Been meaning to post this still life from my place for a while now.It's the wall above my bedhead. On the left is my fabulous map of the world that has been keeping me entertained for 2 years. Next is some funny car perfume thing that Ethan brought me back from San Fran. Then, the blue bag that I take to work everyday - which actually belongs to KP, and can be traced back to the Australia Centre at the Uni of Melbourne. Up top is a postcard from KP, of the amazing Federation Square. This came in her care package to me. Yay. Then there is a black-and-white postcard from Samos, written by JCW from the idyll of the Aegean, which cracks me up everytime I read it. And makes me sick with jealousy.
Also, one of my students was wearing a tracksuit that had French on it. Mine is rusty and I think there might be some non-words but can anyone reliably translate... something about would you like to dance with me? ::
Se prendre dami tie pour on voulez vous danser avec moi?
Anyways, I think it's safe to say that the tracksuit is actually a trackshit.
So I have spent the past 40 hours by myself. And it's been ok. The solitude has been pleasantly interrupted by phone calls from JD Whatever, Ethan, Oh My Goodness Charlie! and... Ilona! What a wonderful surprise to answer my phone and hear Amsterdam calling. It's been more than 2 years since I left Europe, well over 2 years since I saw Ilona in Holland. I have so many good memories of the time I spent with her in Vilnius, and Minsk, and on the roadtrip from Kreuzberg to Huizen. And she inspires me about life and the world. Definitely makes me want to be in Europe next summer. She threatened to bundle me into a car, and drive across the Alps to Slovenia. Wonderful.
14 comments:
voulez-vous dancer avec moi?
is the most simple way to say would you like to dance with me.
weren't u wearing a tracksuit today? and let me tell u it look fabulous on you.
BONNIE!
WEARING A TRACKSHIT?
WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO?
Oh darling... it was so good to hear your voice... And I was dead serious about our car trip! This time with less luggage, I promise! Will never forget seeing you squeezed in between boxes and laundry baskets on the back seat. With a big smile on your face. All the best, MWAH!!! Ilona
Yeah Dave but what's the first bit?
And KP, don't worry. Ethan is just trying to spread malicious and unfounded rumours about me. I own/wear no tracksuit, or trackshit.
Oh Ilona. You are a doll. And we ate cherries, and I listened to you and your Mum argue, and we bought sweets, and the sun was shining...
Oh whoops I didn't actually read that sentence. IDIOT!
Well "dami" isn't a word but probably is a typo of "d'ami", which also isn't really a proper construction. As it translates as "of friend".
"tie" also isn't a word according to the dictionary.
"on" shouldn't be in front of voulez for three reasons.
1. "on" is the is not the pronoun for voulez.
2. "vous" is the pronoun for voulez and is already there.
3. the type of question the sentence is asking denotes that the pronoun and the noun should be inversed.
So the rough literal flancais translation excluding the "tie" would suggest it says something like
I believe you have a severe case of Flancais on your hands Bonnie C, of which the rough literal translation excluding "tie"
To Catch of one's friend in order to would you like to dance with me
Summary: Trackshit of the highest order.
Just as I suspected.
I hate typing big posts in these little boxes. I always make mistakes.
good work, dave mack! a fellow lover of frenchies salutes you.
Would someone please bundle me into a car and whisk me across the Alps? Or anywhere, really? I need to get away from reading these GODDAMN GRANT APPLICATIONS!!!!
Sorry Bonnie, just needed to vent...
bonnie - go to slovenia
d mack - geek
Ok - a secret source has emailed me the following:::
I reckon the first bit should be:
'Se prendre d'amiti?pour ...' which means 'to take a liking to, to befriend' - but it's usually followed by an object 'Se prendre d'amiti?pour quelqu'un' (someone). If used in a 'direct' personal context (ie not the infinitive) it would be 'Je prends d'amiti?pour toi'.
I have no idea how 'on' fits in there, because I don't think you can use it as an indirect object pronoun. It's an impersonal pronoun that can also mean 'us' (very common). So if 'on' was replaced by a correct pronoun, and if there was a full stop after it, you'd have 'Voulez vous danser avec moi?' which at least makes sense on its own! 'Would you like
to dance with me?'
So my guess is that it's VERY bad French for 'I'm fond of you. Would you like to dance with me?'
Ugh. Korean Komputer doesn't like French accents. So it looks like my last post is riddled with typos and question marks. Oh well.
some guy who works at LP says: "I'm fond of you. Would you like to dance with me?" No I mean, he translated that (actually he said it was V Bad French), he didn't ask you to dance..
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