# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/41 "2010-09-19T20:10:17Z")
“La grenouille mange le pamplemousse - the frog eats the grapefruit. Graprefruit is masculine (clearly!)” Larousse says masculine or feminine. I say “la”. Grapefruit are often called in French… grapefruit. Pronounced à la française. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/42 "2010-09-19T20:16:25Z")
So that’s what Steve Miller meant by “The Pamplamousse of Love” Now why is Maurice the Grapefruit of Love? ---
**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, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/43 "2010-09-19T21:28:17Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > “La grenouille mange le pamplemousse - the frog eats the grapefruit. Graprefruit is masculine (clearly!)” > > Larousse says masculine or feminine. I say “la”. That’s something I didn’t know. [Trésor](http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/pamplemousse) says masculine, but points out that most dictionaries recognize the double gender, with the usage favouring the masculine but the Académie française favouring the feminine. > [@](#): > > Grapefruit are often called in French… grapefruit. Pronounced à la française. This is also mentioned in the Trésor entry for pamplemousse, but I for one have never heard it. Where have you heard this usage? ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/44 "2010-09-19T21:56:38Z")
Do zombies like grapefruit? Brains, sure, but bitter fruit? ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/45 "2010-09-19T22:00:05Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > > [@Gymnopithys](#): > > > > “La grenouille mange le pamplemousse - the frog eats the grapefruit. Graprefruit is masculine (clearly!)” > > > > Larousse says masculine or feminine. I say “la”. > > That’s something I didn’t know. [Trésor](http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/pamplemousse) says masculine, but points out that most dictionaries recognize the double gender, with the usage favouring the masculine but the Académie française favouring the feminine. > > > [@](#): > > > > Grapefruit are often called in French… grapefruit. Pronounced à la française. > > This is also mentioned in the Trésor entry for pamplemousse, but I for one have never heard it. Where have you heard this usage? Switzerland, perhaps. There seems to be some confusion between pomelo and grapefruit in both English and French. According to [Wikipedia](http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamplemousse_et_pom%C3%A9lo) the French call the pomelo (Citrus maxima) “pamplemousse” and the grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) “pomélo” (this being the “correct” rather than the popular usage). But the Swiss (Romands) call the pomelo “pomélo” and the grapefruit “pamplemousse” or “grapefruit”. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/46 "2010-09-19T23:13:44Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > > [@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. Their version of “Mr. Sandman” was used in a commercial recently (I think it was a TV commercial for an American automaker, but I’m not sure). ---
**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 20, 2010, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/47 "2010-09-20T04:40:36Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > I believe the plural of “boule de chapeau” should be “boules de chapeaux”, if I remember my grammar rules correctly. 😉 Depends. I assumed the king was eating just the one ball of hats. A hat is big, a ball of hats bigger still. How would he fit several balls of hats in his mouth ?! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/48 "2010-09-20T07:00:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Grapefruit are often called in French… grapefruit. Pronounced à la française. > [@](#): > > This is also mentioned in the Trésor entry for pamplemousse, but I for one have never heard it. Where have you heard this usage? In French speaking Switzerland when they were first imported but I think it’s being replaced now by pamplemousse. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/49 "2010-09-20T11:04:52Z")
It’s the name of a fancy-shmancy store in Salem, MA that sells wines, delicacies, and odd kitchen gadgets. But no grapefruit. Or, AFAICanRecall, anything for eating or preparing grapefruit. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/50 "2010-09-20T11:20:05Z")
It’s the name of a collection of [Bob the Angry Flower](http://www.comixpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=21&products_id=1116) cartoons. Stephen Notley [at one point](http://www.angryflower.com/lespam.html) erroneously thought “pamplemousse” meant “pineapple”, hence the cover. [The back cover](http://www.angryflower.com/pampleback.jpg) corrects the error. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/51 "2010-09-20T11:32:05Z")
There is a successful 4-year-old racehorse named The Pamplemousse. This is the only reason I know it means ‘grapefruit’. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/52 "2010-09-20T14:23:03Z")
Has anybody mentioned yet that this is the French word for ‘grapefruit’? ---
**Author:** ![AngelFelina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AngelFelina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelFelina)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/53 "2010-09-20T14:59:59Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > [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. As a classically-educated Francophone born in Quebec, I can help you here. Although your analysis is excellent in the context of what you heard, the Simpson’s teacher actually says : “Le roi François mangeoit moult chapons.” [ul] [li]“Mangeoit” is a conjugation dating back several centuries and is now mostly seen in classic poetry or verses, for example: (from La Barbe Bleue [“Bluebeard”] by Charles Perrault - when the guilty wife asks her sister if she sees their brothers coming from afar: “Et la soeur Anne répondait : " Je ne vois rien que le soleil qui poudroie, et l’herbe qui verdoie.”[/li] [li]“Moult” is old French and means “many” or “a lot” and, when spoken with a French accent (from France, that is), sounds like two syllables - moul-te.[/li] [li]“Chapons” are a type of poultry, specifically castrated roosters, grain and dairy fed, very fat and tender, usually served on holidays or special occasions, like turkey in the U.S.[/li][/ul] So, the translation would be: “King Francis scoffs lotsa chickens.” 🙂 Quebec French and French from France have substantial differences in pronunciation and rythmn, which is why your high-school French is pretty much useless when you visit Quebec… ---
**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 20, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/54 "2010-09-20T16:16:39Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > Switzerland, perhaps. > > There seems to be some confusion between pomelo and grapefruit in both English and French. According to [Wikipedia](http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamplemousse_et_pom%C3%A9lo) the French call the pomelo (Citrus maxima) “pamplemousse” and the grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) “pomélo” (this being the “correct” rather than the popular usage). But the Swiss (Romands) call the pomelo “pomélo” and the grapefruit “pamplemousse” or “grapefruit”. Thanks for this, **hibernicus**. I believe I’d seen this Wikipedia article before, but it had slipped out of my mind. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen the pomelo (_Citrus maxima_) in a grocery store around here, so calling _Citrus x paradisi_ “pamplemousse” doesn’t cause too much confusion. > [@AngelFelina](#): > > As a classically-educated Francophone born in Quebec, I can help you here. Although your analysis is excellent in the context of what you heard, the Simpson’s teacher actually says : “Le roi François mangeoit moult chapons.” Quite possible; I’d have to listen to the clip again to check but at least that would mean something. Thanks for that. > [@](#): > > Quebec French and French from France have substantial differences in pronunciation and rythmn, which is why your high-school French is pretty much useless when you visit Quebec… I don’t know if you’re talking to **mnemosyne** here, but in any case she lives in Quebec (and so do I), so she won’t have this problem. And while there definitely are differences between France French and Quebec French, both are very much mutually comprehensible. Someone who learned French in high school (with, I suppose, emphasis on France French) would find it useful in Quebec. But the main reason why I was responding to this post is this: **AngelFelina** , might I ask, are you **FallenAngel** ’s wife? Your profile says that you live in Montreal so it seems unlikely, but the name similarity really struck me. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/55 "2010-09-20T16:49:49Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > > [@Jurph](#): > > > > Le Pamplemousse, le pamplemousse, > > … will you do the Fandango? :: spit take :: Hmm. I wonder… could you make a pamplemousse mousse? ---
**Author:** ![Meow\_Max](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/59ef9b/32.png) [@Meow\_Max](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meow_Max)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/56 "2010-09-20T18:01:07Z")
Then of course there is the rare Pample Mouse, which subsists entirely on a diet of … … wait for it … … wait for it … … Ananas! 😛 :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/57 "2010-09-20T19:03:01Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > > [@Ludovic](#): > > > > … will you do the Fandango? > > :: spit take :: > > Hmm. I wonder… could you make a pamplemousse mousse? I’ll never be able to hear that song again without giggling. [Mmmmm…pink grapefruit mousse with berry sauce](http://www.ebfarm.com/Recipes/recipeView.aspx?rID=298) ---
**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 20, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/58 "2010-09-20T19:39:06Z")
> [@AngelFelina](#): > > for example: (from La Barbe Bleue [“Bluebeard”] by Charles Perrault - when the guilty wife asks her sister if she sees their brothers coming from afar: “Et la soeur Anne répondait : " Je ne vois rien que le soleil qui poudroie, et l’herbe qui verdoie.” Just to note: “poudroie” and “verdoie” in your example aren’t the same verb tense as “mangeoit.” “Mangeoit” is the archaic form of the imperfect (in this case of “manger”): the modern form would be “mangeait” – it’s the same sound change that converted the adjectives “françois” or “anglois” into their modern forms “français” or “anglais”. “poudroie” and “verdoie” are both in the present indicative (of the verbs “poudroyer” and “verdoyer”). These forms are still the correct modern present indicative of those verbs. Here’s a poem that does in fact use the archaic form of the imperfect, by Clément Marot (16th century): _Plus ne suis ce que j’ay esté Et ne le **sçaurois** jamais estre, Mon beau printemps et mon esté Ont fait le saut par la fenestre. Amour! tu as esté mon maistre Je t’ai servi sur tous les Dieux, O si je **pouvois** deux fois naistre, Comment je te **servirois** mieux!_ The modern forms of these would be _saurais, pouvais_, and _servirais_ (this last is the conditional, not the imperfect, but the principle is the same.) ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/59 "2010-09-20T23:20:27Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > > [@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) 😛 /applaud ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154/60 "2010-09-21T12:34:01Z")
I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned this yet, but it may be a clue to what was going on in **astro** ’s brain on that fateful morning 4 years, 7 months, and 9 days ago… We sometimes buy La Croix brand sparkling water, and it comes in various citrus flavors: Lemon, Lime, Orange, and… Pamplemousse. No idea why they decided to use Frech for just that one flavor, but now every time I see the word I think of La Croix. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-pamplamousse-mean/344154.md?page=4)