Deux Maudits Anglais

Deux Maudits Anglais

Martin Patriquin and Philippe Gohier dissect the latest out of Quebec. Follow Philippe on Twitter: @pgohier

"Je suis en sérieux manque de fédéral"

by Philippe Gohier on Thursday, January 28, 2010 3:50pm - 4 Comments

The truly incomparable Jean Dion outdoes himself with this indecipherable bit on prorogation (even if I wanted to translate Dion, I couldn’t):

Le citoyen, un «inconditionnel du bicaméralisme» selon ses propres termes, possède bien une collection sur cassettes Beta des meilleurs moments de l’étude des crédits budgétaires en traduction simultanée, mais cela ne lui suffit pas. «C’est du vieux stock, et je veux du neuf», a-t-il mentionné. «Or chacun sait qu’il n’y a personne comme des politiciens pour proférer des nouveautés.»

I can’t figure out if he’s making fun of the government or those who obsess about it, so I’m just going to assume he’s making fun of everyone. I love that guy.

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  • http://eugeneforseyliberal.blogspot.com EugeneForseyLiberal

    It's a bit cruel to reveal Canada's funniest and most humane columnist to Anglos and then say "but I can't translate him" Which is true. But cruel.
    PS. Latouche should return to column-writing as well. Funny & understanding of politicians on all sides, usually (sometimes his anti-federalism got the better of his writing & thinking), his anecdotes about being an aide to Lévesque, and enthusiastically proposing complicated models that ensured success, only to have Lévesque destroy them, though kindly, with remarks akin to "If I had bacon I could make bacon & eggs, if I had eggs", were lessons in witty self-denigration, and should be required reading for all proud young turks.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

    I had a friend whose French is considerably more proficient (she is near unilingual French). Before I could ask what he all said, she blurted out "Dude, WTF?!?!?" She with Gohier, he is taking the piss out of everyone.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/PhilippeG Philippe Gohier

    Even the comments on Dion's post are funny. Can either of you think of an Anglo equivalent?

  • Raman

    A few years ago, a Belgian M.a. student used Dion's texts in his thesis research. He wanted to test the average reader's ability to tolerate lapses from linguistic norms.

    http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/theses/resultats.asp?ci…

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