Common French Phrases with English Translations

French	Literal Translation	English Equivalent
Avoir mal au coeur	To have a pain in the heart	To feel sick to the stomach
Bouche cousue!	Mouth sewn up!	Mum’s the word!
La bête à bon Dieu	God’s fool	A ladybug or a ladybird
Dites, “Qurante-quatre!”	Say, “Forty-four!”	Say, “Ah!”
Poisson d’avril	April fish	April’s fool
Gober la mouche	To swallow the fly	Swallow the bait, a gullible person swallows it, “hook, line, and sinker”
Ecriture de chat	Cat’s writing	Scribble scratch
Avoir le cafard	To have the cockroach	To be down in the dumps
Mets le dans ta pouche avec ton mouchoir dessus	Put it in your pocket with your handkerchief on top	Put it in your pipe and smoke it
Jouer à saute — mouton	To play jump-sheep	To play leap-frog
Revenons a nos mouton	Let’s get back to our sheep	Let’s get back to the subject
Vouloir, c’est pouvoir	To wish is to be able	To wish is to be able
A bon chat, bon rat	To the good cat, a good rat	To the good cat, a good rat
Le chouchou de prof	The teacher’s cabbage	The teacher’s pet
dent-de-lion	Lion’s tooth	a dandelion
Il m’aime un peau...beaucoup...passionnement...à la folie...pas du tout	He loves me a little...a lot...passionately..madly… not at all	He loves me…he loves me not
Si jeunesse savait, si viellesse pouvait	If the young only knew, if the old only could	Youth is wasted on the young
Le champ est libre	The field is clear	The coast is clear
A bon chien, il ne vient jamais un bon os	A good dog never gets a good bone	Nice guys finish last
On aurait entendu une mouche voler	You could have heard a fly fly	You could have heard a pin drop
Mettre la puce à l’oreille à quelqu’un	To put the flea in someone’s ear	To annoy someone
Avoir le main verte	To have a green hand	To have a green thumb
Être beurré	To be buttered	To be plastered
Latin de cuisine	Kitchen Latin	Pig Latin
C’est du chinois	It’s Chinese	It’s Greek to me

Lagniappe:
Words with ugly meanings but beautiful sounds in French

la poubelle	garbage can
un ronfleur	a snorer
une mouffete	a skunk
une toilette	a toilet

Click here for PDF version for printing.

Quote on Insanity and Sanity From Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston

The difference between mad people and sane people [...] is that sane people have variety when they talk-story. Mad people have only one story that they talk over and over. 
                       - Maxine Hong Kingston Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts (p. 159)

PDF Copy for Printing

Source: Kingston, Maxine H. The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. New York: Vintage Books, 1989; 1976. Print.

Image Credit: NYPL Digital Collection: "Act II Tea": Two women in Chinese jackets, elaborate hair and gold trousers; one man in dark trousers, red jacket, and Asian conical hat.

Quote of the Day: Anne Carson On the Social Contract

photo credit: notjanedoe

I wanted to find one law to cover all of living. I found fear.

— Anne Carson

Source: Carson, Anne. Plainwater: Essays and Poetry. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 2000. Print.

PDF Copy for Printing

Photograph: Maternal Aunt in Her Schooldays Dress

Genealogy Report 

from a Perronne Photo Album: Sandra Mitten Perronne is pictured here as a school student at Ella Dolhonde school in Metairie, Louisiana.

Sandra Perronne Mitten, my maternal aunt as a middle school student
 at Ella Dolhonde school in Louisiana (circa the 1950s).

Writing About the Perronne Family 

Stones of Erasmus
TpT Store

Sandra Mitten Perronne - my maternal aunt -  who taught me what holy cards are used for (*for putting inside the interior pages of sacred books!*) and showed me how to crochet (a skill I have long since forgotten how to do). However, she is a cool lady. She makes doll fashions for a living; but, now she is retired, and she spends a lot of time with my mother and older brother. In the picture (posted above), she is an elementary school student at Ella Dolhonde school in Metairie, Louisiana.
I've written about family history on my blog - check out related articles here.

PDF Copy for Printing

On the Saint Charles Streetcar at Broadway (in New Orleans)

A guy and his bud scream, "Who dat" in five minute increments.

Ummmm.

Enough already?

He Reads Harry Potter, too

 photo credit:era145

I  am not sure if he is happy about reading the Harry Potter septology or if he is afraid of Voldemort.

Tricera-topless - Review of Hyperbole and a Half (a website created by Allie Brosh)

I am still chuckling and snorting at Hyperbole and a Half, a very funny website.

Allie Brosh is hilarious. She uses Paintbrush to create images to tell zany stories. Very very clever and humorous blog.

What is it about a censored nude triceratops that is so funny?!

I laughed out loud at her unintentionally suggestive grocery store purchases and I added the cake versus pie debate to my classics lists.

I  wonder if she will publish a book? Probably. It will be made into a film like Julie & Julia. Not. :-)