Quotes


6
Dec 08

Prime à la casse

Source: Relance : Sarkozy bat la mesure

Whilst reading the article entitled “Relance : Sarkozy bat la mesure”, I came across the expression “prime à la casse”:

L’accent est mis sur la relance de la demande grâce à une prime à la casse de 1 000 euros, instaurée jusqu’à la fin 2009 sur les véhicules particuliers et utilitaires légers de plus de 10 ans.

The word “prime à la casse” means:

Scrappage premium, a benefit given to people in order to encourage them to get rid of their old vehicles and replace them with newer, more environmentally friendly vehicles.

Scrappage is defined as: the scrapping of discarded objects (e.g. automobiles)

Hence the whole sentence could be translated as:

Stress is placed on the revival of consumer demand thanks to a 1000 euro scrappage premium for cars over 10 years old which will be valid until the end of 2009 and which applies to all private vehicles and light vehicle users.


19
Jun 07

Se la couler douce

Source: Tat à l’OEIL

On the blog “Tat à l’OEIL”, I came across an article entitled “Se la couler douce”

The French expression “se la couler douce” means:

To lie back and have a good time


9
Jun 07

à donf

Source: Tat à l’OEIL

In the article entitled “Feliz cumpleaños”, I came accross the expression “à donf”

“à donf” is actually french argot or slang for the expression “à fond” which means:

All-out, wholeheartedly, giving it everything you’ve got


9
Jun 07

Déjanté

Source: Paris-émoi

I came across the article entitled “Le Prof déjanté”

The word déjanté means:

Crazy, mad, off their head/nut/rocker

“Une jante” is actually the rim of a wheel in French. Hence the expression means a wheel that has lost its rim – somebody that is completely crazy!

The title of the article in english could thus be “The crazy teacher”


9
Jun 07

Pince-fesse

Source:Des Photos Et Puis Quoi Encore?

Whilst reading the article entitled “En Altitude”, I came across the french compound word “pince-fesse”:

Prémices du salon du Bourget, la société Aviaxess a récemment organisé un pince-fesses à l’héliport de Paris

The word “pince-fesse” means:

Bash, cocktail party

Hence the whole sentence could be translated as:

First fruits of the Bourget air show, the company Aviaxess recently organised a bash at Paris’s heliport.


29
May 07

Bayer aux corneilles

Source: Paris-émois

In the article above I came accross the expression “bayer aux corneilles”.

Et quand une touriste espagnole s’ennuie, elle ne baye pas aux corneilles, elle se met à danser à la sévillane.

The expression “bayer aux corneilles” means:

To daydream

The whole sentence above can be translated as:

And when a Spanish tourist gets bored, she doesn’t daydream – she starts to dance a Sevillana!