# Friction pour le bain: Friction? \[French Question\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 23, 2021, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friction-pour-le-bain-friction-french-question/956536 "2021-12-23T15:52:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friction-pour-le-bain-friction-french-question/956536/1 "2021-12-23T15:52:38Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friction-pour-le-bain-friction-french-question/956536/2 "2021-12-23T16:05:58Z")
Something that you rub? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friction-pour-le-bain-friction-french-question/956536/3 "2021-12-23T16:08:09Z")
Probably. But I would think the product would be something that lubricates, rather than increasing friction. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friction-pour-le-bain-friction-french-question/956536/4 "2021-12-23T16:16:30Z")
According to this [trademark listing](https://trademarks.justia.com/721/12/jean-nate-friction-pour-le-72112558.html), 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. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friction-pour-le-bain-friction-french-question/956536/5 "2021-12-23T16:25:44Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friction-pour-le-bain-friction-french-question/956536/6 "2021-12-23T16:27:46Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > According to this [trademark listing](https://trademarks.justia.com/721/12/jean-nate-friction-pour-le-72112558.html), 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”. > [@Heracles](#): > > In French, the verb _frictionner_ means “to rub”. Those seem to be the definitive answers. Thank you.