July 01, 2009

Fond de l'air

Hi,

This is a classic of untranslatable French words/idioms. You simply cannot convey (at least not in English, maybe someone can help me discover a language that can) the meaning of the French word "fond de l'air" which is used only in the sentence "Le fond de l'air est frais." "Fond de l'air" literally means the bottom of the air (not as in arse but more like in the bottom of the glass). The whole sentence means that the weather is sunny and you could be tricked into thinking that it is summertime, the air is warm and in parading in your bikini when in fact the air is quite cool (not in a refreshing and welcome way) and the weather is just waiting for you to stop being on your guard to give you a nasty cold.

Typical dialogue:
- Il ya du soleil aujourd'hui, il fait bon. (It's sunny and warm today.)
- Mmm, il faut se méfier, le fond de l'air est frais ! (Mmm, you have to take care, le fond de l'air est frais !).

Great project by the way, I like it and will try to help circulate the call,
Sandra
myperfidealbionhome.over-blog.com

Posted by dwaber at July 1, 2009 06:10 PM