How do you say "guess what!" in French?
ray steiner
This question arose from a recent e-mail in English and
French that I received.
The English text was "Guess what! A friend has just sent
you an e-card".
The French text began with "Devinez quoi!", which to my
mind seems like a poor bit of "Franglais". Is there
a better way to say this? All I could think of was "Songez bien".
Would "Dites donc" serve the same purpose?
Regards,
Ray Steiner
--
ste...@math.bgsu.edu
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
David MESKENS
"devinez quoi" isn't franglais at all. It is simply French.
"Songez bien" doesn't fit here, it means rather "think twice (about this
...)"
We could also say "vous savez quoi?"
The translation you received is a good one.
CU
ray steiner a écrit dans le message <8eng0r$uug$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...
Sympatico
Larousse Fr-Engl Dictionary).
Regards,
André
_________________________
"ray steiner" <ste...@math.bgsu.edu> a écrit dans le message news:
8eng0r$uug$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
SchlossGoist
ray steiner <ste...@math.bgsu.edu> wrote:
> Bonjour!
> This question arose from a recent e-mail in English and
> French that I received.
> The English text was "Guess what! A friend has just sent
> you an e-card".
> The French text began with "Devinez quoi!", which to my
> mind seems like a poor bit of "Franglais". Is there
> a better way to say this? All I could think of was "Songez bien".
> Would "Dites donc" serve the same purpose?
> Regards,
> Ray Steiner
> --
> ste...@math.bgsu.edu
>
-----------------------------
Hi Ray:
I would probably say:
Tu sais quoi?
Ed
--
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"I like on the table, when we're speaking,
The light of a bottle of intelligent wine."
-Pablo Neruda
schops
guess what is a rather girlish way of trying to attract attention.
In this case, about an e-mail, I would simply say "Tiens"
Isabelle Depape
schops a écrit :
> Allow me to disagree totally and entirely...
> guess what is a rather girlish way of trying to attract attention.
> In this case, about an e-mail, I would simply say "Tiens"
Allow me to disagree with you and agree with David Meskens.
"Vous savez quoi !" / "Tu sais quoi !" or "Devinez quoi !"/"Devine quoi
!" are used in French by girls/women *and* boys/men. Nothing girlish
about it !
Isabelle
sophie.mallard
de... Je te le donne en mille..
Sophie
ray steiner <ste...@math.bgsu.edu> a écrit dans le message :
8eng0r$uug$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> Bonjour!
> This question arose from a recent e-mail in English and
> French that I received.
> The English text was "Guess what! A friend has just sent
> you an e-card".
> The French text began with "Devinez quoi!", which to my
> mind seems like a poor bit of "Franglais". Is there
> a better way to say this? All I could think of was "Songez bien".
> Would "Dites donc" serve the same purpose?
> Regards,
> Ray Steiner
> --
> ste...@math.bgsu.edu
>
>
Sebastian Tredinnick
I'd have to say that I think the phrase is unisex in English too.
"Girlish" seems a very strange description for any word!
Could anyone suggest a more macho equivalent, I wonder? ;-)
Isabelle Depape wrote in message <3910315B...@club-internet.fr>...
Bernard Charbit
astounded that so many natives don't know it!)
Isabelle Depape <i...@club-internet.fr> a écrit dans le message :
3910315B...@club-internet.fr...
Phil Dragoman
ray steiner wrote in message <8eng0r$uug$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...
> Bonjour!
> This question arose from a recent e-mail in English and
>French that I received.
>The English text was "Guess what! A friend has just sent
>you an e-card".
>The French text began with "Devinez quoi!", which to my
>mind seems like a poor bit of "Franglais". Is there
>a better way to say this? All I could think of was "Songez bien".
>Would "Dites donc" serve the same purpose?
>Regards,
>Ray Steiner
>--
"Devinez quoi"? C'est abominable! On doit dire "tu sais quoi?".
I have received those insipid cards with the damn midi music
and a bunch of obnoxious balloons and bad French and stupid gif
animations and bilious pastel colors...... For a conaisseur
de la langue française comme devinez qui, you can imagine
the grief it causes.
If that company ever goes public, I hope their IPO tanks the
first day.
Anyway, the German version omits the "guess what" and
plunges right in with a businesslike directness "Ludwig
Zungenbrecher hat Ihnen gerade eine elektronische
Grußkarte geschickt." You just gotta sit up and take
notice of that! Save time! No guessing!
Just for the thrill of the cultural diversity, I sent myself a Mayday
card in Korean. When I received it, I remembered I can't read
Korean. I will be posting a request for a translator on
sci.lang.translation.MARKETPLACE so Toby won't yell at me.
<fe>
Regards.
Phil
Bernard Nirlo
proper translation for "Guess what !" is still "Devinez quoi !". I am
definitely a French native and do not be "astounded", dear Bernard, that
"Devinez quoi" is the proper translation for the English expression. You can
indeed say that the expression "Devinez quoi" is not very formal in French
(and I agree), but neither it is in English. So do not translate an informal
and colloquial English "Guess what !" by a unsuitable formal "Devinez !" or
even "Vous ne devinerez jamais ce qui m'arrive, très chère...".
Hope this helps
Bernard
Bernard Charbit <bcha...@club-internet.fr> a écrit dans le message :
8eqd4n$fls$2...@front5m.grolier.fr...
schops
"Vous ne devinerez jamais ce qui m'arrive, très chère...".
encountered anybody in real life saying "Devinez quoi" as yet (and am not
looking forward to it either)
Isabelle Depape
schops a écrit :
> girlish, i.e. coy, would-be excited as in "Whow, look at this !"
> "Vous ne devinerez jamais ce qui m'arrive, très chère...".
> would be a perfect expression of this sort of twitty exclamation.
Insinuez-vous que les (vieilles) rombières, qui sont à peu près les seules à
utiliser "Vous ne devinerez jamais ce qui m'arrive, très chère..." sont des
saintes-nitouches ? Remarquez, vous n'avez peut-être pas tort...
> I never
> encountered anybody in real life saying "Devinez quoi" as yet (and am not
> looking forward to it either)
Je vous conseille alors d'éviter de venir en France ou de fréquenter des
Français...
Isabelle
Kevin O'Donnell
Phil Dragoman wrote:
>If that company ever goes public, I hope their IPO tanks the
>first day.
>
I have only noticed the verb "tanks" in the last six months. Where does it
come from? I am genuinely curious. I am an Oxford graduate and so not
entirely unfamiliar with English.
Kevin O'Donnell
David Goward
écrit :
>I never
>encountered anybody in real life saying "Devinez quoi" as yet (and am not
>looking forward to it either)
Neither have I.
"Devinez quoi" might be a correct TRANSLATION of "Guess what?!" but "Guess
what?!" is a very common expression which I would suggest has no direct
tranlsation, just as "Dis donc !", for example, has no catch-all English
equivalent.
In this context, I also think "Tiens donc!" would be better or even something
like "Devinez qui vient de vous envoyer..."
David
Phil Dragoman
Kevin O'Donnell wrote in message <8es1v4$4g8$1...@slb7.atl.mindspring.net>...
I'm not sure - it's not in the dictionary with that meaning (i.e. to drop
drastically in price). Come to think of it, I have only heard it used in
reference to the stock market in that sense.
Regards,
Phil
Harlan Messinger
>
>Phil Dragoman wrote:
>
>>If that company ever goes public, I hope their IPO tanks the
>>first day.
>>
>I have only noticed the verb "tanks" in the last six months. Where does it
>come from? I am genuinely curious. I am an Oxford graduate and so not
>entirely unfamiliar with English.
I thought it was a metaphor either for being flushed down a toilet
tank or for having run out of gas in one's fuel tank.
--
Harlan Messinger
There are no Zs in my actual e-mail address.
John Woodgate
<kodo...@gowebway.com> inimitably wrote:
>
>Phil Dragoman wrote:
>
>>If that company ever goes public, I hope their IPO tanks the
>>first day.
>>
>
>
>
>I have only noticed the verb "tanks" in the last six months. Where does it
>come from? I am genuinely curious. I am an Oxford graduate and so not
>entirely unfamiliar with English.
Ah, but only one sort of English. Here, we have thousands!
--
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PLEASE do not mail copies of newsgroup posts to me.
Charles Kooy
> Kevin O'Donnell wrote in message <8es1v4$4g8$1...@slb7.atl.mindspring.net>...
> >
> >Phil Dragoman wrote:
> >
> >>If that company ever goes public, I hope their IPO tanks the
> >>first day.
> >
> >I have only noticed the verb "tanks" in the last six months. Where does it
> >come from? I am genuinely curious. I am an Oxford graduate and so not
> >entirely unfamiliar with English.
> >Kevin O'Donnell
> >
>
> I'm not sure - it's not in the dictionary with that meaning (i.e. to drop
> drastically in price). Come to think of it, I have only heard it used in
> reference to the stock market in that sense.
Yep, its a Wall Street ism. People at the bank I work at say it
distressingly often.
ck
Marc Girod
DM> "devinez quoi" isn't franglais at all. It is simply French.
Nonsense. It is syntactically French, it may sound fluent to you. At
least it doesn't to me. Maybe it is being used in Belgium?
Anyway, if somebody starts a message with "devinez quoi", I'll try and
guess where he comes from, where he translates from, or what special
intention he has in mind.
"simply French" as you use it above, doesn't mean anything.
--
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