Re: OFFTOPIC: What is "francais hexagonal"?

From: John Cowan (cowan@locke.ccil.org)
Date: Tue Nov 17 1998 - 15:49:37 EST


Alain wrote:

> An example: instead of indicating "gare [de chemin de fer]" (railroad
> station) on street panels in many cities, downtown, in France, they will
> only write "SNCF" and you're supposed to know what it means [...].

Well, I imagine a non-anglophone here would have the same trouble with
a sign reading "Amtrak", though there is usually a pictograph of a train
on the sign as well.

> like you're supposed to know what
> *the* Pentagon is in the USA (I guess that nowadays the whole world knows
> this "secret" place (: )

The Pentagon itself has never been a secret, although I do not guarantee
the results of pinging shub-internet.disa.army.mil.
See http://www.ccil.org/jargon/ s.v. "Shub-Internet".
 
> Just in case you ask, there is also another dialect (many more exist
> indeed) these days in Paris: "verlan" is one of them ("verlan" is "envers"
> [reverse] in verlan [a made up language where you simply reverse syllables
> of a word -- if you have seen the movie "Les ripoux" [i.e. "les pourris",
> "the rotten", corrupted policemen], and its sequel, you know what I mean;

English has similar language games.
English-hay as-hay imilar-say anguage-lay ames-lay.
Engloperopish hopas sopimopelar lopanguopage gopames.

-- 
John Cowan	http://www.ccil.org/~cowan		cowan@ccil.org
	You tollerday donsk?  N.  You tolkatiff scowegian?  Nn.
	You spigotty anglease?  Nnn.  You phonio saxo?  Nnnn.
		Clear all so!  'Tis a Jute.... (Finnegans Wake 16.5)



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