Fermez la bouche

In my last post, I spoke of the idiom, "Sans ouvrir la bouche." The phrase in English translates as "without saying a word," but the French prefer to speak of the mouth, la bouche.

My grandmother was French. She was born in la petite ville de Lorraine Graffigny près de la forêt des Vosges. She did not teach me French, instead I had to learn the hard way, by going to school. But, I do remember the phrase, "Fermez la bouche,"  shut your mouth. If one says it gentiment, it almost sounds polite.

I am sitting in French class the other day when le prof starts to talk about professions. And she says, "le boucher," the butcher. It has nothing to do, I think, with la bouche, the mouth. It is just one of those silly coincidences that pop up in any language. Instead, le boucher stems from le bouchon, the pig.

It is just one of those silly things that makes a kid laugh.

C'est juste une de ces choses stupides. Il fait un gamin rire.

Sans ouvrir la bouche

Sans ouvrir la bouche - without saying a word.

The Francophile likes to surf the web. On French TV, at BFMTV, he came across this article about the former (ancien) president of France, Nicholas Sarkosy.

"Sur Facebook, Sarkozy "occupe le terrain sans ouvrir la bouche."

Literally, the the sentence translates at "On Facebook, Sarkozy occupies the ground without opening the mouth." A better translation is "On Facebook, Sarkosy wins the day without saying a word."

Très en vogue

Très en vogue = Very popular.

Que faire? = What to do?

Que faire? = What to do?

en tête = on top

Dans toutes les régions du monde, Google arrive en tête.

Worldwide, Google is "on top".

Tapis Rouge

Tapis Rouge - Red Carpet


Regardez la cérémonie des Oscars

Tant Pis

Tant pis, (pronounced tan pee) can signify a range of emotions from "never mind" to "tough sh*t".

Voyez et écoutez Joyce Jonathan chante Tant pis:

From the lyrics and the refrain:

J'ai beau faire le tour du monde.
I am making a grand tour of the world
(or, I could make a trip around the world)

Mais tout me ramène à toi
But everything reminds me of you.

T'es partout à la fois 
You are everywhere at once

Il y a d'autres histoires d'amour qui n'attendent que moi
There are other loves that won't wait just for me

Mais tant pis
But tough sh*t (Never mind, Too bad)

C'est avec toi que je me sens 
It is with you that I am alive (feel)