PDA

View Full Version : Does anyone speak French?



AmberLee
09-26-2005, 02:19 PM
I'm puzzled by a reference from another site that says:

"Les chats en raffolent".

I tried Babel Fish and it translated it as "The cats are somewhat raffolent." Which may be an accurate translation as far as it goes, but it just frustrates me.

Is there a better translation program out there? Does anyone speak French and can translate it themselves? What are the cats -- we've had some fun with it. Stinky? Mischievious? Sleepy? Hungry? Furry? Allergy-producing?

Any help would be appreciated.

CagneyDog
09-26-2005, 02:25 PM
I think it just translates as "the cats are crazy"

koxka
09-26-2005, 02:34 PM
There is nothing as good to have a good laught like these automathic translators.:D :D :D

Verb *Raffoler* = To be crazy about, to go nuts about.

the "en" is a pronom that indicates what about the fuzzy buts "raffolent"

koxka
09-26-2005, 02:40 PM
ie:

Les chats aiment le thon?

Les chats en raffolent!



:)

AmberLee
09-26-2005, 08:43 PM
Thank you. I'm still a bit unclear. Would it translate closer to

"I'm crazy about cats" or "Cats are crazy animals"? Note: I think both apply to me, but I'd like to make sure I use it correctly.

:D!!

koxka
09-27-2005, 01:20 AM
Originally posted by AmberLee
Thank you. I'm still a bit unclear. Would it translate closer to

"I'm crazy about cats" or "Cats are crazy animals"? Note: I think both apply to me, but I'd like to make sure I use it correctly.

:D!!


It would translate like this:

The cats(Les chats)are crazy about(raffolent)it(en).

I'm not sure if it has to say IT or THAT.My english by far not as good as my french is. Anyway EN indicates a thing,previously mentioned, that the cats are crazy about.

I hope I made it clear enough for you to understand this time. :rolleyes:

:D

AmberLee
09-27-2005, 02:28 AM
Thank you!

Hmmm, that doesn't make a lot of sense from the context, unless there's an advertizing campaign that uses that line.... Oh well, some things are easier to understand than others.

I appreciate your time to make this clearer.

Barbara
09-27-2005, 02:45 AM
Yes, that's what it says: Cats go crazy about it. I think they are talking about a toy:)

Maya & Inka's mommy
09-27-2005, 04:31 AM
I do! But I never heard that verb before.... . Maybe Sonia can help you better? She is a native French!

Barbara
09-27-2005, 09:14 AM
raffoler de quelquechose- to be enthusiastic about something, to fancy something- that's what I get if I put the French-German and the German-English dictionary together.

The root of the word is fou (fem. folle) and that means crazy:D

So Koxka and I got it right I suppose. Koxka's Spanish- the language they speak in Catalonia is very close to French.