Christine Animal Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 Sorry if this has already been covered, but it may help some of the newcomers.I have noticed that English people when writing one hundred, on a cheque for example, often put "un cent". Cent never has "un" in front of it, it is just cent, cent euro (some put an s on euros, some don't saying it has Greek origin and doesn't take an s).Cent euro is one hundred eurobut for two hundred, three hundred, etc. cent takes an sCentDeux centsTrois cents, etc.but when there is something after the trois cents (say three hundred and fifty), the s on cent is dropped :Cent trente euroDeux cent quaranteTrois cent cinquante. I hope I managed to explain clearly A hundred can also be "une centaine" :There were a hundred people. Il y avait une centaine de gens.But you can also say "il y avait cent personnes" ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantine<br><br><br><br>Susie Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 "A hundred can also be "une centaine" :There were a hundred people. Il y avait une centaine de gens"Une centaine, une vingtaine, une trentaine etc, is ABOUT a hundred/twenty/thirty etc. not necessarily exactly that number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Avery Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 [quote]Sorry if this has already been covered, but it may help some of the newcomers. I have noticed that English people when writing one hundred, on a cheque for example, often put "un cent". Cent never h...[/quote]Absolutely right Fantine those .....aines mean about. The rule about the "s" after cent on its own does not apply to mille though or milliard. Glad to see that Les Anglais are actually writing any numbers in the first line of a cheque. I wasted loads of cheques getting out of the habit of writing the payee first English style Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted October 8, 2005 Author Share Posted October 8, 2005 Yes, I thought about that too Fantine before putting it. It is often used for about.I have just looked in my dictionary which says :Centaine : groupe de cent unités, ou environ.I think it can be used in both ways :arriver à la centaine : to reach one's hudredth birthday (which is not about).par centaines : by the hundreds (about). As usual, c'est compliqué ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Avery Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 "As usual, c'est compliqué" Non, christine, c'est Francais Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted October 8, 2005 Author Share Posted October 8, 2005 That's what I meant Ron ! And just to be a little more compliquée, I agree with mille (stays unchanged), but I think milliard takes an s (but I have never had a cheque for such an amount!) :Deux centsDeux milleDeux millionsDeux milliards Can anyone French confirm the "jackpot" is correct... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Avery Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 Christine, you are correct about millions and miliards, they are as you wrote them. I must start a thread about getting ones eyes tested Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P> Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 Mille milliards de dollars Yes Ron, Christine is right about 'Milliards', but hey, qui cela surprendra-t-il maintenant ? (is the woman ever wrong ?). If you allow me to add my tuppence my friends, I would like to use this interesting 'Milliards' thread as a pretext to encourage French cinema lovers here to watch -or rediscover- the wonderful film above with the unique Patrick Dewaere (and why, why oh why did you kill yrself Patrick, we all miss you so much), the prescience and sense of forebodding contained in this gem really is frightening. Of course, Captain Haddock's most famous expletive 'mille milliards de mille sabords' is also one way to register the spelling once and for all. Now, who knows the English translation of that most famous of Haddock's 'jurons' ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted October 9, 2005 Author Share Posted October 9, 2005 Va te faire ravoir ! No, I'm wrong, stay, I like it quand tu ouvres les vannes ! Could it be "Holy mackerel!" No, that must be Capitaine Cook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P> Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 That 'ouvrez les vannes', was that intentional or not (as a pun I mean -as it could be understood as a pun) ? if so well, que puis-je dire, I'd have to dig out a La Fontaine fable to do justice to your brilliance (it wasn't intentional, was it ?). Anyway, I don't believe it was one even if you swear it was !!! (if you insist it was, explain !)No, it's not 'Holy Mackerel' by Captain Cook as you guessed, whatever happened to him anyway, I heard he was a gynéco in Scarborough now, is that true ?Alors, bande de Bashi-bouzouks mal embouché(e)s, are you giving up AGAIN ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted October 10, 2005 Author Share Posted October 10, 2005 I don't know if what you think I may have meant by a pun is the same pun as I tried to make. J'aime bien quand tu vannes (vanner quelqu'un), et en même temps "jeu de mots" ouvrir les vannes. T'as compris la vanne ?Captain Cook last I heard was selling maquereaux au vin blanc.Je ne sais pas tout 'cos I don't know anything about Captain Haddock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P> Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Ah mais oui, bravo, I thought so, 'open the (flood)gates and fire away the jokes', bien vu; your intricate puns should have pride of place in a whole new category called, dunno, 'Puns, bons mots and bilingual wit by users', where you could be the Immoderatress, gosh that'd be a laugh.Bon alors, Captain Haddock's swear words, tout le monde s'en bat la couenne, c'est ça, non ?CLUE: the 1st word is: Blistering... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bizzyliz Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Blistering barnacles, if my memory serves me correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P> Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Oui, bien vu Liz, in extenso: 'Billions of Blistering Bilious Barnacles', well done, all of the big shots on here pipped to the post. By the sound of it, that must have come 'du diable Vauvert'. But who could tell me what this well-used French phrase mean ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantine<br><br><br><br>Susie Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 [quote]Oui, bien vu Liz, in extenso: 'Billions of Blistering Bilious Barnacles', well done, all of the big shots on here pipped to the post. By the sound of it, that must have come 'du diable Vauvert'. But w...[/quote]Du diable Vauvert... means "a long way away" "trés loin".ex: La chine est la diable Vauvert. Boy am I chuffed with myself to have got the answer in first!!!! This came up in my French class last week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted October 11, 2005 Author Share Posted October 11, 2005 Well done Fantine ! Wait till he sees that...Now I have a question for the great pédagogue, see if he knows the answer to this (and I'm giving him a good chance in the subject matter )Who used to say "Do 'ave a Dubonnet" ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P> Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Yes Fantine, that'll do, that'll do. No gloating allowed though, that was too easy. Diable Vauvertloin, très loinIndex Croyances Religionsorigine : Francetype : ExpressionRetrouver l'origine de l'expression n'est pas simple... il existe de nombreux villages en France qui revendiquent la paternité de l'expression...Do 'ave a Dubonnet ??? Putain, mais c'est pas tout jeune ça, that was Sacha Distel, non ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted October 11, 2005 Author Share Posted October 11, 2005 There's another little pîc, would make a superbe avatar.No, not Sacha Distel, unless he did it too, older than Distel and now dead too. The ad was on English television way back before I left. He was and still is very, very famous in France and French films. Anyone remember? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantine<br><br><br><br>Susie Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Would that be Joe Hamman, known as the French John Wayne?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P> Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 I suppose que tu es fière de toi, non ? A French actor, famous enough abroad to appear in English ads, and in the 50's ?! Doit pas y'en avoir des masses qd même, was French, wasn't he ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted October 11, 2005 Author Share Posted October 11, 2005 "Do 'ave a Dubonnet"bande de nuls ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantine<br><br><br><br>Susie Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Fernand Contadin aka Fernandel - nope, never heard of him. Avant mon epoque. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P> Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 How obscure was that ! Where ? What year ? I demand to know (was Fernandel ever famous outside France ?). Or have you just made it up, safe in the perverse knowledge that so few of us can possibly 'puiser aussi profondement' dans les tréfonds de la culture audiovisuelle française ? C'est incroyable tt de même que tu t' rappelles de trucs pareils ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted October 12, 2005 Author Share Posted October 12, 2005 Honest, Titi, I haven't made it up and if you think I can remember the year... I have tried to puise in the tréfonds des sites webs, but have not found Fernandel et Dubonnet. Pourtant, it existed. I used to love the way he said that and ever since, when I have seen him, I always thought of "Do 'ave a Dubonnet", that's why je me rappelle de trucs pareils. It was certainly a pub which had an effect on me. Can't anyone remember it?Fantine, it's funny you have never heard of Fernandel, he's sort of an everlasting legend here, I bet if you ask any French person if they have heard of him they will say "mais bien sûr..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P> Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 I'm with Fantine on this one, never heard of him, Fernandel, Fernandel ? Swiss, no ? Broad Franche-Comté accent, c'est ça, non ? Ah, yes, no, I remember I think, wasn't he the drunken jovial lock-keeper in one of the Inspecteur Maigret soporiflicks ? Oh, hang on, are you sure he wasn't a football player ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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