londoneye Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 my french is not too good, but i get by. armed with my dictionary (which i dont have to hand right now, so cant check exactly what it says), in order to explain i lived with someone i checked and used an expression along lines of 'j'habite en concubinage'. the lady smirked. i checked with my french neighbour who assured me it was ok. yesterday i had to explain my marital status to another person in officialdom; i used the same expression; this one positively sniggered !! Is there something wrong with my dictionary, or is this phrase just not used anymore please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
londoneye Posted November 30, 2006 Author Share Posted November 30, 2006 oops sorry still havent figured out how to delete a dup post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 It's a bit old fashioned, that's all! Connotations of Benny Hill chasing scantily clad nubile women around the bed!Alternative: mon ami(e) et moi vivons maritalement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patf Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 On the other hand I filled a form in today for Gedimat which asked for name of spouse or " concubin(e)". Pat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 What's weird is that concubin (=man) does not raise as many sniggers as concubine (woman)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icmenuiserie Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 Weirdly I am just trying to do my cv for an interview with anpe tomorrow and I have written concubinage...but not sure if that's correct, any ideas, since I'm def not célibataire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert the InfoGipsy Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 My French brother in law married the mother of his children a while back. Up to then he always referred to her as 'ma concubine'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWINKLE Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 How's your accent Albert? It's just that I know that when I first came to France some words would come out shall we say a bit "differently" to how I'd intended. There are some dangerously naughty french words in the sentence that you used if you're not careful."J'haBITE en CON-CUL binage". Excuse my language but do you see what I mean? It could have just been the way you pronounced the words that made them giggle!Edit: Sorry londoneye I thought it was Albert who was inquiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
londoneye Posted December 1, 2006 Author Share Posted December 1, 2006 yes i did wonder if it was my pronounciation, but i said same thing to french neighbour (who is thankfully (and rarely i suspect in rural france!) fluent in english), and he didnt query it. what does it mean (above) - err if you could explain without censors jumping on your head !thanks for all responses. i think i will try for a different phrase next time because i am starting to get paranoid about answering this question in french now ! Not that i object to making people happy, but it's the only time people have postively sniggered at my french, so clearly something is, as you say, either iffy with pronounciation, or they really are seeing benny hill ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 There's a sex problem here again Londoneye! I don't know which you are, but a way of getting round it could be to say"J'habite avec mon ami(e)".Another phrase used to be "se mettre en ménage", "je suis en ménage avec Claudia". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert the InfoGipsy Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 [quote user="TWINKLE"]How's your accent Albert? It's just that I know that when I first came to France some words would come out shall we say a bit "differently" to how I'd intended. There are some dangerously naughty french words in the sentence that you used if you're not careful."J'haBITE en CON-CUL binage". Excuse my language but do you see what I mean? It could have just been the way you pronounced the words that made them giggle![/quote]Twinkle, sweetums, I think you've got your posters muddled up. Red water? I must bow to your ability to spot mots grossiers, though. Finding three in a four word sentence is masterly. Would it work even better with "J'ai BITE...." ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWINKLE Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I have edited my earlier post - yes it was the red water Albert!I hear naughty words everywhere - I'm like a 10 year old Benny Hill[:-))]londoneye!Translation: 1.BITE - PR**K 2.CON - AS*H**E 3.CUL - A*SLesson over[geek] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
londoneye Posted December 1, 2006 Author Share Posted December 1, 2006 nah !these were pleasant middle-aged women, they would NEVER believe i was saying that to them ! (even inadvertently!)by the way i am female, christine ! I shall go with your suggestion ......... or i might, after a few drinks, just go with Twinkle's pronounciation, to see what happens ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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