts “à l’envers” …
Kristin, there is NO “e” at the end of “à l’envers” and the “s” is not pronounced, so, you end up with the sound “ver” (as in the green colour)
BTW, the opposite of “à l’envers” is —> “à l’endroit” – which reminds me of “une comptine” (= a nursery rhyme) about Good old King Dagobert, who was told by Eloi, his advisor (for some reason he is “Saint” Eloi”!!?) that he was wearing “sa culotte” (here, sa culotte = his breeches) inside out -> “à l’envers”.
Well, the king’s reply wasn’t → “Tu as raisin, banane”, but:
“C’est vrai” (true!) … and then, quite simply … → “je vais la remettre à l’endroit”!
My favorite is more of a tongue-twister than a jeu de mots, but it is great quand même:
Si six cent scies scient
Six cent saucisses,
Six cent six scies scieront
Six cent six saucissons.
No jeu de mots on this end, but the little exchange in today’s story brought a smile to my face. Forty-five years ago or so I had the MOST WONDERFUL art teacher in the world during my four years at Montana State University. During that time Jesse Wilber probably wore the same three loose fitting jumpers, always with a pair of white go-go boots, and once in awhile the jumper would be on backward – only noticeable because back then women’s clothing had darts in place. We kind of smiled and rolled our eyes at the time, but I think Miss Wilber’s sense of focusing on what was important – a passion for her students and art, not noticing or caring whether her dress was on backward – was, in the long run, a good lesson for me (who has occasionally gone out of the house quite mismatched.) Long gone, she is still my favorite ‘who I wanna be when I grow up’.
Thank you for these tongue-twisters and examples of “play with words”.
Newforest, I’m grateful for the edit. I had a feeling some part of that sentence was wrong. I’ve just posted the correction. Thanks again!
Linda R., thank you for sharing the endearing Jesse Wilber with us. Loved your story!
Salut Kristin,
A short story told to me many years ago by a French lady friend might fit in today’s “jeu du mots”:
It is winter time in Paris and three little kittens named un, deux and trois are playing on the banks of Seine. They crawl out on a thin layer of ice. The ice breaks and they’re floating down the Seine on a slab of ice. The sun comes out, the ice melts and. . . . un deux trois quatre cinq!
À bientôt
My favorite are French/English combos:
When asked what you want for breakfast:
“Un oeuf is enough” gets a laugh.
No Jeu de mots – just a comment on how Smokey is “beau!” So good to see him smiling anew, a few extra pounds and he’s good as new. I do have a story about my “gaffe” of being a new francophone and mixing up those tricky nasal sounds. I was trying to talk about “les anges (angels) au ciel” but instead it came out “les singes (monkeys!) au ciel”. I couldn’t figure out why I was getting such strange looks from the French until I saw my host family’s son literally falling on the floor laughing. Did he help me out of it? Pas!! wonder if he remembers that today as clearly as I do!
I think I love the stories and pictures of your beautiful dogs almost more than anything else – such a blessing that Smokey is alive and so healthy and healed. Thanks so much for including us in your life!
Steamboat Springs, Colorado was named for a hot springs that made a noise like a steamboat tooting. There used to be an ice cream and candy shop named Toot Sweet, which of course is pronounced the same as “tout suite,” implying we should have some ice cream right away. I love so many allusions and puns in two simple words. And their chocolate milk shakes were delicious.
Hi Kristin
Enjoyed the story. You may wish to change ‘retourne’ and ‘regarde’. Each should end with an ‘s’. (Second person singular)
Herm, oh those poor cats! And I meant to thank you for the poem, and to Newforest for the info on “The Clock of Life” (in the comments for “singe”).
Punch, I will try that one out on my family. It’s the best! I had never heard it and can’t get un oeuf!
Candy, those monkeys in the sky paint quite a funny picture 🙂
Gary, how many of us are now dreaming of opening a candy shop named “Toot Sweet”?
Nick, thank you! I’m on my way to fix those now. I had been wondering about that… and am always mixing up the “command” forms.
So just where is this Planet of the Apes? Looks sort of like the Badlands in the US.