Lisa
JR at the Opera again
Turning 90, the Air France anniversary
Who makes Book donations to Bill & Rosa’s Book Room?
“French Louie” and his Hotel de Paris: a gourmet in the Wild West
Paris New York Heritage Festival
90+ Eiffel and Eiffel Tower facts – part 3
90+ Eiffel and Eiffel Tower facts – part 2
90+ Eiffel and Eiffel Tower facts – part 1
Why do you call it a canicule? and other funny words
Word etymologies are great fun and often picturesque. Here's a few word etymologies starting with one you hear every summer, especially in August:
CaniculeUsually this French word is translated to English as heatwave, but a more picturesque and almost literal translation would be "the dog days of summer". Basically it means that it is very hot, hotter than it usually is. But why this reference both in the French "cani" and English to dogs? What do dogs have to do with heat? It goes back to astronomy. The Dog Star, or Sirius, rises and sets with the sun during the summer. Thus the most sultry time of the year became associated with the Dog Star, called canicula in Latin. The word canicule dates from about 1500, but the Romans and Greeks had already been refering to the dog days and associating them with the star Sirius.
Sirius rises late in the dark, liquid sky; On summer nights, star of stars, Orion's Dog they call it, brightest Of all, but…The traffic report for highways in France is called Bison Futé
Bison Futé or the "Clever Bison", is the national traffic website for Highways in France and now also available as a phone app. The Bison gives the current incident reports (accidents, closures, construction) for all highways in France as well as predictions of traffic volume for holiday weekends. It is a very helpful site for avoiding notorious traffic jams on French roads during the high traffic weekens on the routes des vacances. But why on Earth is the traffic reporting system called "Bison Futé" and incarnarted by an American Indian? The "clever" part makes sense as the clever traveler avoids traffic, but why "bison"? Well they almost choose Ginette la Girafe (who could see a long ways thanks to her height, note that in French girafe takes just one "f"). Other suggestions for a mascot were Thimothée the bird who culd see far ahead with her binoculars, a dolphin or a rat, so why not an Indian? Bison Fut…