Posts tagged with "famous French sayings"

“Je ne suis pas d’accord avec ce que vous dites, mais je me battrai jusqu’à la mort pour que vous ayez le droit de le dire.” (“I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it.”) – Voltaire

Just as this famous French philosopher promised, the French have the right to speak their minds and boy do they do just that.  In fact, there are many ways to disagree in French beginning with “Je ne suis pas d’accord” as Voltaire said all the way to “tu n’as pas raison / vous n’avez pas raison” and “tu te trompes / vous vous trompez”.

If you want however to express that you agree with something someone has just said, you could say “Moi aussi” if agreeing with a positive statement or “moi non plus” if agreeing with a negative statement.  You say “pas moi” to disagree with a positive statement and “moi si” if disagreeing with a negative statement.  Sounds complicated?  I’ll give you some examples:

J’aime le chocolat.

You like chocolate too: Moi aussi.

You don’t like chocolate: Pas moi.

Je n’aime pas le chocolat.

You don’t like chocolate either: Moi non plus.

You do like chocolate: Moi si.

La France d’outre-mer (French overseas territory) includes the DROM or les Départements d’outre-mer (Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and La Reunion) which are subject to French law and therefore their citizens have the exact same rights as mainland France citizens; the COM or les Collectivités d’outre-mer (Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Mayotte, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis Islands and Futuna Islands) which have certain autonomy and are a bit separate from the French state; the POM or les Pays d’outre-mer au sein de la République (French Polynesia and New Caledonia) which are regions that will quite possibly gain independence in the future; and the administrative districts known as TOM or les Territoires d’outre-mer (Amsterdam Island, Saint Paul Island, the Crozet Islands, Kerguelen islands and Adélie Land). It is worthy noting, however, that French soveriegnty is not recognized internationally in Adélie Land.

La Reunion is a small island of about 970 square miles and a population of approximately 827,000 that lies right in the middle of the Indian Ocean.  The people of La Reunion obviously speak French as that it is the national language, but the Creole language also exists.  Today, I’m going to give you 6 Creole proverbs from La Reunion and see if you can match them up with an English explanation.

1. Couler la peau la pas couler lo ker. A. When the boss isn’t happy, watch out.
2. Quand gros bèf y charge, sorte devant! B. To hear, but not want to show you heard.
3. Faire z’oreilles cochon. C. There’s no going back.
4. A pa sa ka travay plis ka manjé plis. D. You shouldn’t judge people by the color of their skin.
5. Dlo pa ka monté mòne. E. People always want more.
6. Ba yo pyé yo ka pran men. F. The richest are not necessarily the ones that work the most.
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