Well, I was just reading the online comic Skirting Danger , and the hero’s evil, French twin just let out a laugh. It was spelled the way I have it in the title, and I was just wondering from whence it came. I know I have seen it before.
Les poissons, les poissons
Hee hee hee, haw haw haw
With a cleaver I hack them in two
I pull out what’s inside
And I serve it up fried
God, I love little fishes, don’t you?
-from The Little Mermaid
No cite, but that fake laugh people do when they are trying to sound French always makes me think of Maurice Chevalier. Maybe he did something like it in one of his songs?
Keep in mind that the vowel is nasalized and the “n” is silent. The word does not sound like a Texan’s term of endearment, “Hi, hon!”.
I think he did it in a number of songs, more or less a trademark.
I think what it boils down to is a representation of laughter in French. The way other languages represent sounds can be quite different than the English version. For example, one “Peanuts” cartoon that I have in both English and French shows Snoopy spitting Woodstock back into his nest. In English, it’s represented by “ptui!”; in French, it’s “toc!”. (Imagine the sound “tock”, but with a long “o” and much shorter.)
Just because I don’t laugh like Maurice Chevalier you say I’m not Maurice Chevalier! All right, I’ll sing for you!
"If the Nightingale could sing like you . . . "
::Scott tackles bienville: You! If it hadn’t been for you doing a fantastic job in the original Gigi, then we would had one last horrible remake. Damn you!
P.S. MonsieurThyristor, thank you. That is most likely it.
{gives a little gallic shrug}
De rien, Scott. I was expecting someone more knowlegeable than myself to come in (I know we have some French posters) but sometimes I manage to muddle through.