Who is Yujin?

On the way to work yesterday I heard this on the radio:

Yujin needs to be proud of himself since in his country kids know how to make shoes at 4 years old. During the exchange, Nicolas won because he got 4 bags of potatoes and Yujin only got 2 Louis Vuitton bags.

The host kept going on about Yujin so I looked at hubby and had this conversation:

Me: Who is Yujin?
Him: The president of China.
Me: But his name is Hu Jintao!
Him: hmmmmm

I thought for a while, then I realize that it is very easy to make this type of mistake because:
1. The French do not pronounce H, so Hu becomes U.
2. Since the Chinese put their family name first followed by the given name, for the host Hujin = First name, Tao = Last name.

So the next time you see a French talks to a Chinese and the French says something about Yujin, don't be surprised to see a blank face on the Chinese. :-)

The bastard road

While looking at a check we got over the Christmas, I exposed in laugh and yelled at hubby:"Look, this bank is located on the Bastard street!"

I quickly check on the internet and found a wine shop "Nicolas Rennes Le Bastard". You can go to the link here and check out their interactive map to find out where the Bastard street is, if you are interested.

Can't believe people actually named a road with this kind of name.

Hilarious - post deleted

I talked to my friend with African background and he found the dollar bill photo I posted here extremely insulting. He didn't even see it, he reacted strongly just from my description. I think I'm too ignorant and insensitive by posting this photo. I apologize if I offended anyone.

There is a saying:" you can joke about everything, but not with everybody." It is so true in this case as I didn't intend to humiliate any race. It is purely a joke.

Indian Yoga versus Breton Yoga

India claimed that they invented Yoga like 5000 years ago. Some Indian yoga masters can perform very difficult yoga technical gesture, as shown in this photo:


It was a surprise to read that the Breton (people from Brittany, west of France) could be good at it too.


Well, at least when they are drunk. :-)

Note: couldn't find the source of these photos, got them from an forwarded email.

French Expression: Give a rabbit

When a French gives you a rabbit, don't accept it! It means that he is standing you up! Give a rabbit in French means people who misses the appointment without informing the party waiting for him/her. In Chinese it means 放飞机.

Left photo:"I need to go for my appointment."
"Why? Didn't you want to give him a rabbit?"
Right photo:"Exactly."


Anyone has could come up with an explanation why give some a rabbit means stand someone up? My reasoning being that once you put the rabbit on the floor, it would just runaway, you won't see the rabbit again. Same thing, you won't see the guy you are having appointment with when he decided "to give you a rabbit".

When you are not fluent in the language

,then you tend to create jokes out of yourself.

Example A:
I have friends (A & V) were getting married and A's family flew in from South America (She is South American). I saw her father once. On the day of the wedding, an old man accompanied her outside the Town Hall for the wedding registration. I approached him but was not sure whether he was A's father.
Me: Vous êtes le beau père de V? (Are you V's father in laws?)
Him: Oui. (Yes)
Since he admitted that he is V's father in laws, that means he is A's father, who was supposed to be a South American who doesn't speak French.
Me: Wow vous parlez bien français! (Wow you speak good French!)
Him: Bien sûr, je suis Français! (of course, I'm French!)
Then I heard hubby laughing heavily. It's just so stupid to compliment a French speaking good French. Apparently that guy is le beau père of V , but beau père has two meaning in French, it could be FIL or step father. So he is the step father of V, not FIL. How confusing!

Example 2:
During the class, I was chatting with my guys classmates.
Guy 1: How long had you married?
me: About a year ago we had our civil wedding, but just recently we had our church wedding.
Guy2: Do you have children?
me: Non, mais on est en train de faire. (no but we are making it)
Then I saw them all trying to hold their laugh, something must be wrong. I didn't dare to ask so wait until home I asked hubby.
Hubby: Of course they laugh lah, you were telling them you were in the process of fucking!
Gosh I swear this was not my intention, I wanted to say we are trying, not fucking.

You want a big "bite" or a medium "bite"?

In France there are many slangs/street languages/expressions that even some (usually older generation) won't understand. So it makes it very tricky in certain situation if a word is used and you don't understand what could be the second meaning.



This word "bite", means a stone tube that allows a boat to park by tiding a rope to it, or it could mean "dick" in street language. In the dialog below, try to interpret "bite" as "dick".

Guy: Hello, is this the florist?
Woman: Yes
Guy: Ok, I'm calling from the town hall, we have problem with the parking in front of your shop.
Woman: What problem?
Guy: You know people park illegally, so we decided to put some "bite" there.
Woman: To put what?
Guy: Some "bite", you know something that comes in a tube shape...
Woman: ah ok...
Guy: Ok, so I will put some "bite" for you. How many "bite" do you want me to put?
Woman: but don't ask me!
Guy: What?
Woman: You know I'm a woman I know nothing about this.
Guy: Excuse me, but every woman knows what is a "bite".
Woman: But... ok...what is the distance you want to put?
Guy: About 2 meters.
Woman: Ah ok, you should have told me this. 2 is enough then.
Guy: Ok let me look at the map. I will put one "bite" in front of you and one behind you. Will this pleases you?
Woman: It's perfect.
Guy: Ok, I'm going to put one "bite" in front: who comes in and comes out. This "bite" could come in and also come out from you.
Woman: Oh try to put it in the corner, you know sometimes I can't get out.
Guy: Don't worry, it's the "bite" that will come out from you. They are good "bite". You know it's for your own good.
Guy: So I put one behind also?
Woman: But... I don't know...
Guy: You know when it comes to two "bite" you need to react fast. I will put it at your end.
Woman: o...k....
Guy: Oh we haven't talked about the size. Big or medium?
Woman: bahhh...I don't know...
Guy: A big "bite" in front of you and a medium one behind you, or a medium one in front and a big one behind...?
Woman: You put this for everyone here?
Guy: Yes.
Woman: err, let me think... the big one should be ok.
Guy: I put which one for you?
Woman: The big one.
Guy: I put the big "bite" for you?
Woman: That would be nice.
Guy: And the one behind?
Woman: Make it the same size then.
Guy: Ok two big "bite" in front and behind you. You know what is funny, the women in this area all wanted the big "bite".
Woman: Ah you know women like big "bite".

Note: I added this photo so that you can understand the parking "bite"the guy is talking about. It's a stick that comes in and out.(29/7/07)

For the complete version of this dialog in French, go here:
http://lyn.blogs.fr/index.html