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what's a "COMBIEN REACTION"?

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Carlos Font

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Jan 30, 1995, 4:58:19 PM1/30/95
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In the lyrics to "Talk About The Passion" I believe (from
sources on the 'net) that this is what Michael Stipe says, right?
What in the world does it mean? I can't even find that word in
the dictionary! (Combien, not reaction!)

Ace

Kelly Kraemer

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Jan 30, 1995, 5:58:41 PM1/30/95
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Carlos Font (cf...@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
: In the lyrics to "Talk About The Passion" I believe (from

: sources on the 'net) that this is what Michael Stipe says, right?
: What in the world does it mean? I can't even find that word in
: the dictionary! (Combien, not reaction!)

You looked in the English language dictionary, right? "Combien" is French for
"how much", as in the line "Combien de temps" ("how much time"). I was living
in France when I first listened to this song (1983), so it always made perfect
sense to me and I didn't notice the French words for years...

Message has been deleted

Dawn Fishman

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Jan 30, 1995, 6:22:24 PM1/30/95
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Hi!

"combien" is french for "how much"...
another lyric, "combien du temps" therefore means, "how much time?"

dawnie

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-Tori Amos-

Steven Meece

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Jan 31, 1995, 12:51:01 AM1/31/95
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Maybe you mean Cobain reaction.

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Carlos Font

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Jan 31, 1995, 3:37:03 AM1/31/95
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In <D399L...@cunews.carleton.ca> sme...@chat.carleton.ca (Steven Meece) writes:

>
>Carlos Font (cf...@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
>> In the lyrics to "Talk About The Passion" I believe (from
>> sources on the 'net) that this is what Michael Stipe says, right?
>> What in the world does it mean? I can't even find that word in
>> the dictionary! (Combien, not reaction!)
>
>Maybe you mean Cobain reaction.

AHA! That's what it means! Thanx deeed!

Elektra O

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Jan 31, 1995, 5:22:50 AM1/31/95
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Combien is a french word that means "How much" or "How many". That
doesn't make all that much sense, though, does it?

Kathleen Williamson

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Jan 31, 1995, 7:46:11 PM1/31/95
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cf...@ix.netcom.com (Carlos Font) writes:

>Ace

"combien" is french for "how much".

k

Carlos Font

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Feb 1, 1995, 3:26:02 PM2/1/95
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Thanx for your responses.
I got it.

Alex Sobie

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Feb 2, 1995, 12:49:43 PM2/2/95
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"Combien" is a french word. It loosely means, "how much?" Therefore when
stipe sings, "Combien du temps?", he is asking, "How long?", or "How much
time?" (Combien = "how much", temps = time)

When he sings "Combien reaction", he is asking,"How much reaction?" When using
the word "reaction", you may think it is the english word, but it is spelled
the same in French as it is in English.

At least this is my assumption. I understand the French language. I don't
always understand what Michael is singing about.

Sorry if anyone else's responded to this...I'm behind in reading all the posts
Too many to keep up with now!
___ ..... .. .... __________________Edward (Alex) Sobie______________
| ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; | | These are my
| +++++ ++++++ ++ | "Random yet very meaningful | words, not
|** ** ** ** ** | quotation that sums up my | those of the
##### ## ## #### | personal philosophy" | U. of Oregon

MJ LASHLEY

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Feb 3, 1995, 9:28:50 AM2/3/95
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Hi,

'Combien' is french for how many... eg combien de temps = how many times

I suggest you try looking up french words in a french dictionary!

Malc.

Melody7952

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Feb 3, 1995, 2:57:51 PM2/3/95
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combien reaction??????
it's combien du temps - how much time in french!

David W. Perle

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Feb 5, 1995, 12:36:47 AM2/5/95
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>combien reaction??????
>it's combien du temps - how much time in french!

Well that wasn't rude or anything. Yeah; "reaction". Why don't you
listen to the damn song before implying that this person's some kind of
dolt. I love when people do that, but in fact they come out looking like
the fools. And I suppose the average English-speaking layman is supposed
to be fluent in French.

You don't post very often, but I've noticed that almost all of them are
putting someone down.

David

Keltz

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Feb 7, 1995, 4:21:18 PM2/7/95
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--
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I'm looking for an interuption, can you believe?
-REM, from Monster
Jessica Keltz - ke...@tioga.upb.pitt.edu

Josemaría Sánchez Macías

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Jul 19, 2023, 2:44:59 AM7/19/23
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El martes, 7 de febrero de 1995 a las 15:21:18 UTC-6, Keltz escribió:
Here I am 28 years later reading this conversation because I was listening to REM's song and had the same question.

When this conversation took place I was just 9 months old. Now I'm an adult reading this protointernet conversation. Where are all this people... are they still listening to REM?? They must be at least old now.

And will everything that I'm writing right now be read by anyone? Maybe in another 30 years or even more. It's so amazing. Like a time machine.

To anyone reading this on a futuristic gadget... life's great!

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Me Me

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Jul 29, 2023, 6:47:16 PM7/29/23
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In article <80d8a2a0-74aa-4bbd...@googlegroups.com>,
Im not sure what a "combien reaction" is, but later in the song he sings
"Combien de temps", which in French means "how long", or "how much
time". A lot of what he sang was gibberish anyway, so I wouldn't worry
about it too much.
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