Ah shit, mes jeans ne me font plus
Maude Schiltz’s book Ah shit, j’ai pogné le cancer (tome 1) is such a treasure trove of French written in a down-to-earth, conversational style that I always have trouble deciding what we should look at next.
Today, I picked something from her book that I think a lot of us can relate to after winter — jeans that don’t quite fit like they did before winter. All those Timbits really add up, you know?
In Maude’s case though, her jeans don’t fit because of chemotherapy. The treatment has caused her to gain weight. Maude describes her experience:
J’ai eu une phase où je mangeais comme un ogre, mais depuis, mon appétit est revenu à ce qu’il était, et pourtant je continue à trouver mes jeans de plus en plus tight chaque fois que j’essaie de les mettre. D’ailleurs la plupart ne me font plus. Câlisse.
I went through a phase where I ate like a beast but, since then, my appetite has returned to normal — and yet I still find my jeans getting tighter and tighter every time I try to put them on. As a matter of fact, most of them don’t fit me anymore. Fuck.
The part in particular that made me choose this quote was where Maude says: la plupart [de mes jeans] ne me font plus. More than once I’ve noticed a French-language learner hesitate when wanting to talk about a piece of clothing that doesn’t fit.
Mes jeans ne me font plus.
My jeans don’t fit me anymore.
On the other hand, if an article of clothing te fait bien, it fits and looks good on you. Ça te fait bien ce chandail-là!
_ _ _
French quote written by Maude Schiltz in Ah shit, j’ai pogné le cancer (tome 1), Éditions de Mortagne, Boucherville (Québec), 2013, page 186.
You can follow Maude on Facebook through the link right above.
Et quand on est sur le sujet de vêtements, est-ce que « a pair of pants » est « un pantalon » ou « des pantalons » au Québec ? Moi je dis « des pantalons » mais je crois que c’est à cause d’entendre beaucoup de chiac quotidiennement.
Les deux, au Québec.
https://offqc.com/2014/04/29/funny-expression-used-in-quebec-related-to-pants-that-are-too-short-776/
Hi, what’s up? Just curious, in speech, how do you distinguish between ‘tight’ and ‘tête’?
Hey Ethan, you’re right; you’ll hear the French word ‘tête’ end up sounding similar to ‘tight’. It’s due to what’s known as ‘diphtongaison’ in French. As with any two similar-sounding words, the context will always provide the clues you need to figure out which word you heard.