I don't know why you use a fancy French word like detente when there's a good English phrase for it - cold war.
quote by Golda Meir
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
I don't know why you use a fancy French word like dtente when there's a good English phrase for it - cold war.
quote by Golda Meir
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Two cows deconstruct Derrida
These two cows were ruminating
and one says, I was listening
to the milkmaid’s transistor
and this French philosopher
was explaining that there’s
no English translation of the French word
‘betise’ except ‘stupidity’ but
‘stupidity’ only refers to man
where the French ‘betise’ means
to behave like an animal…
and the other cow says
well what’s wrong with that
and the first cow says
well his point is, English cows
can’t be stupid; only man
can be stupid..
and the other cow says
well that’s a relief then
so does that mean that French cows
can be stupid
and the first cow says
no because they don’t have a word for it
in French
so the other cow says
so then is it better to be
an English cow
that can’t be stupid
or a French cow
that can’t be called stupid
and the first cow says
who cares, I’ve always said
the French ruminate too much
and then talk bullshit…
and the other cow says
I’m glad I’m a Jersey
what about that French milkmaid
I call sexyhands but
the farmer sometimes calls
a silly cow I wonder what
Derrida would say about that
poem by Michael Shepherd
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Détente
We...
You and I.
Have come to see,
Eye to eye.
Cleared are the clouds,
From misunderstandings allowed.
Détente did not come easy.
No sullen breeze,
Was this with it...
When that came!
We...
You and I,
Have come to see,
A shame we both came to claim,
To disperse and dispel...
The hell that kept us blinded!
In mindsets now left behind.
We...
You and I,
Know this détente,
Brings goodwill!
We share to give,
And this does us well.
To feel it be fulfilled
To grow and explore...
Together,
This life we live!
Letting a détente,
To flow between us as it is!
And free us of negative,
Stagnating ills that kill.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Bad For Good
BAD FOR GOOD
Music: Rudolf Schenker
Lyrics: Klaus Meine, Dieter Dierks
Bad for good
She tells it like it is
The french word of a kiss
She's so bad for good to me
She's so bad for good
She wants more of this
You can feel it with a kiss
She's as bad as she can be
The thoughts in my head
Where would they be going ?
Seems to me
It's a tough call for one to imagine
They're saying they do when I win
I look in the mirror
Reflect from the ceiling
She wears next to nothin
Next to nothin but only
A touch of perfume on her skin, oh yeeeaaaahhhhh
She's so bad for good
She tells it like it is
The french word of a kiss
She's so bad for good to me
She's so bad for good
She wants more of this
You can feel it with a kiss
She's as bad as she can be
She's so bad for good
She tells it like it is
The french word of a kiss
She's so bad for good to me
She's so bad for good
She wants more of this
You can feel it with a kiss
She's as bad as she can be
If those were my fingers
What would they be doing
Is pouring along
From head to toe like a stranger
To be once again lost and found...yeeeaaaahhhhh
She's so bad for good
She tells it like it is
The french word of a kiss
She's so bad for good to me
She's so bad for good
She wants more of this
You can feel it with a kiss
She's as bad as she can be
She's so bad for good
She's so bad for good
She's so bad for good
She's so bad for good
She's so bad for good
She's so bad for good
She's so bad for good
She's so bad for good
Bad for good
Bad for good
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
song performed by by Scorpions
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The 'l' Word
At one time she said, 'I love you'
But not now the way her life leans.
She no longer wants to say that phrase;
Wondering what it really means.
'Love' is only the English word that's
Felt the same in every nation.
She may be bi-lingual but for her,
This word loses in the translation.
Though this word has hurt us both,
Neither she nor I disdain it.
So, in trying to lay aside her fears
I'll endeavor to explain it.
For the word 'love' most writers,
Do not seem to lack words
But, I think I can examine it
By looking at it backwards.
Spelled in reverse it's 'evol' and
No matter what book you bring
If you search for the definition,
It doesn't mean anything.
But if you add two letters
Specifically 'V' and 'E'
It will now spell 'evolve',
Important in being a 'we'.
To evolve is a great concept
As love rises in the caring heart
But, here is the main caveat
To grow together and never apart.
More than some fancy word play,
It’s a recipe clear and true
That the menu of life can change if
The ingredients are the right two.
For Yana
poem by Edward Iacona
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Battle of the Herrings
A fishing action
North of France
1429 took place
Cause of battle
French vs. English
Anticipation/baited breath
River – flat plain
Set up strategy
Hook/line/sinker
British attacked first
French were slow
English bombarded fish
French did not
want to get
their shoes wet
Were most certain
outflanked by British
French counter attacked
Used Brie instead
of slippery worms
Won the fishing
competition – yelled Viva’
la fishermen French
“What was that”?
asked the English
“What’s the matter
with you cockneys
Hard of Herring? ”
'2008'
poem by Robert Sheridan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
C'est Si Bon
c'est si bon (it's so good)
De
Com
C'est si bon
Lovers say that in france
When they thrill to romance
It means that its so good
Cest si bon
So i say to you
Like the french people do
Because its oh so good.
Every word, every sigh, every kiss, dear,
Leads to only one thought
And the thought is this, dear!
Cest si bon
Nothing else can replace
Just your slyest embrace
And if you only would
Be my own for the rest of my days
I will whisper this phrase
My darling, my darling...
C'est si bon!
song performed by by Louis Armstrong
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
It was always said that the big distinction between the French and the English is that the English are intelligent and the French are intellectual.
quote by Kenneth Baker
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Oh, I'm not English, I cannot talk on behalf of an English person. I'm French. I can say about French. They are quite emotional, though, and they talk about their emotions.
quote by Sophie Marceau
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
all That Fancy Food
'ALL THAT FANCY FOOD'
After all that fancy food at Christmas in the past,
Turkey stuffing Xmas pud things that do not last
Full brekkies in the morning, snacks again at noon
Eating and drinking all day long until we see the moon
Now really what I fancy now festive time is gone,
Is plain food so English to peg me back to norm
Good old Egg and chips will get me back to form.
Dave Bennett
poem by David Bennett
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
English is a mixture
English is a mixture
You can see in theatre
English is neither paternal
Nor maternal
No word no grammer
Make english finer
Uniformity english
Make life accomplished.
poem by Gajanan Mishra
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Language That The Poor Wants To Speak
do you speak good English?
do you take pride in it and then use it to impress others
and swindle them
into a belief that they are inferior?
they have feelings too
of humiliation
which even in such a sad state
wish that their humiliation
speak good English still
they always think that English will give them
a good job
a better standing in the society
a flare of fashionable tongue
you make them cry
but still they want to speak that cry in English too
foolish!
but can you blame them?
you who hold that power and might
you who have taken all what they once had
and made them
worse within
themselves
despite which,
they still want to be like you
to speak like you
a god
how sad!
you have never known the language of love
the grammar of generosity
the syntax of sympathy
that language that good English
sometimes has forgotten
to utter
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Charles: On what submissive message art thou sent?
Lucy: Submission, Dauphin! 'tis a mere French word;
We English warriors wot not what it means.
line from Henry VI, Act IV, Scene 7, script by William Shakespeare (1590)
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
Vote! | Copy! | In Romanian
Guess
There is a certain Yankee phrase
I always have revered,
Yet, somehow, in these modern days,
It's almost disappeared;
It was the usage years ago,
But nowadays it's got
To be regarded coarse and low
To answer: 'I guess not!'
The height of fashion called the pink
Affects a British craze--
Prefers 'I fancy' or 'I think'
To that time-honored phrase;
But here's a Yankee, if you please,
That brands the fashion rot,
And to all heresies like these
He answers, 'I--guess not!'--
When Chaucer, Wycliff, and the rest
Express their meaning thus,
I guess, if not the very best,
It's good enough for us!
Why! shall the idioms of our speech
Be banished and forgot
For this vain trash which moderns teach?
Well, no, sir; I guess not!
There's meaning in that homely phrase
No other words express--
No substitute therefor conveys
Such unobtrusive stress.
True Anglo-Saxon speech, it goes
Directly to the spot,
And he who hears it always knows
The worth of 'I--guess--not!'
poem by Eugene Field
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
A New Pilgrimage: Sonnet VIII
I will sit down awhile in dalliance
With my dead life, and dream that it is young.
My earliest memories have their home in France,
The chestnut woods of Bearn and streams among,
Where first I learned to stammer the French tongue.
Fair ancient France. No railroad insolence
Had mixed her peoples then, and still men clung
Each to his ways, and viewed the world askance.
We, too, as exiles from our northern shore,
Surveyed things sparsely; and my own child's scorn
Remained, how long, a rebel to all lore
Save its lost English, nor was quite o'erborne
Till, as I swore I'd speak no French frog's word,
I swore in French, and so laid down my sword.
poem by Wilfrid Scawen Blunt
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I never had to learn English, French and German because I was brought up as all three languages. I had a private French teacher before I even went to school. That helped a lot.
quote by Karl Lagerfeld
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Like a seed
It’s impossible to force
A good piece of writing
It can only come from inspiration
It should flow from the mind
To the fingers and then
Through the keyboard
To the screen
A good piece of writing
Will come of it’s own volition
Without urging, yet with compulsion.
A certain musical phrase you’ve read
A lyrical play of words
That sticks in your mind
Can be the impetus for the lifting
Of the flood gates of inspiration
And once opened, has a compulsive
Addiction, that can be indulged freely
And yet will not be denied
Write down every sentence
or fragment thereof, any phrase
That catches your fancy
and feels good on the tongue
A good piece of writing
Has a sensual quality
That one can almost taste
As it’s written, and can be shared
Wantonly with readers
who choose to indulge
A good piece of writing
is a seed that is planted
In one’s mind, and from which
The words effortlessly grow
It can never be forced
or be pushed to the fore
It will grow from that seed
And will blossom before your eyes
It can grow freely, unfettered
From the most minute idea
But good writing, like a seed
Can never be forced to grow
poem by David Whalen
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I began thinking there should be an American phrase book, 'cause I've got an Italian phrase book, and an Arabic one... now a British one. I think it'd be pretty good to have an American phrase book.
quote by Joe Strummer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I Learn And Study English
- Let’s start from the very beginning!
- Ok, I know, it’s a very good place to start.
- If you want to know how to read
you have to learn the alphabet.
As far as we are not in a race
you can face 26 letters in one phrase.
“The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog”.
Now we’ll have some dialogue.
You’ll see how new words appear,
I hope everything will be clear.
For example: to admire – admiration,
to inspire – inspiration. Now you, please!
And pray be at your ease!
- To desire – desiration.
- Oops! My voice whoops!
Well, when you study English
you have to distinguish:
one goose but many geese.
-What about a moose?
Are they meese?
- A lone mouse can transform into…
a whole set of mice,
but… it’s impossible for a single house
to become a whole block of hice.
- Ok, a house – houses.
Why not a mouse – mouses?
- A tooth but teeth, a foot but feet.
If I speak of a foot
and you show me your feet.
- And if I give you a boot
would a pair be called beet?
Can I say a root
and in plural form reet?
- Let’s make this question complete!
There are a lot of exceptions
in the language of British nations.
Anyway, the rules are the tools
for learning the language,
and together with the exceptions
it is something like a sandwich.
Let’s go on! - said my teacher with a yawn.
A lot of time has already gone,
I am not going to stay here until the dawn.
Do you like to read?
- Of course! The books are the source of information,
to learn the language formation.
- Ok, then you are a reader.
- If I like to write I am a writer, am I not?
- Oh, yes! Something I forgot.
Let’s take an easy word “ball”.
- Yes, I like to play football.
- Good! Now open the ball!
- What do you mean by that?
I am not a rat so that to cut the ball.
It’s not funny at all.
- You are kidding!
- Oh, no! I am not a kid!
I would like to know where the meaning of that “ball” lead.
- Ok, in that phrase “ball” has the meaning of a party,
but… a bit more arty.
- There are a lot of other English words I can’t understand.
Why do they call all men gentlemen?
Are they all gentle?
This word looks so fundamental.
If a man is rude can I say a rudeman?
I wouldn’t like to look like a clown
That’s why I ask you again:
Will the difference remain
If I say: shut up or shut down?
I would also like to know:
If we say a teacher taught
why can’t we say: a preacher praught?
If people from Poland are called “Poles”
Why aren’t people from Holland called “Holes”
- Ok, I think our time has gone
and the whole picture of English was not yet drawn.
But at the end of our lesson I would like say:
You were lying all day.
- Oh, no! That’s not true!
I lay on the sofa just several times.
You had better tell me:
With just what “lie” rhymes?
Larisa R (Odessa, Ukraine)
poem by Larisa Rzhepishevska
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Goodbyes (Cinquain)
Final
Pains receiver
One English word torments
Said or unsaid it devastates-
'Goodbyes.'
--- ---------------
Quote: 'Goodbye is one word that is never really good.'
poem by Cynthia Buhain-Baello
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!