New Wors in Petite Robert
#1
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#3
Join Date: May 2007
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<<Patenteux: This term is specific to Québécois French and describes a certain type of resourceful person who can fix your sink or repair your carburetor with nothing but the lint in his pocket and a stick of gum. A MacGyver, if you will.>>
I wonder if cold would describe himself in these terms?
I wonder if cold would describe himself in these terms?
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"Arrete ton chialage" is completely new to me. The more traditional expression is "Arrete de niaiser" - also very idiomatic Quebecois slang.
"Patenteux" seems to be a substitute for the conventional adjective "débrouillard".
Patente means "Thingamajig" - an unspecified item. "Toute la patente" is like "The full meal deal" or "The whole schmeer".
So I guess patenteux = able to cope with the random things life throws your way.
"Patenteux" seems to be a substitute for the conventional adjective "débrouillard".
Patente means "Thingamajig" - an unspecified item. "Toute la patente" is like "The full meal deal" or "The whole schmeer".
So I guess patenteux = able to cope with the random things life throws your way.
#8
Join Date: Mar 2006
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Have any of the French speakers here heard the phrase "rouler un patin" to mean kissing, as mentioned in the article?
I can honestly say that I've never heard it before, but have heard (more frequently in my younger years if I'm honest) "rouler une pelle" to mean the same thing.
It always struck me as a pretty horrible image - "'ello darlin', fancy rolling a shovel?".
It also seems that the Petit Robert are much slower to add new words to the dictionary than say the OED. As far as I've been aware (unless I'm hearing the voices again) "galoche" and "Gnagnagna" have been used for years and as I'm sure we're all aware "les plans cul" are as old as time itself...
I can honestly say that I've never heard it before, but have heard (more frequently in my younger years if I'm honest) "rouler une pelle" to mean the same thing.
It always struck me as a pretty horrible image - "'ello darlin', fancy rolling a shovel?".
It also seems that the Petit Robert are much slower to add new words to the dictionary than say the OED. As far as I've been aware (unless I'm hearing the voices again) "galoche" and "Gnagnagna" have been used for years and as I'm sure we're all aware "les plans cul" are as old as time itself...
#11
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Jay G : I have heard it used by lots of people and I've used it myself. (I am French and I live in France).
The expression seems to date back to the 30's: http://www.expressio.fr/expressions/...e-escalope.php
The expression seems to date back to the 30's: http://www.expressio.fr/expressions/...e-escalope.php
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Thanks very much for that link, really interesting reading. I like the theories behind how it came into being.
All that's left now is for me to slip it nonchalantly into a conversation as if I've always known it...
All that's left now is for me to slip it nonchalantly into a conversation as if I've always known it...