# Question about French **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441 "2003-01-23T15:11:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TJ555\_The\_Golfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@TJ555\_The\_Golfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJ555_The_Golfer)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/1 "2003-01-23T15:11:25Z")
How do I say “Thank you for the green tea. Can I borrow your Ryan Adams Gold CD? Who’s a naught kitty?” in French? ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/2 "2003-01-23T15:17:28Z")
Try running it through Babelfish: [http://world.altavista.com/](http://world.altavista.com/) ---
**Author:** ![TJ555\_The\_Golfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@TJ555\_The\_Golfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJ555_The_Golfer)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/3 "2003-01-23T15:18:04Z")
should be naughty, naught ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/4 "2003-01-23T15:32:04Z")
I come up with: _Merci du thé vert. Est-ce que je peux emprunter votre CD d’or de Ryan Adams? Qui est un rien kitty?_ Apparently Babelfish doesn’t know what french for “kitty” is. The first sentence got translated as “Thanks for the green.” The second sentence got translated correctly as far as my limited French knowledge can tell, except it didn’t seem to realize that “Gold” was part of the title. If I see my French-Candadian friend online today, I’ll ask her for a better translation. ---
**Author:** ![TJ555\_The\_Golfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@TJ555\_The\_Golfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJ555_The_Golfer)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/5 "2003-01-23T15:36:29Z")
Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/6 "2003-01-23T15:38:46Z")
But I’m sort of curious as to **why** you’d need to know how to say that in French. Doesn’t seem to be the kind of thing that crops up in casual conversation too often. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/7 "2003-01-23T15:45:58Z")
The French word for cat is _chat._ ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/8 "2003-01-23T15:46:50Z")
The French word for cat is _chat_. (pronounced _shah_) I don’t know the technical word for kitty, but I suspect that _la petite chat_ or _le chat jeune_ might work. (jeune means young, or child) S’been awhile since I took french, so I don’t know if my la’s and le’s are correct. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/9 "2003-01-23T16:06:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by XJETGIRLX \* > … I suspect that _la petite chat_ … > > S’been awhile since I took french, so I don’t know if my la’s and le’s are correct. That should be _la petite chatte_ or _le petit chat_, depending on the sex. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/10 "2003-01-23T16:10:07Z")
You sure you don’t want to borrow their **B** ryan Adams CD? ---
**Author:** ![peepthis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/11 "2003-01-23T16:44:06Z")
kitten = “chaton,” which is closer to kitty I think. And “Gold” is the title of the CD, so doesn’t need to be translated into French. Also, **QED** just cut & pasted your sentences into Babelfish, which provides notoriously unreliable results (from Babelfish, not QED;)). For that reason, he put in “naught” instead of “naughty,” and a couple other errors. My own translation comes out as: **Merci pour le thé vert. Puis-j’emprunter ton/votre CD “Gold” de Ryan Adams? Qui est un chaton vilain?** (it’s either ton or votre, depending whether it’s meant to be informal (ton) or formal (votre)) ---
**Author:** ![msgotrocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8edcca/32.png) [@msgotrocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msgotrocks)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/12 "2003-01-23T16:44:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > \*\*I come up with: > _Merci du thé vert. Est-ce que je peux emprunter votre CD d’or de Ryan Adams? Qui est un rien kitty?_ \*\* Who is a nothing kitty? WTF? Doesn’t everyone know by now that Babelfish sucks? Qui est un chaton méchant? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/13 "2003-01-23T16:49:03Z")
Nope. I’ve never used it before. If I need a translation, I know enough people who speak different languages to get one. But I still want to know **why** one would need this particular snippet of conversation to be translated. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/14 "2003-01-23T16:51:17Z")
There’s a professional Ryan Adams out there now, as well as old Bryan. Confusing. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/15 "2003-01-23T17:14:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > \*\*But I still want to know **why** one would need this particular snippet of conversation to be translated. \*\* There are many possible reasons … the most likely is to spring it upon a Francohone of one’s desire as a means of initiating small talk. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/16 "2003-01-23T17:19:30Z")
I dunno, maybe. But if someone sprang that on me, I’d be more taken aback than enamored. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/17 "2003-01-23T17:28:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > \*\*I dunno, maybe. But if someone sprang that on me, I’d be more taken aback than enamored. :eek: \*\* Whoa, whoa … you’re thinking too far ahead. You aren’t trying to make the Francophone fall in love with you – you’re trying to break the ice. It’s not a pick-up line. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/18 "2003-01-23T18:08:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by msgotrocks \* > **Who is a nothing kitty? WTF? Doesn’t everyone know by now that Babelfish sucks?** But it’s correct in this case. The OP mistyped “naught” instead of “naughty.” ---
**Author:** ![Nils](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Nils](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nils)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/19 "2003-01-24T00:26:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > \*\*I come up with: > > _Merci du thé vert._ > > “Thanks for the green.”\*\* thé is the French word for tea. So it got translated correctly (as far as my little knowledge of French can tell). thé vert = green tea ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441/20 "2003-01-24T16:46:52Z")
Thank you for the green tea. Merci (Je te/vous remercie) pour le thé vert. Can (May?) I borrow your Ryan Adams Gold CD? Puis-j’emprunter ton/votre disque compact Ryan Adams Gold? Peux-tu/Pouvez vous me prêter ton/votre disque compact Ryan Adams Gold? Who’s a naughty kitty? I’m guessing you’re trying to convey something other than a search to identify a young feline with comportment problems. It’s doubtful that any possible literal translation such as: Qui est le chaton espiègle? Qui est le méchant minou? could properly reflect your meaning. To illustrate further, in Québecois French, to woo with words is to “chanter la pomme” which translates literally to “sing the apple”. Draw your own conclusions. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-french/150441.md?page=2)