In his short story “Out of Phase,” Joe Haldeman refers to a shapeshifting alien spending time as a “cul-de-jatte in Monaco.” Whazzat? My usual online dictionary sources have all let me down.
Apparently, a legless cripple.
It’s a french term for a person with no legs.
Sorry, “Translate this page” in the third reference.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=cul+de+jatte
Literally “bottom of bowl”