Felicitous

When I was teaching French I used to gather bilingual copy in an attempt to inculcate in students an appreciation for the well-turned phrase. A wrapper of Christie Premium Plus Biscuits/Crackers supplied me with this lovely pairing which comes across as a wee bit of bilingual verse.

CRUNCH!
CROUCHE-CROUCHE!

Humpty Dumpty offers in English:

Old Fashion Style
CHIPS
Crispy
Crunchy
Good

which in French runs with a claim of no better than

RIEN DE MIEUX QUE NOS
CHIPS
à L'ancienne
Croustillantes
Croquantes
Savoureuses

And of course I love to pull up examples of unilingual feats — "S'il-vous-poulet!" from advertising copy from the poultry marketing board appearing in the March 1, 1990 edition of L'Actualité. It's a play on words likely to appeal not just to the beginning student of French but to anyone with a taste for the smart line.

And so for day 749
31.12.2008