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Funny you should say that – the language of French laughter
Humour can be a challenge to talk about in any language – how do you put into words that ephemeral feeling which makes you spontaneously laugh or smile?
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Map of French accents: which do you prefer?
From the major division between north and south to the departments split in two - everywhere has one
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Why being told to go cook an egg in French is rarely a good thing
We look at seven colourful expressions to brighten up your conversations
That old oyster-egg joke
Re Blague humour... (see Connexion April here)
Waiting in the queue for a drag lift in a Pyrenean station, I saw a chalk-board on which the following had been written:
C’est quoi la moitié de dix huitres? Un oeuf.
Baffled, I turned to the skier behind me and asked if she could explain it to me.
She too was stumped. I took the lift, and during the ascent I wondered if it was a franglais play on words, since un oeuf sounds to an English speaker like “enough”.
Certainly, five oysters would be enough for me! However, when the lady I had spoken to arrived at the top, she had worked out the joke – the “-re” at the end of “huitres” is often inaudible, so half of “dix-huit” is indeed “un neuf”! Groan!
Rod Sykes, Haute-Garonne
Re Blague humour... there is a restaurant in Salernes called... Food d’Amour.
Laura FEARON, by email
There is a pizza establishment at Bagnères-de-Luchon, in the Pyrenees, called “Pizz Up”.
Michael Handelman, Haute-Garonne
It’s no longer there but raised a smile when I first saw it - “Vag Coiffeur” spotted in Nice a few years ago.
Francis SMITH, Alpes-Maritimes
