Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Misunderstanding the French Language #1

Store Clerk: "Si vous achetez un gateau, le deuxieme est gratuit, et si vous achetez trois patisseries, la quatrieme est aussi gratuite."

What John thought: "There was a cat that touched all these pastries, so they're kind of gross but you can have them for free if you want."

Ilia: "Merci, mais nous voudrions juste une patisserie si'il vous plait."

John: "What was she saying about a cat?"

Ilia: "A cat...?"

John: "She was saying something about a gateau..."

Ilia: "Gateau means 'cake' not 'cat.'"

Actual translation: "If you buy one cake the second is free, and if you buy three pastries, the fourth is also free."

2 comments:

Janet K said...

So did you come away with 2 cats or 4??

Dan said...

I thought "cake" would've been one of the first french words John learned...that and "beer".