Parlez vouz Francais

[freemonkey]

I know what these terms mean, but I need to know how to pronounce them. So I don't sound as foolish as I might. If I can help it.
Pâté de Verre

Cire perdue I found this: (sēr perdü) and I'm guessing it should sound like "sear pair-deueah", is that right? If so, how do I say it so's I don't sound all pretentious-like?

EDIT: I wasn't very clear about which words I was referring to. Sorry.

[cappuccino]

pahrlay voo frahnsay

The key is to keep the stress constant and the words flow from one to the next.

I'll confess that it pretty much exhaust my knowledge of french pronounciation.

[Dingfod]

I want to take a shot even though the thread title almost exhausted my Francais.

Pâté de Verre = pahTAY day vayr

There probably should be a couple of 'n' sounds in there somewhere, ees Franch, non? Oh, you don't want to sound all pretentious? Then pronounce it like an Okie would: pate-day-vairy. What the hell is a pie of glass? Or lost wax? You're going to sound pretentious just using French words. But, if that's what they're called, tres bien.

[Celsus]

Pah tay duh vair*

See ruh* pair* doo

The French "r" sound is probably closest to the German r, formed by a motion not entirely unlike clearing one's throat. Sometimes it becomes a whole syllable by itself. The "doo" sound is actually somewhere between "ee" and "oo", you say "oo" but your mouth shapes like it would if you were whistling.

Joel

[kensloft]

I know what these terms mean, but I need to know how to pronounce them. So I don't sound as foolish as I might. If I can help it.
Pâté de Verre

Cire perdue I found this: (sēr perdü) and I'm guessing it should sound like "sear pair-deueah", is that right? If so, how do I say it so's I don't sound all pretentious-like?

EDIT: I wasn't very clear about which words I was referring to. Sorry.
Patay duh vayr

Seer per dew

I think this is a reasonable translation into phonetics.

[Blake]

Personally, I recommend Celsus' pronunciation #1, and kensloft's pronunciation #2.

However, I can't help but ask why it is that you need to be able to pronounce these two phrases. :) I'm mystified.

[Crumb]

So how do you pronounce this: "Va te faire foutre"?

(and does it make sense?)

:giggles:

[freemonkey]

Personally, I recommend Celsus' pronunciation #1, and kensloft's pronunciation #2.

However, I can't help but ask why it is that you need to be able to pronounce these two phrases. :) I'm mystified.
They are glass forming techniques that I may need to refer to in mixed company, and I don't want to sound too stupid when I say the words.

Thanks for the help, everyone. I think I've got it

pa-tay du veer and sear pair-dew? and I'll try not to sound too French when I say them.

[kensloft]

Personally, I recommend Celsus' pronunciation #1, and kensloft's pronunciation #2.

However, I can't help but ask why it is that you need to be able to pronounce these two phrases. :) I'm mystified.
They are glass forming techniques that I may need to refer to in mixed company, and I don't want to sound too stupid when I say the words.

Thanks for the help, everyone. I think I've got it

pa-tay du veer and sear pair-dew? and I'll try not to sound too French when I say them.
patay duh vayr De is like duh or de boys in de hood

[Blake]

Thanks for satisfying my curiosity, freemonkey. Now I get it! Lord knows, I didn't actually believe that anyone made pate out of worms, but anything seems possible after you've eaten fried grasshoppers.

So how do you pronounce this: "Va te faire foutre"?

(and does it make sense?)

:giggles:
Sure, perfect sense, if you want to be rude and/or offensive.

vah tuh fehr FOOtruh, with the caveats that the r's are French and guttural, as Celsus said, but "foutre" is only one syllable; the "-tre" is silent, not vocalized.

[Crumb]

I was just curious at to whether this actually was rude and/or offensive. Thanks for clearing that up.

[kensloft]

I was just curious at to whether this actually was rude and/or offensive. Thanks for clearing that up.
Va te faire fourrez... is go get yourself fucked.

It is one or was one of the favourite expressions that was utilized by both sides in the Anglo/French 'we are better than you are' wars of Quebec.

[Godless Wonder]

Isn't it "Parlez vous Francais", with an 's' rather than a 'z' in "vous"? And wants a cedilla under the 'c' in Francais too, I think... but Google (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=define%3A+cedilla&btnG=Google+Search) is telling me cedillas are obsolete.

*tries to remember back to high school French class*

[ChuckF]

I hate to be such a nitpicker, but I'm a French major and I'm at the breaking point with all this damn reading :yawn: So I'll take it out on innocent bystanders.


vah tuh fehr FOOtruh, with the caveats that the r's are French and guttural, as Celsus said, but "foutre" is only one syllable; the "-tre" is silent, not vocalized.

? Since 'se foutre' ends in a vowel, you would vocalize the "tr", but all in one syllable. French spelling and pronunciation is only weird in conjugated verbs in the 3rd person plural (ils se parlent with the silent -ent), and terminal consants other than C, R, F, or L at the ends of words (except for infinitives and some weird words like le fils) are not pronounced.


Va te faire fourrez...

Close. "Va te faire fourrer," since fourrer is the dependent infinitive. Pronounced exactly the same. I've never heard this expression, and it's odd to me. It literally means something like "Go get your self in to [something]."

[Crumb]

I've never heard this expression, and it's odd to me. It literally means something like "Go get your self in to [something]."

Ah, this is what I was really wondering. So it is probably butchered French then?

[ChuckF]

I've never heard this expression, and it's odd to me. It literally means something like "Go get your self in to [something]."

Ah, this is what I was really wondering. So it is probably butchered French then?

The French is ok, I just don't know the actual meaning of the expression. The verb in question is se fourrer which means something like "to get into" as in "get mixed up in" or "get into bed." It's not a commonly used verb.

So, to break it down:

Va (imperative mood of aller - "to go"): [You] go
te (reflexive particle): yourself
faire (infinitive to do. When used with a dependent infinitive, it means "to have something done for onesself."): get
fourrer (verbal part of reflexive verb se fourrer): get in to

Ok, I checked my big dictionary and se fourrer is translated as "to snuggle down in" or "get mixed up in" or something similar.

Se fourrer au lit - to snuggle down in bed.

So the literal translation is "Go get yourself snuggled ." [I]Se fourrer usually takes a prepositional complement to say exactly into what you're getting mixed or snuggled. Here it lacks it.

But that's just the literal translation. I have no idea the figurative meaning.

Edited to add: I just realized that I could be a moron. This may not be the reflexive verb se fourrer but the transitive fourrer - "to line with fur" or "to fill" - with a direct object. So "Go stuff yourself."

[Crumb]

I see. Well a 'friend' of mine has it in his email sig. He says it means "fuck you" but from what I hear from you, I doubt any speaker of French would interpret it that way, eh?

[Blake]

By silent, I guess I just meant the "e." French accents do differ; I speak the language, having grown up in Quebec, so my understanding of pronunciation is informal and may differ from the Academie Francaise's or what have you.

In any case, "Va te faire foutre" means "Go fuck yourself."

[kensloft]

By silent, I guess I just meant the "e." French accents do differ; I speak the language, having grown up in Quebec, so my understanding of pronunciation is informal and may differ from the Academie Francaise's or what have you.

In any case, "Va te faire foutre" means "Go fuck yourself."
What part of Quebec did you live in when you were there?

[Blake]

Montreal. :)