Hatrack River Forum: A few questions for the francophones

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Posted by Susie Derkins (Member # 7718) on :

I've been trying to figure out some of the lyrics for one of my most recent favorite songs, "Pauvre de nous" by Massilia Sound System.

At first I thought I was crazy, or much worse at French than I thought, because I couldn't understand the first half of the song. Upon looking up the lyrics, however, I realized that I wasn't crazy, they were just in Occitan. I'm not too hopeful about finding a good Occitan dictionary, but I thought maybe you could help me with some of the French argot that I still can't seem to translate correctly. Here are the words and phrases I'm having difficulty with:

pareisson polidets
la cavilha
la plèbe
un moulon
chèques en bois
magouiller à tour de bras

On peut expliquer en francais aussi. Merci bien. [Smile]

Posted by Choobak (Member # 7083) on :

pareisson polidets
la cavilha
la plèbe
un moulon
chèques en bois
magouiller à tour de bras

Pareisson polidets is not in french, or maybe in a "patois" from a deep part of France... I'll search for you, later.

La Cavilha.. I don't know what is it too, but i'll search too. It is in Portuguesen, i think.

La plèbe : It is the "common people" in Anthiquity at Rome. It's a synonyme of "Bas-peuples".

Un moulon... I have a definition but i'm not sure... It's a high place on a hill. it's said that a cemetery are built in the "moulon" near the church... I'll search a better definition.

Un chèque en bois is a cheque gift, whereas there is no money in the banking account.

Magouiller à tour de Bras is composed by two expressions :

Magouiller is make a dishonest business or make something wihout respecting the rules,

à tour de Bras is regularly, and frequently.

edit :

I read the lyrics. The text was a mix of occitan and french.

A moulon is not what i think firstly : it is a quantity of something (here of Sicav : it's a banking account which is placed in bourse)

[ April 13, 2005, 12:05 PM: Message edited by: Choobak ]

Posted by Susie Derkins (Member # 7718) on :

Thanks for your help! Yeah, a lot of it is argot, and a lot of references to cultural things, but I get the general meaning of them.

It's a very cool song, I think.

Posted by Susie Derkins (Member # 7718) on :

Oh, and your definition for la plèbe makes sense. I'm having a hard time placing it in this sentence: Mais où est donc passée la plèbe?

But where is therefore beyond the common people...?

Posted by Choobak (Member # 7083) on :

[Wink]

it's a pleasure ! I search for the word i don't know... Nothing. Sorry. [Dont Know]