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PEEL - The Futurama Message Board    General Futurama Forum Category    Re-Check/Weird Scenes    French a dead language or not « previous next »
Author Topic: French a dead language or not  (Read 3381 times)
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raybow55

Delivery Boy
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« on: 07-02-2003 16:09 »

In episode 'S02E15: A Clone of My Own'The proffesor was showing Hubert his half invented machines, they came across a gadjet called the universal translator, which unfortunetly colud translate French a dead language which no longer existed in the year 3000. As when Hubert said hello the machine sais Bonjour. But....
In episode 'S03E12: Insane in the Mainframe'
Bender was pretending to be napoleon inside the metal institution,he was even speaking and singing in french. He even said 'BONJOUR' when the crew came to visit Fry. This is totally freaking me out.  :hmpf:
raybow55

Delivery Boy
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« Reply #1 on: 07-02-2003 16:17 »

why is it like this
Tjoppen
Delivery Boy
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« Reply #2 on: 07-02-2003 17:10 »

My guess: Only the most popular phrases and songs survived. Everything else is dead. Noone knows what it means, but it sounds cool.
Teral

Helpy McHelphelp
DOOP Secretary
*
« Reply #3 on: 07-02-2003 17:22 »

French in Futurama is much like Latin today. It's a dead language, incomprehensible to the vast majority of the population, or as Farnsworth put it "crazy jibberish". Still some Latin phrases have survived. Most people understand what "Veni Vidi Vici" or "ergo" means.

Similar with French- Most people know bonjour means hello, and other common words, but the language as such is dead and incomprehensible.

Welcome to PEEL, raybow55. Enjoy it here.
Xmpel

Liquid Emperor
**
« Reply #4 on: 07-02-2003 17:24 »

Don't doublepost. Also the Professors gargoyle Huzoozoo spoke French in the end of "Teenage mutant Leelas hurdles" but it's supposed to be dead even if they do wrong from time to time.

But in SP3K at the first countdown (for the year 2000) the Frenchs say "neuf" wich means "nine" but in the second countdown the frenchs say whatever number they say in English. This was mentioned in the DVD commentaries. Kind of cool that they knew it was going to be a dead language but didn't say so until season 2.
Jolly Mon

Bending Unit
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« Reply #5 on: 07-02-2003 17:30 »

I'm siding with Teral.  I think he has the right idea.
Speli

Urban Legend
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« Reply #6 on: 07-02-2003 17:32 »

In "The Sting", the professor also made the comment about the guillotine being from France... So er...
El Zilcho

Professor
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« Reply #7 on: 07-02-2003 17:48 »

True, but he pronounces it "gill-o-tine" and not the French "gee-o-tine". France still exists, but they speak English instead of French.
fromage

Starship Captain
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« Reply #8 on: 07-02-2003 22:47 »

They still have the eiffel tower and it's now hoovering!
Kryten

Space Pope
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« Reply #9 on: 07-02-2003 23:16 »

Everyone knows that in the future, all French people have English accents.
Gocad

Space Pope
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« Reply #10 on: 07-03-2003 01:13 »

 
Quote
Originally posted by Kryten:
Everyone knows that in the future, all French people have English accents.

Just like Captain Picard!   :D
fromage

Starship Captain
****
« Reply #11 on: 07-03-2003 07:36 »

yeah... let's talk about a french character played by Patrick Stewart...

But seriously, I just saw 28 days later and let me tell you that the UK is DOOMED!! So I guess the french language will not die!

Anyway, english canadians have tried to kill the french language in the past and it never worked! HA!
beck

Bending Unit
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« Reply #12 on: 07-03-2003 07:47 »

Oh, French is soo dead in Futurama! Remember, when Zapp and Leela were trying to make an impression on each other in 1ACV04 / LLLIS, they both didn't remember how to pronounce french-origin words correctly. (champaigne and  connoisseur respectively)
Stuart

Bending Unit
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« Reply #13 on: 07-03-2003 09:32 »

 
Quote
Originally posted by fromage:
They still have the eiffel tower and it's now hoovering!

You mean hovering? Either way it sounds cool.
Sil

Professor
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« Reply #14 on: 07-03-2003 10:15 »

I thought the 'connoisseur' thing was a joke that she was taking the piss?

Anyway, I think that French was intended to be dead, but the fact that Bender's pretending to be Napoleon and speaking French would back up his plea of insanity, that he can speak a language that doesn't exist anymore. Sort of.
JDHannan

Bending Unit
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« Reply #15 on: 07-03-2003 12:46 »

Sil> taking the piss?!?!
Beck, my new favorite goat, you're wrong again.
Zapp mispronounced champagne cuz he's dumb.
Leela mispronounced connoisseur cuz she was making fun of Zapp even tho it went over his head.
Jolly Mon

Bending Unit
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« Reply #16 on: 07-03-2003 19:24 »

And Leela said champagne correctly when she was correcting Zapp.
VelourFog

Space Pope
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« Reply #17 on: 07-03-2003 20:06 »

 
Quote
Originally posted by JDHannan:

Leela mispronounced connoisseur cuz she was making fun of Zapp even tho it went over his head.

and it went over beck's head as well
kwigibo

Crustacean
*
« Reply #18 on: 07-03-2003 23:07 »

Zoidberg says 'Je accuse' (sp?) in bendless love when they find out bender has been bending things. That's a somewhat more obscure phrase, especially for an alien, as french is a dead language. But, the delivery is hilarious so i let it slide.
beck

Bending Unit
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« Reply #19 on: 07-04-2003 01:45 »

[JDHannan
 
Quote
Beck, my new favorite goat, you're wrong again.
Zapp mispronounced champagne cuz he's dumb.
Leela mispronounced connoisseur cuz she was making fun of Zapp even tho it went over his head.

I'll excuse you the goat thing, JDH, though I  really don't like how it sounds. Someone got to stop the useless argument, which can't result in nothing, so let it be me (jeez, If I even wanted to kick your ass I'd have to ask you for invitation to Canada. Oh yes, and air ticket  :)) And excuse my poor English, you were making fun of in another thread, closed by now. Unfortunately, I don't live in English dominion, so don't have too much of an opportunity to study it. btw, what do the words "cuz" and "tho" mean?  :)

About 1BDI - with all my respect to her fans here it's highly improbable that she's actually capable of making fun of anything as (unfortunately) she's got no sense of humour.

And I wouldn't think Zapp mispronounced champagne just cuz (see - I'm learning) he's dumb. May be he heard wrong version from somebody before. But the fact, wrong version exists kind of proves that there's no French language and people start forgetting the correct pronunciation. The same about Leela's mistake.
Killbot Bot Jnr
Bending Unit
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« Reply #20 on: 07-04-2003 02:10 »

Well maybe it's just that the prof doesn't recognise the language for some reason.

Or maybe his brain just stroked off for a while and he forgot.
Beamer

DOOP Secretary
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« Reply #21 on: 07-04-2003 02:27 »

I would agree with Teral here - even though the French language is supposedly dead in the future, some phrases still survived and are recognisable in society (just like the latin language and roman numerals are today).
PCC Fred

Space Pope
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« Reply #22 on: 07-04-2003 05:23 »

 
Quote
Originally posted by beck:
And I wouldn't think Zapp mispronounced champagne just cuz (see - I'm learning) he's dumb. May be he heard wrong version from somebody before. But the fact, wrong version exists kind of proves that there's no French language and people start forgetting the correct pronunciation. The same about Leela's mistake.

"champagne" and "connoisseur" are words used regularly in English, so even if French itself died out the words would still be used regularly, and people wouldn't forget the proper pronunciation.

Also, later in the episode, Leela corrects Zapp after he mispronounces "champagne" a second time, which means she, at least, knows the proper pronunciation.

All this suggests that Zapp is that dumb, and Leela was making fun of him by deliberately mispronoucing "connoisseur".
beck

Bending Unit
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« Reply #23 on: 07-04-2003 05:33 »

Well, sounds convincing. The only doubtful thing for me now is Leela making fun of smb. or smth. Just don't remember if that ever happened.
PCC Fred

Space Pope
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« Reply #24 on: 07-04-2003 05:35 »

Don't forget that Zapp had really pissed her off by that point.
Sil

Professor
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« Reply #25 on: 07-04-2003 13:06 »

 
Quote
Originally posted by JDHannan:
Leela mispronounced connoisseur cuz she was making fun of Zapp even tho it went over his head.

Look, JD - I don't know if I'm not articulating well enough or something, but this point above was exactly what I meant - taking the piss out of someone is pretty much the same as making fun of someone in my experience, but maybe that's just me.
PCC Fred

Space Pope
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« Reply #26 on: 07-04-2003 21:43 »

Zapp pissed Leela off, so she started taking the piss.  Try figuring that one out JD!  :p
JDHannan

Bending Unit
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« Reply #27 on: 07-05-2003 06:00 »
« Last Edit on: 07-05-2003 06:00 »

i have never in my life heard the expression "taking the piss"
thats all i wanted to know was wtf that meant
also, i thot i posted this, but it mightve crapped out on me...
Holy Flood!  174 posts in 16 days by Sil!
at one point it was exactly 14/day but now its dropped to not quite 11.
EVERY DAY FOR 16 days!   :eek:
*low whistle*
Sil

Professor
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« Reply #28 on: 07-12-2003 07:15 »

OK fair enuff.  :)

And is there like a limit on how much I can post now? I'm sorry if that's annoying to people, and I'll give it a rest - it's a little character trait of mine that when I'm interested in something I totally throw myself into it.  I'm sorry if that's a problem.
1969

Crustacean
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« Reply #29 on: 07-14-2003 14:28 »

You've never heard 'Taking the piss?' Jeez...

Sil - Get a life... really.  :) Spending that much time on a Futurama msg board can't be healthy  ;)
boingo2000

Liquid Emperor
**
« Reply #30 on: 07-14-2003 14:56 »

In X-Mas Story, there's some alien writing on a building that translates to "Joyeux Noel!"  So maybe French has just gone into hiding.
canned eggs

Space Pope
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« Reply #31 on: 07-14-2003 15:26 »

"Joyeux Noex"
...'cause it's French for...X-mas...

There's some French in Spanish Fry, too, but I forgot it.  I'll write it down when I rewatch the ep in a couple hours.
boingo2000

Liquid Emperor
**
« Reply #32 on: 07-14-2003 15:31 »

Yeah, I remmeber now.  At the time, I just discarded noex, thought I had translated wrong.
canned eggs

Space Pope
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« Reply #33 on: 07-17-2003 01:44 »

The French in Spanish Fry is "Bonjour," again, and the box of wine Bender offers the Omicronians says "Monsieur Carton" on the side.

Most of the French spotted in the show is consistent with the language being dead, but still remembered enough that people will recognize it as a stylistic choice, even if they don't know it.  This makes Farnsworth's inability to recognize the French coming out of the translator seem like the real mystery.
Chriswell

Bending Unit
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« Reply #34 on: 07-17-2003 02:04 »

JDH for future reference:
Quote
take the piss:
make fun off, deride
and
piss take:
to tease, ridicule
also
take the mickey:
make fun off, mock

-cs
green-gesus

Bending Unit
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« Reply #35 on: 07-17-2003 14:01 »

I don't think Prof F's reaction to the translator was indicating he didn't know what the words were saying, rather he thought the use of them was ridiculous. Like having someone from canada using some African tribe slang. Or a yuppy using linux. It doesn't make sense and makes them look desperate for a certein look. Same with using the French language, You diG?
Vintage Dave

Bending Unit
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« Reply #36 on: 07-17-2003 21:06 »

Or an American saying "taking the piss".  In the US, Oz-speak is as opaque as the first dose of AL1.  Thanks for the pocket reference, Chriswell.
Britz

Starship Captain
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« Reply #37 on: 07-20-2003 03:19 »

Has it occured that's it's not a dead language at all? I mean they were basically proving at that point that the Professor was a senile old coot, If French was truely dead how could he have programmed the translator to it in the first place? now in his twilight years he believes French to be jibberish when it really isn't.
Vintage Dave

Bending Unit
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« Reply #38 on: 07-20-2003 03:50 »

We've known it's dead since the pilot.
During the Y3K countdown, the French yell "Seven!"

I think the translator is miswired: it produces gibberish which just happens to be identical to French.  There are other examples of that kind of hilarious capriciousness all through the series.

At first, I boggled when characters would occasionally spout French phrases.  Then it occurred to me that they might have played with the translator and heard some noises they liked.
Later I realized that MG and DXC were just playing with our heads.  And a fine play it is.
Bring it on, baby!
SQFreak

Professor
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« Reply #39 on: 07-21-2003 12:42 »

 
Quote
Originally posted by fromage:
They still have the eiffel tower and it's now hoovering!

All right! A 986-foot tall vacuum cleaner!
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