In article <edpq749esn20ubg3837oke0rt88vm2m25t@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
Denis Beauregard <denis.b-at-francogene.com@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> writes:
> Le Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:40:02 -0500, "Henry Brownlee"
> <hfbrownl@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> écrivait dans soc.genealogy.misc:
>
>>
>>"Denis Beauregard" <denis.b-at-francogene.com@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
message
>>news:5q0q741v2733in6p54ajgnbjc9sr1dv2i7@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> Le Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:56:11 -0500, "Henry Brownlee"
>>> <hfbrownl@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> écrivait dans soc.genealogy.misc:
>>>
>>> >
>>> >"Denis Beauregard" <denis.b-at-francogene.com@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
>>message
>>> >news:ljvp741mi98isi2hvn6o2avk0f2n52nqgj@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> >> Le Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:31:53 -0500, "Henry Brownlee"
>>> >> <hfbrownl@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> écrivait dans soc.genealogy.misc:
>>> >>
>>> >> >And please pardon my pseudo-Francais!
>>> >>
>>> >> As large as you care not lecturing my simili-Anglish !
>>> >
>>> >Ow! C'est comique!
>>>
>>> Mais qu'est-ce qu'on se bidonne ici :-) À s'en péter les
>>> grelots...
>>
>>I must confess I don't understand the last part about - - breaking
little
>>bells ?!?
>
> Actually, I'm not sure about the expression. I think it should mean
> something like "we are laughing a lot here, enough to break our nuts
> (or balls)". Even in my native language, there are expressions I
> almost never use, so I am not sure about them. You have probably
> something similar in English.
>
>
> Denis
>
That's true of just about every language. Colloquialisms - expressions
without a direct meaning in or of themselves but that, through use,
have assumed a meaning contrary to the actual words. One I learned
years ago, in German, was "zum Kukuck nochmal", meaning literally
"to the cuckoo again" but having the actual meaning of a mild oath,
like doggone it or confound it or ... And learning those expressions
and using them appropriately is one of the most difficult parts of
mastering another language, something most of us never quite achieve.
The expression above would probably better render in English as
something like "we're having such a good time, we're laughing our
butts off".
Scholarly Ol' Bob
(Hey, you think it's easy to come up with an appropriate word to
fit into my moniker? Ha!)
--
Robert G. Melson | Rio Grande MicroSolutions | El Paso, Texas
-----
Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable
reason so few engage in it. -- Henry Ford
|
