Un homme sans poil, c’est comme un jardin sans fleur

Un homme sans poil, c’est comme un jardin sans fleur. //
A man without body hair is like a garden without flowers.

Today, let’s take another delightfully silly phrase from Duolingo. “Poil” can be much more decently translated to simply “hair”, and in fact this is the version Google Translate insists on. But, apparently, it is a “saying” and it’s not the head hair what we are talking about here.

Duolingo discussion currently have another cute example of a similar (sort of) phrase in Turkish — “A man without belly, is like a house without balcony” :)

The cat is not so very sure about validity of this statement though. I mean, flowers he likes, but that furry patch... he needs to think about it just a bit more.

Pictures related to gardens and flowers @ Shutterstock.

Aimez-vous les fleurs bleues autant que moi?

Aimez-vous les fleurs bleues autant que moi? // Do you like blue flowers as much as i do?

Today, Kirill bought me yet another Koi penbrush. It is summer-sky-bue. So I decided to make a picture with something blue in it.

So here is the cat admiring his new hydrangea plant. This one must have been growing in acidic soil to be as blue as this.

"Autant" is a  new word for me. It means "(as) much" and looks suspiciously similar to Spanish "tanto". People native in Romance languages are so lucky.

By the way, I used to be quite annoyed by the lack of distinction between "голубой" and "синий" in English. Using "ultramarine" for "синий" seems very artificial - it is too long a word for something so simple, while "azure" is too poetic for something as basic as "голубой". And another btw - I don't get what something as sombre as "indigo" is doing in the rainbow at all. It might well be imprinting, but Russian rainbow seems more logical to me.

Les fleurs de cerisier, cherry blossoms

J'ai envie de voyager au Japon pendant la Semain d'Or. Je veux voir les fleurs de sakura //
I want to travel to Japan during the Golden Week. I want to see the flowers of sakura

Today, an expression “avoir envie de” — “to want to do something, to feel like doing something” was introduced. We were asked to make a sentence with it, and I had an opportunity to voice my long-standing wish, in French this time: I want to go to Japan in spring, around the Golden Week time, to see the cherry blossoms. More specifically, in April, before the madness of the holiday week starts.

I wish to do hanami.

The cat has been there already, here is his selfie as a proof.

Some observations:

Since “envie” on its own is “desire”, first suggestions you get from google AI when you start your research are, predictably, to do with sex.

I originally assumed that the expression “avoir envie” meant “I envy”, which was completely logical yet incorrect. That being said, “envie” and “envy” are etymologically related. To me, it is easier to see the connection via the semantic element of “coveting”* which is present in both words.

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* As in “Thou shalt not covet”

Pictures of hanami at Adobe stock