En tant que american, j'hesite a pronouncer, mais je pense que "bonne continuation" veut dire plutot "carry on well" ou a la limite "enjoy your (whatever)," with the whatever, a "process," implied. So you might say it in parting to someone who was in the middle of sightseeing in Paris or in the middle of driving from Rouen to Bayeux.
Dave
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Happy in Paris,
happy in paris is right, on dit 'bonne continuation' par exemple si quelqu'un fait de la route, ou bien bonne continuation dans la vie, si on croise un ami qu'on a pas vu depuis longtemps, si on lui dit bonne continuation tout court ca veut dire en gros bonne chance pour ta vie, ton boulot etc.
Je pense que je suis en retard a la soiree...mais c'est la vie!
I'm taking a bit of liberty here by using a phrase rather than a word. I love "a tout a l'heure." I like how it sounds happy at the end, at least that's how my cleaning lady taught me how to say it.
Sandra
Posts: 799 | Location: Near Chicago, IL | Registered: 03 May 2004
Mais non Sandra, la soirée ne fait que commencer...and I understand fully the melodious sound at the ending of "A toute à l'heure" So I hope you will join the growing group and in the meantime "A toute à l'heuuure"
Moi j'adore "pamplemousse" aussi. Chez nous en Dordogne, mes voisins disent plus souvent "Bonne continuation" quand ils nous voient a table.Je prefere surtout la phrase"plat du jour"parce que apres on dit ca, on mange bien. Chaque matin je dis a ma femme "Bonjour Madame," parce que apres on dit ca, on est bien embrasse. (Je manque completement les accents francais sur cette ordinateur.)
Posts: 196 | Location: Tacoma/France | Registered: 24 February 2005
We travel through many locks on the French canals and the expression used by the eclusiers as you depart from their lock is inevitably "bonne continuation". Our old Gordon Setter would always cause amusment with our "chien mechant" sign in the wheelhouse. Most locks have a "Poubelle" for rubbish. Msr Eugene Poubelle came up with the idea in 1884. I wonder what the French called Poublelles before that??
I like "un boui-boui"..........an eating place that's a bit of a dive. "avoir guele du bois"..to have a wooden mouth........to have a hangover un scrogneugneu...........an old grouch (supposed to be what he sounds like!)
Pamplemousse est un mot qui fait rire les anglophones, c'est vrai, mais moi, ça m'amuse encore plus de les entendre dire le mot "écureuil"!
À mon avis, le mot le plus délicieusement insensé de la langue française est "lait-de-poule", pour "eggnog". Traduit mot pour mot, on obtient hen milk!
J'aimerais bien savoir comment les traire, ces poules...!
Je viens de decouvrir cette discussion. J'ai passe le mois de mai en France, et j'ai retrouve mon amour pour la langue francaise. J'ai quelques mots et phrases preferes:
vachement glandouiller ronronner (malheureusement, mon mari a des allergies contre les chats, sinon, j'aurais un chat qui s'appelle Ron Ron.) espece de palourde chair de poule Je vous ecoute (Quand un serveur me dit cette phrase je sais, avec certitude, que je suis en France.)
Merci beaucoup, j'adore cette discussion.
Andrea
Posts: 5 | Location: Vancouver, BC | Registered: 20 April 2005
Je viens de decouvrir la parole - borborygme - pour les bruits de l'estomac, qui me semble appartenir dans ce fil (est-ce que c'est ce qu'on dit pour thread?). Mais en la recherchant j'ai eu remise en memoire un autre mot que j'aime meme mieux: gargouiller!
Moi aussi j'aime beaucoup ronronner, Andiewest...ou, dois-je dire, j'aime le mot et le son, tous les deux. Je ne peux pas le faire tres bien.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dorothyk,
Quelqu'un parmi vous a entendu parler du «Bonhomme-sept-heures» ? Enfants, lorsque nous ne voulions pas aller au lit, nos mères nous disaient que le Bonhomme-sept-heures viendraient chez nous pour nous enelevr. Et ça nous foutait la trouille.
Expression québécoise qui n'set pas utilisée en France.
Pamplemousse is a frenchification of the Dutch 'pompelmoes', which apparently simply means a big lemon - though it's obviously connected somehow to pomelo. Presumably it was Dutch traders that first brought grapefruit to continental Europe. But why it's grapefruit in English-speaking countries is another question entirely.....
"Je parle francais comme une vache espagnol", but when I trot this out to french people they aren't familiar with the expression.
"Dire adieu est mourir un peux" Is that correct for "To say goodbye is to die a little"? It actually comes from a Raymond Chandler story where Phillip Marlowe says "The french have a word for it. They have a word for everything, and they are always right!"
The other death I am waiting to introduce to a conversation is "la petite mort". Does this mean what I was told it means?
John "There are two types of problems: those that solve themselves, and those which you can do nothing about" Isabel Allende's grandmother
Posts: 1710 | Location: Mullumbimby, NSW, Australia | Registered: 26 March 2003
Well Mr Chandler is wrong - there is no word for "cosy" in French. There is one in German "gemuetlich" which shows that the concept is Germanic and not at all latin.
he right when he says that we are always right though!
Am I missing something? I did not use "cosy" anywhere.
One of my quotes was from memory and was slightly wrong. It should have been "The French have a phrase for it. The bastards have a phrase for everything, and they are always right." It is from The Long Goodbye, and as his main character says it, it could well reflect his personal view.
Is there a French saying meaning "To say goodbye is to die a little" ?
John "There are two types of problems: those that solve themselves, and those which you can do nothing about" Isabel Allende's grandmother
Posts: 1710 | Location: Mullumbimby, NSW, Australia | Registered: 26 March 2003
Well I must be writing English like a French cow! Let me try and explain in layman's terms: your author says that there is a word for everything in the French language and I'm telling you that there's isn't a word for cosy. Tu piges John?
and no, I don't think we have that expression in French but the literal translation makes absolute sense - although you have spelt like an Australian kangaroo
If I hadn't misquoted "word" for "phrase" in the first place we would never have got into this misunderstanding. Thanks for the correction to my spelling.
BTW. My French mini-dictionary shows cosy as douillet(te) and douillet as meaning cosy.
John "There are two types of problems: those that solve themselves, and those which you can do nothing about" Isabel Allende's grandmother
Posts: 1710 | Location: Mullumbimby, NSW, Australia | Registered: 26 March 2003
Favorite French word:... well I have two, and, odd enough , they're both related with food... well, in a way! One is Pois Chiches: I think it sounds funny the other one is the word "Crottin" used as the name of a small cheese Giulia
Originally posted by PatrickLondon: I wonder why - a little -
From the context in which I quoted it I presumed that 'goodbye' or 'adieu' was being used in contrast to 'au revoir' or 'until we meet again'; and when you say a final goodbye to a person with whom you have developed a relationship, there is a part of you that dies. Perhaps this is a risk that slow travellers have to take; or am I becoming morbid.
John "There are two types of problems: those that solve themselves, and those which you can do nothing about" Isabel Allende's grandmother
Posts: 1710 | Location: Mullumbimby, NSW, Australia | Registered: 26 March 2003
I love the expression ca va. It can be both a question and an answer and a whole dialogue can consist of that expression.
I also love the verb tatonner. The dictionary defines it as meaning to grope in the dark or feel one's way, but it is more than that. It's when you can't find something on your desk and put your hands on everything in hopes of touching it. It's such a descriptive word and there's no good English translation. It's also onomatopoetic (which is a favorite English word).
Nabokov said the word butterfly sounded nice in all languages. Papillon does have a lovely flutter.
"Bonne continuation" My style guru Andrée Putman had a very humorous take on the phrase "bonne continuation". She thought some of the variants were not quite appropriate, such as the time she heard it at the end of a funeral speech.
What about some of the faux amis and "vrais ennemis". People in France don't yell "encore" at the end of a well executed piece of music. They yell "bis" - if at all. French toast is "pain perdu". French dressing seems not to exist here either. The French classic vinaigrette seems to be what Americans call Italian dressing.
I also like "logiciel" for software. Clever. Boui-boui is great. So vivid. And kids say "géant" for "awesome". "Extra" and "sensass" are quite out these days - maybe like saying groovy. Out aussi the insult "blaireau". "Blaireau" nearly replaced "beauf", but "beauf" seems to have more staying power. Géant !
J'aime beaucoup "ciboulette". C'est un jolie mot, avec un son tres feminin, comme le nom d'une petite fille. Much more poetic and prettier than "chives".
Julie -- vous aimez "coquelicot",connaissez-vous le film "Roi de Coeur"? Je l'adore; il y a un caractère « Coquelicot ». Elle est jouée par l'actrice Genevieve Bujold.
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Cindy 
