No 'harpe', even so, these 11 French expressions will get you ready for Fête de la Musique.*
1. Accordion
(accordion): en accordion : crumpled, wrinkled, fan-folded.
2. Chanter
(to sing) : chante comme une casserole : to not be able to carry a tune.
3. Cordes
(strings) : être dans les cordes de quelqu’un : to be in one’s line of work, to
be right up one’s alley.
4. Au
diapason (in tune) : mettre au diapason : to bring up to speed.
5. Disque (disc, record) : changer
de disque : to change opinion.
6. Flûte (flute ): Flûte! :
Darn!
7. Musique (music) : connaitre la
musique : to know the ropes (note, the i is not î here).
8. Papier à musique (musical note
paper) : être réglé comme du papier à musique” : to be like clockwork,
it’s a given.
9. Pipeau
(reed-pipe) : être du pipeau : to be rubbish, to be bull#@!%.
10. Sourdine (mute) : mettez-la en
sourdine : keep it down.
11. Violin (violin) : pisser dans un violin : to do something useless, to piss in the wind.
11. Violin (violin) : pisser dans un violin : to do something useless, to piss in the wind.
*Fête de la Musique is a free music
festival taking place on the longest day of the year, June 21st. Its purpose is to encourage both
amateur and professional musicians to perform on the streets together,
with basically everyone having a groovy time. These all night extended music
block parties have been going on in France since 1982 and now can be found all
over the world. It's a wonderful thing really. Sometimes known to get out
of hand, but for the most part, people are there to have a good
time.
Images above:
Born in Strasbourg, Bas-Rhine,
France, Jean-Thomas "Tomi" Ungerer is a French illustrator and
a writer in three languages. He has published over 140 books ranging from much
loved children's books to controversial adult work.
