# France.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/france/463357>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 12, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/france/463357 "2008-09-12T23:10:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/france/463357/21 "2008-09-14T09:53:26Z")

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> [@Lobsang](#):
>
> chat (cat) “Shat” (as in, ‘had a shit’)

I’m surprised no one picked up on this earlier, but the ‘t’ in “chat” is silent, it’s pronounced “shah”, which is why as a kid I wondered why Iran used to be ruled by a cat.

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**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/france/463357/22 "2008-09-14T10:29:09Z")

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> [@Siam\_Sam](#):
>
> As a lad, I hitchhiked out of Brussels, and a Brit lorry driver picked me up and drove me to Switzerland. I know we went through Nancy.

You too? Lovely girl, wasn’t she?

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**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/france/463357/23 "2008-09-14T10:45:41Z")

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> [@Colophon](#):
>
> You too? Lovely girl, wasn’t she?

And a right friendly lass she was, too. 😃

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**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/france/463357/24 "2008-09-14T10:47:09Z")

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> [@jovan](#):
>
> I’m surprised no one picked up on this earlier, but the ‘t’ in “chat” is silent, it’s pronounced "shah

Unless it’s a female cat, _chatte_.

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**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/france/463357/25 "2008-09-14T11:26:51Z")

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> [@Colophon](#):
>
> Unless it’s a female cat, _chatte_.

Yeah, but _chatte_ is sort of a dirty word in French too.

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