Vos pensées franches

La franchise est une qualité que j'apprécie ; il ne sert à rien de cacher ce que l'on pense vraiment. --
Vous êtes un imbécile suffisant et personne n'est intéressé par votre opinion. //

Frankness is one quality I appreciate; it's not worth hiding what you really think. --

You are a smug fool and no one is interested in your opinion.

I think here the cat on the right demonstrates quite convincingly that sometimes it's best to keep your frank thoughts to yourself.

l'appoint

Je suis désolée mais je n'ai pas l'appoint ; prendriez-vous un billet de 20€ ? //

I'm sorry, but I don't have any small change; would you take a 20€ bill?

I am reasonably sure he would.

C'est une règle de grand-mère

Grandma rules!

It took me a long time time to recover after the binge-drawing of Inktober .

Didn't really know what to draw, so here is a little episode from our French class. I was late as usual, and as I was entering, I heard our teacher say "C'est une règle de grand-mère", It's a grandmother rule. I wasn't really surprised, since surely some such rule is bound to exist.
Only a few minutes later, when we were told to look the rule up in our books, I realized it was not grand-mère, but grammaire that was ruling. 

To my ear these two sound remarkably similar.

dans l'âge mûr

Dans l'enfance tous les hommes sont frères, dans l'âge mûr chacun tire de son bord // In childhood all men are brothers, in maturity everyone pulls at his side.

The last Inktober prompt this year is "ripe/mûr". I rather like less fruity meaning of both words, the one related to age. There is a difference, though - while in English "ripe age" asks for "old" to be inserted in the middle, in French, as far as I understand, it simply implies maturity.

When I found the quote in the caption, a Chinese proverb, I though oh! how lucky, there is a direct equivalent in English, "pull a blanket towards oneself". My search, however, didn't bring any convincing results, so now I think perhaps Russian expression "тянуть на себя одеяло" decided to disguise itself as an English proverb just to confuse me*. It means literally "to hog a blanket" and figuratively "to act selfishly". 

Here is the cat, acting very maturely, i.e. trying to pull a blanket towards himself. 

* do tell me if the expression does exist in some form though

What a catch!

Le photographe capture parfois ce que l'histoire a perdu // The photographer sometimes catches what history has lost.

Today's prompt is "catch/capture". The quote above belongs to Remy Donnadieu.
I am not at all sure what he wanted to say, especially considering he makes photocollages, so  he can catch something that doesn't exist and never existed.

But well, here is the quote and here is the cat who just managed to catch something amazing.

Les mots les plus durs

Les mots les plus durs peuvent blesser plus encore qu'un bras ou qu'une épée // The harshest words can hurt even more than a hand or a sword

Today's prompt is "injured/blessé". In a search for inspiration I came across the quote in the caption, by Gaël Aymon. 

I myself am more of "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me" philosophy. The quote made me think of the famous "gun vs sword" scene from Indiana Jones. And here it is, except Indiana is trying to fight with words, and while the swordscat might look somewhat injured, I don't think he is very impressed overall.

Note: shoulder bag strap has nothing to sit on, because the cat has no shoulders.

Balade en bateau

Balade en bateau // Boat ride

Today's prompt is "ride/balade". And here is the cat, doing his best Titanic impression.

Don't worry about him though. Judging by the shape of the islands in the background, he is somewhere between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, so we can rule out an encounter with an iceberg. Plus, shaped as he is, he will just bobble to the shore in any case.

Un manteau classique

Un manteau classique ne se démode jamais // A classic coat never goes out of style

Today's prompt is coat/manteau.

And here is the cat, wearing one. I think he is trying to make an important point here - classic pieces, stylish though they might be, don't necessarily suit everybody.

Not every cat, certainly.

Le monde semble sombre

Le monde semble sombre quand on a les yeux fermés // The world seems dark when your eyes are closed

Today's prompt is "dark / sombre" and the phrase is an Indian proverb.

I have nothing to add.

C'est savoureux!

Pourquoi tu ne le manges pas? C'est savoureux!! // Why don't you eat it? It's tasty!

Today's prompt is tasty / savoureux. I used "délicieux" in the pic by mistake.

The cat is not too sure about this local delicacy. I can't blame him. I myself am usually prepared to try pretty much anything. As far as I remember, it was only once, when I couldn't bring myself to try local food. It was in Japan, and the food in question was some species of large sea snails. Unlike the one in the pic, they were cooked, but still.

Don't worry about the snail, he is about to make up his mind and make a determined bid for freedom. The cat is not going to stop him, of that I am sure.

As long as the world is turning and spinning

dizzy / étourdi

Today's prompt is dizzy / étourdi.

I found a nice quote by Mel Brooks "As long as the world is turning and spinning, we're gonna be dizzy and we're gonna make mistakes". 

It is not in French of course, but never mind.

Temple à vendre

Temple à vendre. Proche de toutes commodités. Besoin de réparation // Temple for sale. Close to all amenities. In need of repair

Today's prompt is ancient/ancien.

And here we have something which fits the bill. And it is for sale, too.

As I say, it's a bit dingy at present but it's surprising what a lick of paint'll do, isn't it?

Halloween is coming

Habillé comme un fantôme // Dressed as a ghost

Today's prompt is ghost/fantôme, so here is the cat, dressed as a ghost.

Halloween is coming

Trésor

Y at-il quelqu'un là-bas? // Is there anybody out there?

Today's prompt is Treasure/Trésor. Made me remember that one of the popular names for a dog in Russia used to be "Трезор". Looked it up and yes, it seems the most likely origin is from French Trésor. There is another version, about some three-eyed guarding semi-deity, but it seems less likely, at least to me.

Now, why is the cat in the doghouse, I am not sure. He's probably jut squatting there, waiting, but not wanting, for the owner to come back.

une force appliquée

En physique, la traction est une force appliquée par des moyens mécaniques solides // In physics, traction is a force applied by solid mechanical means.

Today's prompt are "tread" in English and (Suddenly!) "traction" in French. I am not even sure if  wikipedia definition in the caption is correct, but the two come together nicely when I think about tractors.

Cat seems to be happy, too. Finally a vehicle to match his powerful personality.

ça arrive!

ça arrive! // ##it happens!

Today's prompt is "sling/fronde". The cat just discovered one of the life's saddest truths.

Strictly speaking it is not a sling in the pic, but a slingshot, but well, it is one of the possible interpretations.

pas chez moi

Je ne me sens pas chez moi // I do not feel at home

Today's inktober prompt is "misfit/inadapté".

Not sure what the cat is doing there, but well... mistakes were made, clearly.

Bastet has been featured here once before. This comparison is just asking to be made, innit (keeping in passive voice).

Couleur bleu nuit

Mon ornement de Noël préféré était une boule de verre de belle couleur bleu nuit // My favourite christmas ornament used to be a glass bauble in beautiful midnight blue color

It is true, there was such a bauble. Originally it had small white stars its shiny surface, but they disappeared gradually.

While looking up the name of this shade of blue I found that what is "midnight blue" in English is simply "Bleu nuit" in French, i.e. not "midnight", just "night". Not sure which one I like better.

chat sauvage, de couleur gris

Le chagrin est une sorte de chat sauvage, de couleur grise // Grief is a kind of wild cat, gray in color

Today's prompt is "wild", "sauvage". A search for a suitable quote brought up this one, by Francis Blanche which resonated with me. The full quote goes :

Le chagrin est une sorte de chat sauvage, de couleur grise. Son cri est plutôt triste et lugubre. Il faut se mettre à plusieurs pour en venir à bout. Car, tout seul, on arrive mal à chasser le chagrin

Grief is a kind of wild cat, gray in color. His cry is rather sad and gloomy. We must work together to overcome it. All alone, it is difficult to chase away the grief.

 

Une légende

Une légende (de l'adjectif verbal latin legenda , « qui doit être lue ») est, à l’origine, un récit mis par écrit pour être lu publiquement // A legend (from the Latin word "legenda", "one that must be read") is originally a written account to be read publicly

Today's prompt is "legend/légende". And here is the cat, looking quite legendary.

Débordement

débordement // overflow

Today's prompt, an adjective "overgrown" is translated into French as "débordement" which is a noun  meaning"overflow".

Oh well, doesn't matter. At least now I know a French proverb "La dernière goutte est celle qui fait déborder le vase", literally "It is the last drop that makes the vase to overflow", figuratively "It is the last straw that breaks the camel's back".

Mon animal préféré

Mon animal préféré est un dragon // My favourite animal is a dragon

Today's prompt is nice. "Dragon". I like it. And it is written exactly the same in English and in French

Magie silencieuse

La neige est une substance magique. Et sa magie est silencieuse //
Snow is a magical substance. And its magic is silent.

I have already drew various pics related to today's Inktober prompt - "snow/neige" a few times. But what the hell, lets have another one.

I remember well that feeling when you wake up on a winter morning and everything seems a lot more quiet than normal. Means that overnight it snowed a lot. The cat is going to have a very quiet morning.

And he is hatless again, I must note.

Des balançoires sous l'Arc de triomphe

Je ferais installer un toboggan géant sur la tour Eiffel et des balançoires sous l'Arc de triomphe // I would have a giant slide on the Eiffel Tower and swings under the Arc de Triomphe

Today's prompt is "swing", "balançoire". The quote I found is rather charming. It is by Catherine Leblanc, from her book "Ah, si j'étais président!" (Ah, if I were president).

She was probably thinking multiple swings, but the cat is very individualistic, like all cats.

Poor Min, poor Min, poor Min

She was the roughest, toughest frail

The Inktober prompt from today - frail - is kind of difficult again. While looking for an inspiration, I checked out the meanings of the word and was pleased to be reminded that one of them was simply "a woman". Minnie the Moocher came to mind and I did a little research. I sort of wish I didn't but well, here goes:

"Minnie "The Moocher" has died. She was a familiar figure In downtown Indianapolis. A 82-year-old woman whose real name was Minnie Gayton, she acquired the quaint nickname of "The Moocher" by regularly begging food from grocers and carting it off in a baby buggy. She slept in doorways, on porches and in garages. During the record-breaking blizzard, her body was found on a porch, blanketed with snow. She died from exposure"

So here she is, the toughest frail,  pushing her baby buggy full of food through the blizzard.

And to make somewhat French-er, the French equivalent is "frêle". Example of use from Michel Eyquem de Montaigne - La plus calamiteuse et frêle de toutes les créatures, c'est l'homme// The most unfortunate and frail of all creatures is the man.
 

une forêt enchantée

After a brief hiatus where I liked the English prompt a lot more, the cat returns.

Here he is, having a game of hide-and-seek (cache-cache) in an enchanted forest.

I do not know whose eye is that in the tree hollow.

construire un pont

Les politiciens sont les mêmes partout. Ils promettent de construire un pont même là où il n'y a pas de fleuve. // Politicians are the same everywhere. They promise to build a bridge where there is no even river.

Inktober prompts make me look up all sorts of things. Today's prompt "build/construire" brought me the above quote by Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev. In Russian it sound like this : "Политики везде одинаковы: они обещают построить мост там, где и реки-то нет". I am not sure why he said it, still need to look it up, but I wasn't even aware that he said it.

Here is a very fat cat promising a bridge. Enjoy his empty promise.

de l'assiette à la bouche

L'indécis laisse geler sa soupe de l'assiette à la bouche // An indecisive lets his soup freeze on the way from the plate to the mouth

Once again, English and French Inktober prompts are a bit different in meaning. But at least I managed to find a nice quote with "geler" in it.

It is supposedly by Cervantes but my search for the original version failed.

The soup in the pic is probably борщ, judging by the color, and the eater is not so much indecisive as distracted - they are reading a book while eating their soup. The book is propped on a bread bin. I just know.

Plus cher que le poisson

Quand l'appât vaut plus cher que le poisson, il vaut mieux arrêter de pêcher // When the bait is worth more than the fish, it's best to stop fishing.

Today's Inktober prompt is "bait", "appât". I looked for some phrases containing the word and google came up with this creole proverb. It was obviously created a goodish while ago, when people fished to eat. Now, if you consider how much an average hobby fisherman spends to catch a fish (the gear, the transportation, the time spent), the input/output ratio is astonishingly high (of course, some of them don't even eat the fish, so we are talking about division by zero here).

I understand it is a pastime, not a way to feed yourself. Still though.

I also remembered one time when we were on a several-days hike in Crimea and met a fisherman fishing for trout in a small stream. He was using red caviar as a bait. I remember being rather puzzled by it.

So, here is the cat fishing. And no creole proverb can possible stop him.

Violence aveugle and not so blind

Mindless violence versus mindful one

Today's Inktober prompt in French gave me certain trouble. I believe that "stupide" and "mindless" (the English original) are not the same, although admittedly it is the first translation that google translate gives you.

So. I decided to go with "mindless". The cat settling down with popcorn to watch something suitably explosive vs the self-same cat practicing kendo with his bamboo sword.

To keep with the overall theme of this blog, I can tell you that French equivalent of "mindless violence" is "violence aveugle", i.e. "blind violence".

1st October, Inktober prompt — Bague

Une bague est un article de joaillerie qui se porte généralement au doigt //
A ring is an item of jewelry that is usually worn on a finger

Here cometh October, and the first prompt of Inktober 2019 is bague, ring.

Please note that while rings are usually worn on fingers, the car doesn’t have such appendages.

Ring-related pics on Shutterstock — here.

Tout au long de la route.

Les services de la mairie ont planté des bouleaux tout au long de la route // 
The town hall department planted birches along the road

When I was a kid all these years ago, I had an impression that birches, especially silver birches, were somehow exclusive to Russia. I am not saying that the idea was being actively planted, I don't think anybody was bothered to do it. But what with it being the symbol of Russia and practically nobody ever allowed outside of the Soviet Union, well, you can see how it might have developed.

It wasn't only me who was under this impression. Later on when the regulations became slacker and the brain-drain began, suddenly we got exposed to what the "outside" was really like. I remember my university friend sharing with us a little observation his relative brought back from his visit to Canada: "You know, every fifth tree is not a silver birch".

So. I don't know where the cat is playing hide-and-seek (cache-cache). Could be anywhere.

L'univers tout entier

Si l'on considère l'univers tout entier, notre planète Terre est un point minuscule dans l'espace //

If we consider the whole universe, our planet Earth is a tiny dot in space.

Have you heard that the intelligent life on Earth was started by space-travelling cats to provide them with a nice holiday planet?

Well, now  you have.

Sous le sort des sorcières...

Sous le sort des sorcières, le prince charmant se transforma en crapaud //
Under the witches' spell, the charming prince turned into a toad

Poor prince. He doesn't look pleased at all.

l'âme sœur

De nombreuses agences matrimoniales vous promettent de trouver l'âme sœur, mais ce n'est pas une tâche aisée //

Many matrimonial agencies promise to find you a soul mate, but this is not an easy task.

A cat can dream.

Je suis resté éveillé

Je suis resté éveillé toute la nuit car j'étudiais pour cet examen //

I've been up all night because I was studying for this test

Poor little thing.

As it happens, there are two persons in our house who are studying for exams. None of them stays up all night though.

Quand j'étais petite

Quand j'étais petite, j'adorais faire des avions de papier // When I was little I loved making paper planes

The cat is having an acute attack of nostalgia, it seems.

The instructions (in Russian) for this design of paper plane - here

Aussi têtu qu'une mule

L'un de mes étudiants est aussi têtu qu'une mule. // One of my students is as stubborn as a mule.

I think the cat has a pretty good idea as to which one of the students his colleague is talking about.

When we were still at the uni all these years ago, one of the students was amusing himself by writing the central statement of Fermat's Last Theorem on the clean blackboard sometime before the math classes started. I think our professor was under impression that we had a budding "fermatist" in our midst, which we didn't of course.

The Last Theorem has been proven since.

Occupe-toi de tes oignons

Occupe-toi de tes oignons! // Mind your own business!

Another “vegetable” expression.

Looks like his onions need minding quite literally — one started sprouting while he wasn’t looking.

Pictures related to cats and onions @ Shutterstock.

Mets ton bonnet!

Mets ton bonnet, tu vas attraper froid! // Put your hat on, you are going to catch cold!

Today’s phrase of the day is the wintry battle cry of all Russian moms and grannies — except it is in French. «Надень шапку, простудишься!» accompanied all our attempts to go out without a hat from September to May, roughly.

Pictures related to cats, hats and winter @ Shutterstock.

Je n’aime pas conduire

Je n’aime pas conduire quand il neige // I don’t like to drive when it snows

That.

Transparent Language’s word of the day keeps turning to be wintry. And the combination of “snow” and “driving” in one sentence made me remember this particular bit of the road leading to the house where we lived in Finland. A few postboxes, little bridge, sharp turn left, then right and a steepish shortish up. I disliked driving this bit even in summer, but in winter I had to steel myself every time it was coming up.

Pictures related to winter, snow and Finland @ Shutterstock.

Très tôt

La nuit tombe très tôt en hiver // The night falls very early in the winter.

Curiously, in Russian the night doesn’t fall, as it does in English and, it seems, in French as well. It normally descends (спускается, опускается) or advances, military-fashion (наступает). Sure, you can find mentions of the night falling (падает), but it not that common.

Maybe it’s because we are from the North, and our sun doesn’t move so fast.

Pictures related to night and winter @ Shutterstock.

Dans la neige

Les enfants jouent dans la neige. Un moment parfait pour une tasse de thé. //
The children are playing in the snow. A perfect moment for a cup of tea.

The phrase about children comes from today’s Word of the Day. The other one is mine.

The kittens seem to be playing two different games. One on the left is making a snowcat (bonchat de neige), and the one on the right is playing hide-and-seek (le cache-cache).

Pictures related to cats, snow and tea @ Shutterstock.

Beau ciel étoilé

Nous sommes allés nous promener de nuit, sous un beau ciel étoilé //
We went for a walk at night under a beautiful starry sky

French word of the day from Transparent Language to the rescue.

What can I say, my take on black and white van Gogh falied miserably.

Pictures related to night and starry sky @ Shutterstock.

Отмухиваться, portmanteau parfait

Кот отмухивается // The cat is waving away the flies

Today, let’s do something Russian for a change. Kirill wrote a nice article about Blends, Melds and Portmanteaux in his blog, where he mentioned the word отмухиваться, i.e. “wave away the flies”, all in one word (отмахиваться — wave away, мухи — flies).

I did read the book “От двух до пяти”, where it comes from, but I forgot this wonderful example completely.
So I felt compelled to illustrate it.

Pictures related to cats @ Shutterstock.

Family event

Et si l’on invitait mes parents pour Noël? // What about inviting my parents for Christmas?

Poor cat. He only just settled down with a good book.

I don’t know whose voice it is. I don’t even know if it’s the same voice that asked not to leave jam on the table or if the tap was closed. For all I know, they are three different voices.

Pictures related to cats and Christmas @ Shutterstock.

Cat-above-the-clouds, Felis supranubius

En montagne, il fait très froid à cette altitude //
In the mountains, it is very cold at this altitude

I do hope the cat is wearing the angora wool sweater his granny made for him.

As to the “cat-above-the-clouds” title, let me explain:

When I was writing a post about ascent of Teide, I was fascinated by the specific Latin name of one of the flowers — Spartocytisus supranubius, “supranubius” consisting of above (supra) and clouds (nubius).

It feels strangely satisfying to be able to use this seemingly useless bit of knowledge.

Pictures related to cats, clouds and Mount Teide @ Shutterstock.

Grand-mères of the world

Grand-mère m'a tricoté un pull en laine angora. //
Grandma knit me a sweater in angora wool.

Here is a very late contribution to the worldwide Ugly Christmas Sweater pool.

Well, at least he is warm as toast.

Pictures related to cats, wool and knitting @ Shutterstock.

Une bonne bouteille de vin

Nous allons déboucher une bonne bouteille de vin pour fêter cela //
We are going to uncork a good bottle of wine to celebrate that

The cat obviously had to go down to his wine cellar to bring up this very dusty bottle of wine. He has a party hat and everything, he is ready to celebrate.

Pictures related to cats, bottles and wine @ Shutterstock.

Par le jeu

Il est parfois plus facile d’apprendre les langues par le jeu que scolairement //
Sometimes it is easier to learn foreign languages by playing games than scholastically

What can I say. He seems to have chosen a wrong type of game to play if his aim was to learn a new language.

Also, he is losing, it seems.

In his defense I must say that the guy he is playing against is Emanuel Lasker, as (at least partially incorrectly) described by conman Ostap Bender in The Twelve Chairs.

«Вы знаете, Ласкер дошел до пошлых вещей, с ним стало невозможно играть. Он обкуривает своих противников сигарами. И нарочно курит дешевые, чтобы дым противней был.»

“You know, Lasker came to such vulgar things that it became impossible to play with him. He blows cigar smoke all over his opponent. And he purposedly chooses cheap cigars, so that the smoke would be nastier.”

Pictures related to cats, chess and smoke @ Shutterstock.