# What does the word "Pamplamousse" mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 12, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154 "2006-02-12T21:06:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/21 "2006-02-13T19:17:37Z")
> [@Amaranta](#): > > For example, if someone walks by me and says “Excuse-moi”, I’ll respond with, “De rien, pamplemousse”. It’s also a term of affection. I just love it. > > Paaaaampleeeemouuuuse! Tish! That’s French! ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/22 "2006-02-13T19:19:32Z")
Wait, are you sure it doesn’t mean something like “milk the caribou?” Nope, you’re right… I was thinking “Pump le moose” Carry on! ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/23 "2006-02-13T20:32:14Z")
> [@Nature's Call](#): > > Wait, are you sure it doesn’t mean something like “milk the caribou?” Nope, you’re right… I was thinking “Pump le moose” > > Carry on! You are dangerously close to being whacked with the pun stick. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/24 "2006-02-17T09:55:35Z")
Is it worth mentioning that I’ve had to post out information to two different people in Mauritius who live in Pamplemousses? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/25 "2006-02-17T13:46:22Z")
> [@Mindfield](#): > > . . . I can’t seem to find the etymology of the word though – which I guess is a little difficult given that it’s in French. . . . Larousse sez: “from Dutch _pompel_, large, and _limoes_, lemon.” It also defines the word rather endearingly as “fruit de pamplemoussier.” ---
**Author:** ![NateMD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/dec6dc/32.png) [@NateMD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NateMD)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/26 "2010-09-19T00:09:00Z")
> [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](#): > > You may know it from a bit on _The Simpsons_. If you change the audio from English to French, the dialogue for this scene is NOT “La grenouille mange le pamplemousse”. Can anyone tell me what the French version says, and how that translates into English? Just wondering how they went about translating the joke for a French audience. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/27 "2010-09-19T00:36:52Z")
Pomplemoose = grapefruit Pomplamoose = [awesomeness](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uolz7V12evc&feature=channel) ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/28 "2010-09-19T02:18:19Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > Pomplamoose = [awesomeness](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uolz7V12evc&feature=channel) Until 3:06 ago, I had not heard of this group. Yes, they are awesome. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/29 "2010-09-19T02:36:14Z")
> [@Amaranta](#): > > It’s my favourite french word. I’ll slip it into pretty much any conversation that involves even a bit of french. For example, if someone walks by me and says “Excuse-moi”, I’ll respond with, “De rien, pamplemousse”. It’s also a term of affection. I just love it. > > Paaaaampleeeemouuuuse! So zen zees ess ze fey-moos pamplemousse of love?🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/30 "2010-09-19T02:43:20Z")
[French Teacher] > [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](#): > > “La grenouille mange la pamplemousse” – The frog eats grapefruit. _La grenouille mange **le** pamplemousse_ - the frog eats the grapefruit. Graprefruit is masculine (clearly!) > [@Mindfield](#): > > _Le roi est morte. Vive le roi!_ _Le roi est **mort**. Vive le roi!_ - The king is dead. (Long) live the king! “le roi” is masculine. [/French Teacher] > [@NateMD](#): > > If you change the audio from English to French, the dialogue for this scene is NOT “La grenouille mange le pamplemousse”. Can anyone tell me what the French version says, and how that translates into English? Just wondering how they went about translating the joke for a French audience. I found this [YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywf76VA3Dr0)version (which is really hard to understand) but the phrase spoken seems to be "Le roi François mangeoit boule de chapeau. " which is a complete nonsense phrase in French. The first three words translate as “The king, Francois”. “mangeoit” isn’t a correct conjugation at all for the verb “manger” - to eat. Perhaps it’s “mangait” (imperfect) or “mangerait” (conditional present) but it doesn’t sound that way to me. “boule de chapeau” translates literally as “ball of hat” or “hat ball”. It could be plural as “boules de chapeaux” but to the ear there’s no way to really tell other than context, but it’s nonsensical. It seems to me\* that French translations of English TV shows often take the stance that while the dialogue is in French, the assumed language spoken by the characters is English, and so any French in the show is either left as-is (or with a more exaggerated accent to emphasize it’s different-ness) or is changed for something nonsensical but vaguely French, especially when what is spoken is intended to be clearly incomprehensible to the main characters. \*I generally watch shows and movies in their original language, though, so I could be wrong, but the latter is clearly what they did for the Simpsons. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/31 "2010-09-19T03:01:29Z")
Now wait a minute, astro. You Googled on “pamplamousse” and found nothing about it being the French word for “grapefruit”? Are you using a different Google than I am? When I put the word “pamplamousse” in Google, it goes out of its way to try to correct my spelling to “pamplemousse” and show me a page of results, the second from the top of which is the dictionary entry for “pamplemousse” in French. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/32 "2010-09-19T03:04:16Z")
> [@Jurph](#): > > Le Pamplemousse, le pamplemousse, … will you do the Fandango? ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/33 "2010-09-19T03:55:22Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Now wait a minute, astro. You Googled on “pamplamousse” and found nothing about it being the French word for “grapefruit”? Are you using a different Google than I am? When I put the word “pamplamousse” in Google, it goes out of its way to try to correct my spelling to “pamplemousse” and show me a page of results, the second from the top of which is the dictionary entry for “pamplemousse” in French. Check the date of the OP. I’m not sure that Google was that efficient then. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/34 "2010-09-19T04:15:22Z")
Sorry, you’re right. I didn’t notice that this is a zombie thread that someone revived several hours before my post. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/35 "2010-09-19T07:51:44Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > “mangeoit” isn’t a correct conjugation at all for the verb “manger” - to eat. Perhaps it’s “mangait” (imperfect) or “mangerait” (conditional present) but it doesn’t sound that way to me. I kinda doubt the Simpsons’ writers checked that far, but the “-oit” conjugation is actually an old form of the French simple past. Old as in “ye olde Frenche”. It sometimes crops up when a French speaker wants to ape how people of the past talked, like English people will resort to “thou speakest”. Old French also often omitted definite articles, so “mangeoit boule de chapeau”, while still nonsensical in its meaning would not be automatically incorrect semantically, least not in that regard. It still should be “boule de chapeaux”, plural ;). ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/36 "2010-09-19T16:55:04Z")
So, Curious George’s _[mother](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecily_G._and_the_Nine_Monkeys)_ is named “Grapefruit”??? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/37 "2010-09-19T17:22:16Z")
> [@Jenny\_Haniver](#): > > Merci! I’ve been reading the thread and trying to fathom why, after five years of French classes, I thought it was a pineapple. [Each man will be issued a pamplemousse!!](http://angryflower.com/ninele.html) ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/38 "2010-09-19T18:10:36Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > I found this [YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywf76VA3Dr0)version (which is really hard to understand) but the phrase spoken seems to be "Le roi François mangeoit boule de chapeau. " which is a complete nonsense phrase in French. The first three words translate as “The king, Francois”. “mangeoit” isn’t a correct conjugation at all for the verb “manger” - to eat. Perhaps it’s “mangait” (imperfect) or “mangerait” (conditional present) but it doesn’t sound that way to me. “boule de chapeau” translates literally as “ball of hat” or “hat ball”. It could be plural as “boules de chapeaux” but to the ear there’s no way to really tell other than context, but it’s nonsensical. I haven’t bought the 12th season of _The Simpsons_ yet, so I can’t check what the French audio (Quebec version) says at that point. This said, in the spirit of **Gaudere** ’s law: _mangeait_. 😉 > [@](#): > > It seems to me\* that French translations of English TV shows often take the stance that while the dialogue is in French, the assumed language spoken by the characters is English, and so any French in the show is either left as-is (or with a more exaggerated accent to emphasize it’s different-ness) or is changed for something nonsensical but vaguely French, especially when what is spoken is intended to be clearly incomprehensible to the main characters. I never watch _King of the Hill_ in French on purpose, but I’ve caught part of some episodes (once again this would be the Quebec version) and it seems to me that we’re supposed to believe this takes place somewhere in Quebec and ignore the overwhelming texanness of the whole show. I think the cognitive dissonance itself is the main reason why I don’t watch the show in French. 😉 > [@Kobal2](#): > > I kinda doubt the Simpsons’ writers checked that far, but the “-oit” conjugation is actually an old form of the French simple past. Old as in “ye olde Frenche”. It sometimes crops up when a French speaker wants to ape how people of the past talked, like English people will resort to “thou speakest”. This is actually exactly what they did here (and it wasn’t the Simpsons writers, but the French (France) translators). The teacher, after saying he doesn’t know who Miss Hoover is, clearly says “moi, j’enseigne le vieux françois” (“I teach Old French.”) > [@](#): > > Old French also often omitted definite articles, so “mangeoit boule de chapeau”, while still nonsensical in its meaning would not be automatically incorrect semantically, least not in that regard. It still should be “boule de chapeaux”, plural ;). I believe the plural of “boule de chapeau” should be “boules de chapeaux”, if I remember my grammar rules correctly. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/39 "2010-09-19T18:59:38Z")
> [@Tierce](#): > > Try “pamplemousse” with an e in the middle. Google returns 869,000 results. > > The occurrence that rings a bell for me is a character in a series of novels by Michael Bond. Detective turned undercover food critic, Monsieur Pamplemousse and his loyal dog Pommes Frites. My wife ordered every book in the series she could get- actually sent overseas for some. For some reason she was not amused by my referring to him as “Monsieur PimpleJuice”. ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/40 "2010-09-19T20:07:26Z")
pom·pel·mous n. See shaddock. [Dutch pompelmoes (influenced by pompoen, gourd and Portuguese limoes, lemon) probably ultimately from Tamil pampalim³su.] Citrus - Citron, Grapefruit, Lemon, Lime, Orange, Shaddock … CITRUS plant identification description, photos, and information on potting, growing, propagation, varieties, and region of origin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154.md?page=3)