I hate to start a thread for a silly question but hopefully a French-speaker will answer and the thread will die quickly.
My wife put some liquid soap in the bathroom, called ‘Cucina’. I wondered if there is a liquid soap called ‘El Baño’. Then a product from an old commercial popped into my head: Friction pour le Bain. Not speaking French, I’ve always translated it as ‘Friction for the bath’. Now that we have computers and Google and stuff I looked it up. Google translated it as ‘Friction for the bath’.
So what does ‘friction’ mean in this sense?
Probably. But I would think the product would be something that lubricates, rather than increasing friction.
According to this trademark listing, the English translation is “lotion for the bath”. Maybe it’s just an idiomatic French use of “friction”. There are several examples online of other lotions called “friction”.
When I was a child, my mother always had Jean Nate in her bathroom. For years, whenever I would smell it on someone, I would think of her.
In French, the verb frictionner means “to rub”. It can designate the act of massaging (my leg is asleep and I rub it to improve circulation) or rubbing a cream or lotion onto the skin. Rubbing alcohol is alcool à friction, etc.
Those seem to be the definitive answers.
Thank you.