One more note and correction on the French in Giovanni’s Room, Part 1, after seeing my note in the book’s margins: the noun vache means “cow”; as an adjective, vache means “mean”. I have seen it as both in this part of the novel. Example, p. 53: “The only question left was whether they would be vache with him, or chic, but they knew that they would probably be vache.”
This does change the meaning of “mad cow”, because most French adjectives comes after their nouns: vache folle (literally “cow mad”). Of course, if you keep playing, and reverse them, you get “mean madwoman/fool”, folle vache. Both nouns and adjectives, I am having so much fun.
And a couple more French words playing their part in this Part One of Giovanni’s Room, but not tripping (falling…folle-ing) down the staircase to the dark basement of doing the dozen puns:
môme: kid or little lady
Tiens, sans blague?: Yours, no kidding?
Mon pote: my mate
canaille: riff-raff, scoundrel
And finally, fesses: buttocks:
As in p. 49: “…those dreadful, chic places you always go to, where they always have the face clean, mais, mon Dieu, les fesses!”
Oui, je m’amuse comme ses folles. Je suis une folle, n’est pas? Bon soir, mes amis, et au revoir.
Vache also means (more play on words)...: https://substack.com/@theremightbecupcakes/note/c-17286358
One more note and correction on the French in Giovanni’s Room, Part 1, after seeing my note in the book’s margins: the noun vache means “cow”; as an adjective, vache means “mean”. I have seen it as both in this part of the novel. Example, p. 53: “The only question left was whether they would be vache with him, or chic, but they knew that they would probably be vache.”
This does change the meaning of “mad cow”, because most French adjectives comes after their nouns: vache folle (literally “cow mad”). Of course, if you keep playing, and reverse them, you get “mean madwoman/fool”, folle vache. Both nouns and adjectives, I am having so much fun.
And a couple more French words playing their part in this Part One of Giovanni’s Room, but not tripping (falling…folle-ing) down the staircase to the dark basement of doing the dozen puns:
môme: kid or little lady
Tiens, sans blague?: Yours, no kidding?
Mon pote: my mate
canaille: riff-raff, scoundrel
And finally, fesses: buttocks:
As in p. 49: “…those dreadful, chic places you always go to, where they always have the face clean, mais, mon Dieu, les fesses!”
Oui, je m’amuse comme ses folles. Je suis une folle, n’est pas? Bon soir, mes amis, et au revoir.