traineau
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
The closest thing to a sleigh that I could find in my photo album. Taken in the Piedmont.
Faire le Traineau
fehr-leuh-tren-oh
to drag one's bottom
As if my son and my daughter aren't busy enough doling out French vocabulary and minding their mother's grammar, I now have a dog teaching me quirky Gallic slang! The latest expression, holiday-related at that, sounds more like a dance:
"To do The Sleigh."
On second thought, and depending on which meaning of today's word you use, "faire le traîneau" might not be a Christmas term at all, but a cross-dressing one:
"To do The Drag."
It was while watching our dog, Braise, schlep her furry bottom across the front lawn that a friend inquired: "Elle a des vers?" suggesting that our golden might need to be ver-me-foo-zhay (something that sounded like "worm fumigation" to me, a fate I wouldn't wish upon even a worm).
"Elle fait le traîneau," the vétérinaire explained, during yesterday's appointment.
"I'm sorry Doctor, could you repeat that?" said I.
"Elle fait le traîneau," she's doing the drag.
"Ah, bon?" I looked over at our four-legged Drag Queen. Oh she's sly, that one, busy illustrating double-meaninged French expressions, and all the while living a double life! Next thing you know she'll fancy fuchsia on her claws and a conical-cupped bra à la Madonna.
French Vocabulary
Elle a des vers? = Does she have worms?
vermifuger = to deworm
le/la vétérinaire = veterinarian
Elle fait le traîneau = she's doing the drag
Ah, bon? = Oh, really?
===Text beyond this point will not appear in the book===
EDIT THIS STORY, PLEASE
Did you spot any typos or misspelled words (in French or in English). Does the formatting look "off"? Any suggestions will be helpful to me! Click here to comment.
Update: maybe we need to scrap this story.... I'm reading your comments and will see about either fixing the vague parts and/or changing the story ending. This story has been scrapped! It won't appear in the book.
Listen to French: hear Jean-Marc recite today's quote: Download traineau.mp3
Il devient alors chien de traîneau dans un pays de glace et de neige ou seuls les plus forts peuvent survivre.
Terms & Expressions:
le chien de traîneau = sled dog
la promenade en traîneau = sleigh ride
l'aspirateur traîneau = canister vacuum
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