In the 2004 novel “A Year in the Merde”, an Englishman is sent to Paris to set up a chain of tea rooms in France.
At the beginning of the book, the British guy tries to explain to his French team that “My Tea Is Rich” is not a good name for a chain of English tea rooms.
The French stand their ground against the crazy Englishman and argue the name chosen is perfect because it plays on the first sentence of an Assimil English course and is, for French people, “a typical English expression”. Obviously, the Englishman doesn’t get it and claims it just doesn’t mean anything in English.
And he is right.
I feel exactly the same in France. Most of the time, words and sentences in English don’t make any sense whatsoever.
For instance, a new chain of restaurants recently opened in Nantes. The name? “Thai in Box”. The first time, I saw it, I did a double-take. I’m familiar with the “noodle in a box” or “noodle box” concept, but let’s face it: “Thai in Box” is pretty bad English. I get it. Yet the name of the franchise is not grammatically correct and you’d think this is the kind of detail they’d checked before using it for a store.
Fortunately, most French won’t even notice and will happily eat overpriced pad thai in a box.
The way the French pepper their conversation with English words drives me crazy, especially considering they generally do not use foreign words properly.
For instance, Monoprix’s store card encourages customers to collect bonus points the supermarket calls “S’Miles”. A creative neologism mixing “smile” and “mile”? Maybe. I guess it’s just to sound cool since most French people don’t get the neologism anyway.
Quick, the national fast-food chain, launched an online game called “le goût de la win”. I had no clue what it was all about when I first saw the marketing campaign, but apparently, players can collect “wins” (bonus points?) when playing online. Why is “win” a feminine noun? No idea.
The way Québécois (or rather the Office québécois de la langue française) translate just about everything that sounds foreign can drive me crazy too. It will never be natural for me to call “KFC” “PKF” (for Poulet frit Kentucky) and I say “Bostonne”—not “Bos-ton”.
Yet, hearing and seeing the way the French torture the English language is painful (and funny). From the “menu Best Of” at Mcdonald’s (supersized combos) to “la box” (the ADSL modem provided by Free), I sometimes wonder about French-to-English translator job opportunities in France!
(I also make mistakes in English. And in French. I know. I just like to think mine aren’t as weird and awkward.)
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Ah, “my tea is rich” is a favourite saying in our house, thanks to that book!
Cute 🙂
If the mixture of Spanish and English is “Spanglish” is the mix of French and English Franglish”? I am enjoying your visit to France via your wonderful blog.
I’d say there is more “Frenglish” in Quebec than in France, simply because French don’t really use English properly in the first place!
Hi Zhu!
A good post. J’ai une question. Is it true that the Chevy Nova was not bought in France because it means it does’t go in French. I always thought that this was an urban rumour.
Happy Easter! I have Good Friday off do you?
I think it was in a Spanish-speaking country, because in Spanish “no va” does means “no go” or “doesn’t go” 🙂
In France, only Easter Monday is a bank holiday, unlike in Canada!
It does bother me too. But let’s face it, it’s only “marketing” (yet another one!) language. French people, even the dickheads, doesn’t speak like that.
You’re right, it’s mostly marketing-speak 🙂
As jarring and disconcerting as it is to read “creative bloopers” in various languages, they do provide amusement!
One teacher would always speak to me in English and I could never understand what he was telling me!
A lot of English words don’t make any sense especially since you have to prounounce them in French so that they are understood. It drives me crazy!
I bet you find that our Singlish takes some getting use too huh?
😀
This reminds me of the way Japanese people use English: like you said, it is done for humorous purposes, but sometimes, it’s just totally bizarre! There’s this one biscuit, they sell it with an English name, “The Caramelizer!”
Ah yes, Engrish is quite famous! Same as Chinglish I guess.
What about footing?
That counts, but that’s almost a French word now, it’s been used for decades!
In Nantes, I took a picture of two businesses, side by side: Speed Rabbit Pizza (livraison à domicile), and Made in Chapon (rôtisserie).
The pizza drivers are (hopefully) not on speed, and the roast chicken is not teriyaki style or imported from Japan, either… ; )
All fun and games!
I know exactly what you are talking about, I can even see the Speed Rabbit Pizza sign in my head but I can’t remember in which part of the city it is! This is killing me… I think my best friend lived nearby.