Ce n’est pas banal = It’s out of the ordinary. I have to be careful not to use commun when I mean banal. It’s a trap I’m always falling into.
Thinking of mondaine I saw Kim Kardashian described in French as la bimbo télévisuelle the other day, which I thought was wonderful. I loved that in a French regional newspaper you have to spell out who she is, but I assume ‘bimbo’ doesn’t have quite the perjorative connotations in French that it does in English.
Rosemary Kneipp
March 1st, 2014 at 9:32 pm
Yes, that’s what ce n’est pas banal means. Common and commun are more false cognates – commun often means joint.
I love your story about bimbo – one of those words that the French have adopted without knowing the register. Haven’t come up with an equivalent in French yet.
Love this post – these are always so interesting! I had no idea about mondain – I’m going to be looking for it in conversations. 🙂
Rosemary Kneipp
March 1st, 2014 at 9:32 pm
Thanks! Let me know if you have any words you want me to do a post on!
Pamela
March 2nd, 2014 at 12:58 pm
Very interesting. Before reading this I thought mondain translated as worldly. But I don’t quite understand what the French mean by bimbo if it has a different meaning from the English?
Also now that I’ve learnt ce n’est pas banal means out of the ordinary. What is the connotation of ce n’est pas normal?
C’est normal – seems to be used a lot. Can the negative form also mean out of the ordinary? Or does it have a more negative association? Cheers, Pamela
Rosemary Kneipp
March 2nd, 2014 at 9:28 pm
Hi Pamela. It’s true, I could have mentioned worldly but it didn’t occur to me. In French, we would probably say “quelqu’un qui a de l’expérience” ou maybe “un homme averti”.
By bimbo I think they mean the same thing as in English, except that they don’t realise it’s quite so derogatory.
Il est 10 heures et il n’est pas chez lui. Ce n’est pas normal would mean “It’s 10 o’clock and he’s not home. That’s most unusual”.
C’est normal, on the other hand, has quite a lot of different meanings. How about I use it for my next Friday’s French?
Gerry
August 16th, 2014 at 9:45 pm
when folks relate a personal experience and the listeners find the story “peu banale”, what does that mean?
Rosemary Kneipp
August 18th, 2014 at 10:07 am
Hi Gerry, it’s so typical of the French way of replying negatively. “Peu banale” literally means its not ordinary, so it’s like saying “what an unusual story” or “what an exceptional thing to have happened”. Does that fit your context?
Ce n’est pas banal = It’s out of the ordinary. I have to be careful not to use commun when I mean banal. It’s a trap I’m always falling into.
Thinking of mondaine I saw Kim Kardashian described in French as la bimbo télévisuelle the other day, which I thought was wonderful. I loved that in a French regional newspaper you have to spell out who she is, but I assume ‘bimbo’ doesn’t have quite the perjorative connotations in French that it does in English.
Yes, that’s what ce n’est pas banal means. Common and commun are more false cognates – commun often means joint.
I love your story about bimbo – one of those words that the French have adopted without knowing the register. Haven’t come up with an equivalent in French yet.
Love this post – these are always so interesting! I had no idea about mondain – I’m going to be looking for it in conversations. 🙂
Thanks! Let me know if you have any words you want me to do a post on!
Very interesting. Before reading this I thought mondain translated as worldly. But I don’t quite understand what the French mean by bimbo if it has a different meaning from the English?
Also now that I’ve learnt ce n’est pas banal means out of the ordinary. What is the connotation of ce n’est pas normal?
C’est normal – seems to be used a lot. Can the negative form also mean out of the ordinary? Or does it have a more negative association? Cheers, Pamela
Hi Pamela. It’s true, I could have mentioned worldly but it didn’t occur to me. In French, we would probably say “quelqu’un qui a de l’expérience” ou maybe “un homme averti”.
By bimbo I think they mean the same thing as in English, except that they don’t realise it’s quite so derogatory.
Il est 10 heures et il n’est pas chez lui. Ce n’est pas normal would mean “It’s 10 o’clock and he’s not home. That’s most unusual”.
C’est normal, on the other hand, has quite a lot of different meanings. How about I use it for my next Friday’s French?
when folks relate a personal experience and the listeners find the story “peu banale”, what does that mean?
Hi Gerry, it’s so typical of the French way of replying negatively. “Peu banale” literally means its not ordinary, so it’s like saying “what an unusual story” or “what an exceptional thing to have happened”. Does that fit your context?