Test your Britishness

Count of Undolpho said:
The Cruel Sea is where I encountered it, I understood it to be 'Old' French which explained the phrasing (the en and l') and the inadvertent(?) double entendre. I'm not a French scholar though, or even a fluent speaker but I had encountered Balzac's version before, which made me think there was an older origin for it and Balzac was being smart with it. Montserrat's ancestors were French and his mother was called Margueritte but I've no idea whether he even spoke French.
I took a lot of it's meaning from the context in which it was used. Some are givers some are takers in whatever part of life, smutty or otherwise.
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I always wondered whether my French had deteriorated to a greater extent than I thought since completing my A-level 19 years ago, because it didn't seem familiar to me.
 
Cristobal said:
Out of topic
@Count of Undolpho
"Il y en a toujours l'un qui baise, et l'un qui tourne la joue"
Where does your quote come from? Is it originally in French (written by a French)?
Because the meaning is very disturbing...
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Dude, you might be over-thinking this a bit. I speak French myself but, as so often is the need for us Brits, a simplification is required. It basically comes down to the fact that in every relationship, there is one who loves and one who is loved. There's never an equal power balance in love. I kinda like that.
 
Sgt Barnes said:
Dude, you might be over-thinking this a bit. I speak French myself but, as so often is the need for us Brits, a simplification is required. It basically comes down to the fact that in every relationship, there is one who loves and one who is loved. There's never an equal power balance in love. I kinda like that.
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Yes... Not really if you're a native speaker.
 
I've also encountered it as "en amour, il y a toujours celui qui donne les baisers et celui qui tend la joue" but again only as a 'French proverb' or 'based on a...'

or "L'amour, c'est l'un qui souffre et l'autre qui regarde, et je fus toujours l'autre, et, cela, je le garde!" Edmund Rostand

Ooh! Shame we can't ask the authors, I'm proper curious now.
 
Count of Undolpho said:
I've also encountered it as "en amour, il y a toujours celui qui donne les baisers et celui qui tend la joue" but again only as a 'French proverb' or 'based on a...'

or "L'amour, c'est l'un qui souffre et l'autre qui regarde, et je fus toujours l'autre, et, cela, je le garde!" Edmund Rostand

Ooh! Shame we can't ask the authors, I'm proper curious now.
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In those cases, there's no ambiguity.
 
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