French 101 is based on Mlle Mina's page Le Mot Juste.
The translations made inside {} are from Didier Longeray, a native of France.
All other people who helped me are given credit at the bottom of this page, *'s were placed by the words I had their assistance with.
ma petite
Jean-Claude's nickname for Anita that has supposedly been around since they met, which was before Guilty Pleasures.
Like all nicknames it doesn't make a whole lot of sense if taken literally. If we were to take it literally ma is a way in French to show possession, since the French don't use 's like we do in English. Petite is the adjective meaning small usually if you were say in French class your teacher/professeur would want you to put some kind of noun after it. However, since we know Jean-Claude made this up it's just an endearment to Anita. Let's just say it means "my little one".
amante de moi
The Laughing Corpse page 194
"my lover", "my sweetheart", or "my mistress" Take your pick.
coquette
The Laughing Corpse page 201
Jean-Claude uses it when he is talking to the prostitute Wheelchair
Wanda. It can mean "flirt" or "slut".
{literally, clothes conscious but can also have a flirtatious
meaning. It's usually not intended in a mean way, but more likely as
gently ironic. I would believe 'slut' is a bit to extreme, but without
the context I can't be sure. My first guess would be (speaking of a
prostitute) that's it's either very ironic, or a gentle way to manage
the hooker susceptibility}
je ne sais quoi**
The Killing Dance page 145
"the indefineable something" according to Cassell's. Jean-Claude uses this expression when he compares Cassandra to Anita.
Literally means "I don't know what."
mon Dieu
Burnt Offerings page 49
"my God" an exclamation. Jean-Claude uses it here when he is teasing Anita about the horror of her straightening out her curls. He uses it again in this novel when something bad surprises him.
noblesse oblige
Burnt Offerings page 156
"nobily oblige" Jean-Claude uses this to describe Anita's need to go back and save the wereleopards on the principle that they were expecting her to help them.
je t'aime
Burnt Offerings page 160
"I love you"
C't'une bonne bourre.
Burnt Offerings page 205
Anita tells us that when Fernando makes this statement concerning Vivan, he's saying she was a good lay. Since, I'm having trouble with finding a better definition in my dictionary and/or textbook we're sticking with this one.
{can have several meanings. Anyway, slang.
Generally represent a pleasant occurrence. Can be about a car race with
friends ('ca a ete une bonne bourre' = that was a hell of a blast), or
anything else. The more general use would be just "bonne bourre" as
cheers, which is pretty much "have fun". I never heard it used in a
sexual way (OK, let's say '(s)he's a good fuck' would more likely be
translated by 'c'est un bon coup'. Sorry for strong language:) ) Well,
yet, wishing 'bonne bourre' to a friend can quite well be wishing him a
pleasant sleepless night. But once more, without context I can't be sure.}
petit batard
Burnt Offerings page 213
"little bastard" Gideon uses this phrase when talking about Fernando.
Je rêve de toi.
Burnt Offerings page 231
It translates to "I dream of you" Jean-Claude wrote it in a love
letter to Anita.
cuisine
Burnt Offerings page 234
The word means "kitchen" and Jean-Claude used it in another love letter
when he bought her an espresso machine.
un peu
Burnt Offerings page 314
means "a little" Jean-Claude used it in a conversation with Anita
about the Council.
Vous dispose a apprendre.
Burnt Offerings page 315
I believe the essence of the phrase to be
"You have learned.". Although, if that is exactly what Ms. Hamilton
wanted to say she could have done it a lot simpler. What's bothering
me is the verb dispose, I think she could have just used apprend and
it would have worked just as well. And, for those of you with a
little bit of background in French as well as any of the romance
languages you should have learned that there is "formal" and
"informal" ways to say things. Vous is considered the formal version
of you, now why you would use the formal version of anything when you
are saying something to someone you are sleeping with is something I
do not understand. Usually when you know someone very well you would use
the "informal" Tu.
Mlle Mina had a slightly different take on it. If you want to see her ideas use the link at the top of the page.
{literraly, prepare you to learn, or leads you
to learn, or maybe better, incline you to learn.
As 'disposer' has other quite different meanings, I undertsand this is
hard to translate}
putain*
Burnt Offerings page 370
Yvette calls Anita this when she is threatening to hurt Jason while she feeds off him. This is a cuss word depending on whether it is capitalized or not can give it two different meanings:
1. whore/harlot (depends on how nice a person you are I guess) (putain)
2. holy shit (Putain)
{literally, whore. Went in the current language as curse, very
similar to the use of 'fuck'. For instance, 'ce putain de livre' is
exactly 'this fucking book', aso. (once again, sorry for... :) }
Je reve de toi.
Burnt Offerings page 371
Yes, this is exactly the same phrase as the one up above except it is
missing the circonflexe which is an accent that makes all the
difference in pronounciation. Upon rereading the book recently I've come to the opinion that Yvette was just whispering to Anita and she didn't mean Jason to be included in this particular dream. Again, for Mlle Mina's opinion go to the link above.
celebre**
Blue Moon page 81
adj.="famous"
n.="celebrity"
Anita uses this to refer to the turning point in the trolls' cause when a book was written about a troll named Peter that became a best-seller.
Morte d'Amour
Blue Moon page 122
"Lover of Death" The name of the Council Member whose line has the ability to contaminate blood with the thing that makes bodies rot from the inside out.
{dead because of love. (ie: love killed her)}
pomme de sang
Blue Moon page 123
"apple of blood" Asher explains this as a nickname among the Council for willing food. Damian goes on to explain that if a vampire feeds off a pomme de sang that vampire is duty bound to protect him/her.
mon chardonneret
Blue Moon page 123
"my goldfinch" Jean-Claude's old nickname for Asher when they were traveling together with Julianna.
ma cherie
Blue Moon page 143
"my darling" Asher calls Anita this when she tries to cheer him up to face the local Master Vampire.
{my darling, or honey. Could be say to a lover or a child, as
well. (masc: mon cheri)}
Bon heur
Blue Moon page 260
"good luck" Asher says this to Richard when he is dealing with Anita.
tête-`a-tête**
Blue Moon page 330
Literally means "head to head" not "heart to heart" but aludes to an intimate talk. Niley jokingly makes a remark with this expression in it when he is hitting on Richard.
{discussion between two persons in a private place or
without witnesses}
Tu es beau, mon amour.
Blue Moon page 379
"You are beautiful, my love." Jean-Claude says this to Asher through Anita when Asher is hurt.
Tu me fais craquer.**
Blue Moon page 379
Literally means "You make me crack." "You shatter my heart." Hamilton expresses as her intent when she has Asher tell Anita, "I shatter your heart, eh?"
Je t'embrasse partout.
Blue Moon page 379
"I kiss you everywhere." Again this is Jean-Claude speaking through Anita when Asher is hurt.
Je te bois des yeux.
Blue Moon page 379
"I drink you with eyes." Not a word for word great translation but again this phrase doesn't make exact grammatical sense either. Basically Asher was telling Anita he drinks her with his eyes.
Je t'adore.
Blue Moon page 380
"I love you." Sounds like: "Shut the door." in English. Asher tells Anita this right before he bites her.
Get your own Free Home Page