Having style! Avoir du chien!

As I was strolling around Boston, I came across this English bulldog recovering from an intense exercise (picture below...).
At first, his funny appearance with his wrinkled grouchy face and his massive disproportionate body caught the attention.
Then, his overly placid behavior with a tenacious stubbornness personality is hilarious.
Don't you think he has a great charm?


Alors que je me promenais dans Boston, je suis tombée sur ce bulldog anglais qui se remettait d'un exercice éreintant (voir la photo ci-dessus).
Son apparence physique amusante avec une tête toute plissée au regard ronchon, et un corps massif et disproportionné saute d’abord aux yeux.
Ensuite, c’est son comportement excessivement placide et sa personnalité tenace et obstinée qui est à mourir de rire.
Ne trouvez-vous pas qu'il a un charme fou?

French Expression in context / Expression française en contexte

The French language is rich in figurative expressions referring to animals. Due to the fact that the dog is associated to many different symbols and popular beliefs, there is a great deal of French idioms and proverbs related to "chien”. Most of them have a negative connotation and refer to a disdain, disparagement and are used almost as an insult: Nom d'un chien! (Name of a Dog!): For good sake Faire le chien couchant (to act like a crawling dog): to praise. Un temps de chien ! (a dog weather !) An awful weather Etre traité comme un chien: To be treated like a dog. Avoir un air de chien battu: (to have the look of a beaten dog): To have a hang-dog look Ce n'est pas fait pour les chiens: (it’s not made for dogs !) It's there to be used. Une chienne de vie ! A life’s dog. Etre d’une humeur de chien (to have a mood dog): To be in a foul mood Etre malade comme un chien ! (sick as a dog): To be really sick. Se regarder en chiens de faïence. (to look at each other like porcelain dogs): To glare at each other. Mourir comme un chien: (to die like a dog !): To die forsaken like a dog. Merci qui? Merci mon chien! (thank you my dog!). Thanks to whom? However a few expressions have somewhat a positive connotation. The one I am using here in my title is one of them: “Avoir du chien” (lit: to have dog). To have style, to be attractive. This expression dates from 1866 and back then, it was used for a woman to talk about her physical appeal in a sense of saucy.

"Having a little bicycle in one's head! " "Avoir un petit vélo dans la tête!":-)

Thousands of riders rolled out on the streets of Boston last Sunday, for the 4th annual "Hub On Wheels" .
This charitable organization raises money to help Boston students to get the skills and technology they need to succeed.
The riders choose 10, 30 or 50 miles route through Boston, starting and arriving at the City hall Plaza.
This program, making Boston’s largest city-sponsored sporting event, raised $50000 last year.

Des milliers de coureurs cyclistes se sont élancés dans les rues de Boston dimanche dernier, à l’occasion de la 4ieme course annuelle “ Hub on wheels» qui a eu lieu dimanche à Boston (surnommée "The Hub") .
Cette institution caritative soulève des fonds pour aider les étudiants de Boston à obtenir les outils et les formations technologiques nécessaires à leur réussite scolaire.
Les coureurs ont le choix de parcourir 16 km, 48 km ou bien 80 km avec comme de point de départ et d’arrivée l’esplanade de la mairie.
Ce programme, faisant de Boston le plus grand évènement sportif sponsorisé à l’intérieur d’une ville, a soulevé $50000 l’année dernière.

French Expression in context / Expression française en contexte

1. “ Avoir un petit vélo dans la tête !" (lit: Having a little bicycle in one's head!): To go crazy/ to have an obsession. The French word “vélo” is a short cut for “vélocipède”: “veloce” for “rapide" (velocity) and ped for “pied” (foot). This machine, invented in Germany by Baron Drais in 1818, was primarily a waking machine called “Draisienne”( Laufmaschine). Later in 1841, French inventor Pierre Michaux applied pedals to the front wheel and gave it the name of "vélocipède". The metaphor “avoir un petit vélo dans la tête », was introduced in the 60’s. We don’t know the origin. However, considering the success and strong enthusiasm for cycling in France at that time, it's easy to understand why it appeared in different French expressions as well. Then, let me introduce you to another funny one, very much in vogue back then: 2. "Pédaler dans la choucroute " : (lit: to pedal in the sauerkraut) To spin one’s wheels! "la choucroute" is a dish, originally from Germany, which became later part of the native cuisine of Alsace Lorraine region. In the old days, choucroute was made with chopped stripes of white cabbage placed in barrels macerating in brine and anchovy juices for several weeks. Thus, the French word "choucroute” derives from the German word “Sauerkraut” which literally means “sauer grass” (“herbe sure/aigre” in French). In the late 17th century, the Alsatian dialect used the word “Sûrkrût”. Through the intervention of phonetic mistakes, the word slowly evolved over the years. “sur” disappeared to be replaced by the French word“chou”(cabbage) and the word " krût" evolved into"crute" and later became “croute”. For the same reason explained above, the popularity of the sport of cycling in the 60's, is presumably the source of it. Also the reference to a dish makes it all more "real"... Now, do you get the picture of a rider pedaling in Sauerkraut? :-) --->Note that there is also another French metaphor which ends up to the same result: "Pédaler dans la semoule" (to pedal in the semoulina). Which one do you prefer?

It's all Greek to me! C'est du chinois pour moi :-)

Recognizable by its traditional temple roofs covered with tiles, the pagoda gate, surrounded by two lions, marks the entrance to the Chinatown District.

A welcome message is inscribed in gold Chinese characters in the middle of the gate, also called páilóu (牌樓) in Chinese.

The large pavement, designed by artist May Sun, displays a geometric pattern consisting of a square within a circle, which is an old symbol for Heaven and Earth in chinese philisophy. Also, in the middle (in grey and blue) you can see a long strip that depicts the Chinatown dictrict and the surrounding area up to the Boston waterfront.

Reconnaissable par ses toits traditionnels recouverts de tuiles, la porte en forme de pagode entourée de deux lions marque l'entrée du quartier chinois.

Un message de bienvenue, en caractères chinois dorés, est inscrit au milieu de la porte appelée páilóu (牌樓) en chinois.

Le dallage au sol, réalisé par l'artiste May Sun, révèle un motif géométrique constitué d’un carré à l'intérieur d’un cercle; symbole du paradis et de la terre, dans la philosophie chinoise. Vous pouvez distinguer aussi au milieu une longue bande (en gris et en bleu) représentant le quartier de Chinatown et les environs jusqu’au port de Boston.

French Expression in context / Expression française en contexte

1. “ C'est du chinois pour moi! " (lit: it's all chinese to me!). It's all Greek to me! This metaphor refers to complicated, unintelligible topics to understand. The other figurative expression "C'est de l'hébreu pour moi " (it's Hebrew to me) is occasionally heard . Not only French use this "chinese target" to mean something incomprehensible. For instance, - in Greek : Eínai kínezika jia ména; (It's Chinese to me") - in Russian: Это для меня китайская грамота. (It's Chinese writing!) - in Hungarian: Ez nekem kínai. (This is Chinese to me.) - in Dutch: Dat is Chinees voor mij . (This is Chinese to me.) German, Serbian, Czech refer to the Spanish language while Turkkish people refer to the French langage as an unintelligible, unfamiliar language! Originaly, the word"chinois" served to designate something mysterious, far-away and unknown. In addition, the structure of the language with its different dialects and its 13000 characters in the traditional form, reinforced that idea and thus, created the cliché "c'est du chinois" associated to complexity. In the same idea, the verb"chinoiser" (lit: to chinese), means to quibble, to split-hairs. When it was introduced in 1896 "chinoiser" meant "parler argot". And the word "argot" was related to "jargon". And this leads us to another expression: 2. "un casse-tête chinois" : a brain teaser. Since "un casse-tête" is a dilemna or a puzzle to solve, adding the adjective "chinois" looks like a pleonasm. In fact, it emphasizes the concept of difficulty. But, that's not it! To make it even stronger, French people also say "c'est un vrai un casse-tête chinois" (it's a real brain teaser). In other words: it's a pain in the neck! :-) Bonne journée!

Lap it up! "boire du petit-lait"

In a couple of hours many children and adults will enjoy ice cream at this emblematic place known as "The Hood Milk Bottle" next to the Boston Children Museum, along the Harbor Walk.

This all-wood 40-foot-high structure, which could hold about 50,000 gallons of milk, was built in 1934 by Arthur Gagner and served as a stand to sell homemade ice cream, next to his store, located in Taunton, Massachusetts.

Hood’s dairy (New England oldest and largest dairy Company) purchased the bottle in 1977 and after extensive renovations donated it the Children Museum.

The journey across Boston Harbor to ship the giant structure was dubbed as “The Great Bottle sail”. Click Click here to see the picture.

And if you want to see more geant milk bottles in the US, go visit this site .

Dans quelques heures, de nombreux enfants et adultes savoureront une glace dans cet endroit emblématique connu sous le nom de «The Hood Milk Bottle » (la bouteille de lait Hood), située à coté du Boston Children Museum (musée des enfants), le long de la promenade du port.

Cette structure tout en bois de 12 m de haut, qui pourrait contenir environ 189 270 litres de lait, fut construite en 1934 par Arthur Gagner et servait comme stand de vente de glaces, à coté de son magasin, situé à Taunton, dans le Massachusetts.

Hood (la plus ancienne et la plus grosse compagnie de produits laitiers de la Nouvelle Angleterre) la racheta en 1977 et après l’avoir restaurée en fit don au Children Museum.
Le transport en bateau à travers le port de Boston pour déplacer la structure géante fut surnommé « la traversée de la grande bouteille ». Cliquez ici pour la photo.
Et si vous voulez voir d'autres bouteilles de lait géantes aux Etats-Unis, allez sur ce site .

French Expression in context / Expression française en contexte

“ Boire du petit-lait! " (lit: to drink whey!). To lap it up ! Origin : This French expression appeared in the 16th century in the form of« avaler doux comme lait » (to drink/to swallow soft as milk) to describe people who enjoyed receiving praise avidly, in reference to the milk which evokes sweetness and pleasure. This figurative saying then became “boire du lait” (drink milk) to express delight. It also confers an affective connotation:"Le lait de la tendresse humaine" (The Milk of Human Kindness) Shakespeare. This is only in the beginning of the 20th century, that the descriptive adjective “petit” is added to reinforce the idea of exquisite contentment when savouring a situation. The “petit-lait” (whey) is supposed to give a sensation of freshness and smoothness.