May 25, 2011

Trente-six

When discussing Valentine’s Day presents, FBF admitted he wasn’t sure what to get me.

J’ai pensé des boucles d’oreilles, mais tu as déjà trente-six paires.” (I thought about getting you earrings, but you already have 36 pairs.)

My first thought was, “you counted my earrings?”

Followed swiftly by, “wait… I do not have that many pairs of earrings with me in France.”

He had already moved on from the number of earrings I owned when I interrupted him.

Quoi trente-six?” (what do you mean 36?) I asked him. “Je n’ai pas trente-six paires des boucles d’oreilles” (I don’t have 36 pairs of earrings).

It turns out he did not mean the number literally. In France, when one wants to say a really, ridiculously large number, one simply says thirty-six.

36.


FBF further explained that the amount of zeros following the 36 is proportional to the likelihood of a truth. He said trente-six pairs of earrings because in reality I have about 10.

But if we’re talking about something that is already in the thousands, one should say 36,000. Trente-six mille.

Which is what explains the DARTY adds.

9 comments:

  1. Voila! I never knew that! How weird!

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  2. And now to test my mom to see if she knows this fact. Excellent. Whoever made that ad is on LSD. Just saying.

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  3. Why don't they teach this stuff in French class? This is the kind of thing I need to know :)

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  4. Brenna: I think 36 is way too specific a number to be a generally large one!

    Joshua: Agreed about the LSD.

    Linds: I know! This is the kind of stuff that is actually useful, not the past perfect form of the subjunctive (or whatever other ridiculous tense the French use).

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  5. This reminds me of my mother. When she wants to say something lasts a long time, she says: "Forever and a day." However, if it lasts an especially long time, she says: "Forever and three days." Ha! What a random number to pick. I wonder how it came about.

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  6. Laura, I linked over to you and to this post today because your "36" helped me solve a burning math problem. So, thank you!

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  7. That's cute! I use 88. Or gajillion. Or if the number is mind-boggling 88 gajillion. Not French but from Louisiana - the land of made up words.

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  8. Kaley: I've heard "forever and a day" before but never three days!

    Joshua:Awesome! Glad I could be of service.

    Tanya: FBF loves gajillion! He thinks it's the funniest "number" we Americans say.

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