comme meme

[Fumanzoku]

The comme meme tag, am I right in thinking it stresses the point being made - c'est jolie comme meme for example.

Also how would you  translate - it's not worth doing or it's worth trying ?

 

TIA

[Tourangelle]

The expression is 'quand même'. The meaning depends on the context, it could be nonetheless, or just the same or even so.

It is not worth doing. Ca ne vaut pas la peine / c'est une perte de temps/ ca ne vaut pas le cout

It's worth trying. On peut toujours essayer / ca vaut la peine d'essayer

Hope this helps

[Meo]

It's true that "quand même" for the most part means "at any rate/all the same" etc etc

However, in other cases where translating it as such just doesn't make sense, it's easier to think of it as an intensifier, ie just adding emphasis to the statement in which it falls.

Therefore

"C'est quand même utile" could mean "it really IS useful".

 

 

[Tourangelle]

I see what you mean, Meo.

I just came back to this thread having caught myself using quand même on its own in answer to something somebody said to me. We were talking about prices, and I was surprise and said quand même and what I probably would have said in English was 'as much as that?'. So it is a really useful little phrase!

[Hagar]

Anybody know exactly what this guy is trying to say -

"Zodiac Indigo si tu tombes sur une bonne affaire ( évite l'occasion quand meme )."

Twas in response to a request for recommendations re pool cleaning robots on a french (language) forum.

http://www.eauplaisir.com/annuaire/forums/ftopic_piscine2686.html&highlight=robot

tks

Hagar

[Battypuss]

Basically,  "If you can find a cheap one, good, but you'd be better off avoiding a secondhand xxxxxxxx"

[Hagar]

[quote]Basically, "If you can find a cheap one, good, but you'd be better off avoiding a secondhand xxxxxxxx"[/quote]

Tkanks Battypuss

I had not translated the "tombes sur une bonne affaire" correctly so couldn't quite understand what the last bit was

rgds

Hagar

[letrangere]

"tombes sur une bonne affaire"

Oh, bon(ne) can be difficult to translate but it's such an interesting word.  I remember doing an exercise on its less familiar useage in class once.  A few that immediately come to mind are:

bon vent - good riddance

c'est de bonne guerre - fair enough

de bonne coeur - to eat well/heartily

Don't have a dictionary to hand but I'm sure there are dozens more.  And if you've nothing else to do on a rainy day, also check out "beau" for we looked at that word as part of the same exercise and turned up some equally weird and wonderful expressions.

M

[Fumanzoku]

Thanks for the help. No wonder I couldn't get a logical response on Babel with 'comme' meme. I've mostly heard it used as an intensifier tagged on the end of an adjective statement so 'C'est utile quand même'.

So 'it's worth doing' is literally it's worth the pain of doing.

I like that expression "c'est de bonne guerre", is that literally it's of/from a good war ? I wonder how that came to mean 'fair enough' ? We've battled well, both tried our best, so the result is fair, perhaps.

[Musicmonkey<ADDRESS><STRONG>Musicmonkey<STRONG><ADDRESS>]

The one that gets me is "Tu Parles!" meaning "You don't say!"

 

 

[Tourangelle]

fumanzoko wrote

So 'it's worth doing' is literally it's worth the pain of doing.

Actually, la peine isn't really pain I'd translate it more as trouble. ca vaut la peine, it's worth the trouble. La douleur is pain.

[Bones]

Quand meme, comme meme, quoi? ETC ETC.

My Frrrench is shocking, the missus is French and she says don't bother trying to translate expressions, it was the same for her learning English.  She landed in Swansea and confidently greeted the first person she met: "How do you do?"  You can imagine the rest of the story.

No French English speakers here understand my horrid nasal Manc accent, (ee-are mate, are yer'avin it or wot?)

The first person the missus met from Newcastle (by now she was pretty fluent) she took to be from eastern europe.

But then again, don't we all?