mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
It’s been a very long time indeed since one of us posted a stumper. Speaking for all us bloggers, we don’t really have a good excuse, I’m sure, other than with all our new quizzes, we forgot about the poor stumpers. If you recall, we’ve had a few Geo Stumpers and Song Stumpers and Celluloid Stumpers to date. So today I thought I’d throw out a new one: the Lost in Translation Stumper. First person to make sense of the below rhyme and tell us what it means, gets a virtual hi-five.
(Hint: Even those without a formidable command of French should be able to figure it out.)
Un petite d’un petite s’attendre vol.
Un petite d’un petite a d’egrait vol.
Al de kien souer c’est, et al de kiens mien,
Que dont peut un petite deux g’edeur a’gien.
My French teacher used to have us do these all the time, so every once in a while this one pops in my head.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Could not put Humpty Dumpty together again.
posted by sara on 5-31-2007 at 6:12 am
Humpty Dumpty
posted by mostly on 5-31-2007 at 6:24 am
It’s Humpty Dumpty!
posted by Abby on 5-31-2007 at 6:34 am
Humpty Dumpty.
posted by S. Adams on 5-31-2007 at 6:46 am
A little of a little expect flight?
A little of a little have of … flight.
Something of something something this is, et something of something mine,
That of which some of a little both something something.
That’s what I got from it… x_x
posted by Gabi on 5-31-2007 at 6:49 am
Humpty dumpty sat on a wall . . .
etc.
posted by EV on 5-31-2007 at 6:50 am
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the king’s soldiers and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again!
posted by BrianD on 5-31-2007 at 6:50 am
Tie?
posted by BrianD on 5-31-2007 at 6:52 am
Meh. I is not smarrt.
*grovel*
posted by Gabi on 5-31-2007 at 6:53 am
y’all know your nursery rhymes, it seems. but sara came through first! mazel tov. oh, and sara, i wasn’t aware there were more. do tell, do tell…
posted by David on 5-31-2007 at 7:02 am
Anyone else remember … “Alouette, jaunte alouette, Alouette jaunte plumeree …”? I’m sure my spelling is way off, as I haven’t studied French in 12 years.
posted by Jessie on 5-31-2007 at 7:27 am
That’s “gentille”
niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/alouette.htm
posted by Gina on 5-31-2007 at 7:37 am
Oh yea. I always liked Alouette. Roughly translates to:
Bird, nice bird
Bird, I going to pluck you.
I am going to pluck your head, beak, etc.
Yup, uplifting song, that.
posted by KJ on 5-31-2007 at 10:00 am
David, your posts always make me feel like a dunce! :)
posted by Ransom on 5-31-2007 at 10:25 am
Wow! That French is so bad I barely understood it, and I’m Francophone! I have no idea what it is, having never heard it, but ‘un petite’ is grammatically wrong. It should be ‘un petit’ (masc.) or ‘une petite’ (fem.). And that’s just the beginning…
posted by Shann on 5-31-2007 at 11:21 am
Also, having just spoken with other French people, there is no Humpty Dumpty rhyme in French.
Having read it again, it’s like someone who does not speak French wrote it as they would say it with a French accent, but some of those are not real words.
posted by Shann on 5-31-2007 at 11:33 am
Wow, Humpty Dumpty huh? I thought it was saying something about a kitten shitting in the garden and making the soil turn sour. I was way off! LOL
posted by Glen on 5-31-2007 at 11:55 am
I am a fluent French speaker and more than half of these words are not even French. Boo.
I thought it would be some kind of phonetic play in English. Humpty Dumpty! nice, I had no idea.
posted by Bassem on 5-31-2007 at 2:57 pm
Hey, no fair! Use real words next time, please.
posted by Pam on 5-31-2007 at 5:10 pm
KJ-
I think I like it better in French.
posted by Pointy-Hatted Geek on 5-31-2007 at 6:05 pm
Thanks for the virtual high-five. I do remember the first bit of one…
pi terre, pi terre, pomme qui ne terra
But I looked it up and found these:
“Someone once showed me a book made up entirely of French poems that, when read out loud, sound like English nursery rhymes. I think it’s called Mots d’heures : gousse, rames (Mother Goose Rhymes)” [sara’s insert: yep, that’s the book Mme had!]
Lille beau pipe
ocelot serre chypre
en douzaine au verres tuffe indemne
Tu marquettes, Tu marquettes, Tu bailles effet pique
Et qui rit des curés d’Oc?
De Meuse raines, houp! de cloques.
De quelles loques ce turque coin.
Et ne d’anes ni rennes,
Ecuries des curés d’Oc
Enjoy!
sara
posted by sara on 5-31-2007 at 8:42 pm
I wondered about that. If I had read it phonetically I’d have gotten it, like the ones Sara posted.
I don’t really know French, but I know that ‘king in French is ‘le roi.’ Hence, Leroy and royal. Many words for royalty in English come from French. Blame it on the Normans (who came from Scandinavia.)
posted by Bassman on 6-4-2007 at 5:43 am
One of my faves (actually the only one i remember)…
Pas de leur Rhone que nous.
posted by Moish on 6-18-2007 at 5:33 pm