Help! What does that mean in English??????!!

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

A Corinthian is a Regency buck who is crazy about sports, such as horse racing, boxing, that sort of thing. He's usually in really good shape from all the physical activity.

[Eastofoz]

Ladiibbug wrote: "Anyone know what a "Corinthian" is? It's not a foreign(non-English) word, but I've seen it lately and have no clue. Thanks!"

Well off the bat I thought that it was just someone from ancient Corinth but then I figured that you wouldn't have asked if it was that easy (lol!) so I looked it up and it's a "playboy" or "a man devoted to pleasure" apparently ---look at all this stuff you learn by reading I tell ya (lol!) ;)

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

Definitely.

[Ladiibbug]

Aha, thanks all!

East, you looked it up? *blush* I guess I could have done that, LOL.

Auntee, the old Ricardo Montalban car commercial is what I thought of as well " ... rich Corinthian leather".

[Eastofoz]

Ladiibbug wrote: "Aha, thanks all!

East, you looked it up? *blush* I guess I could have done that, LOL."

I was intrigued (lol!) I'm a dictionary lover so it was no trouble ;)

[Auntee]

Came across this in Destined for an Early Grave (in French, East?)

"Partir de la femme de mon maitre"

[Eastofoz]

It makes no sense Auntee :( Syntax-wise it's a mess. Maybe if you give me the sentence before and after I can guess (lol!) Literally it means "to leave the wife of my master/my master's woman" aka "makes no sense" ;)

[Auntee]

No, I think that's it, East. Here's how it goes...

Bones appeared stunned as well. "Partir de la femme de mon maitre," he murmured. "That's what one of Gregor's vampires yelled at me before he ran. So that's why Gregor is so obsessed with her."

Thanks!:)

[new_user]

LOL. That's what I was thinking, East. The tense is wrong. That's the problem with authors using unfamiliar languages, not that I don't appreciate the effort and the attempt to broaden horizons, LOL.

[Eastofoz]

NU you'd think that these are smart people writing so the smart person would ask a native speaker or at least someone who knows the language instead of writing stuff that makes no sense. It never ceases to amaze me that this is rarely the case :-/

[Dina]

This pisses me off too. I lost count of the times I've seen Brazilian characters speaking Spanish or having Spanish/Italian names. How hard is it to find a native speaker and do a quick research nowadays? With the internet, we're just a click away.

[Eastofoz]

LOL! That's a good one Dina! 8-)

[Pamela(AllHoney)]

Dina wrote: "This pisses me off too. I lost count of the times I've seen Brazilian characters speaking Spanish or having Spanish/Italian names. How hard is it to find a native speaker and do a quick research no..."

I never would have known if not for having a Brazilian exchange student. :)

[new_user]

Yeah, we have so many resources nowadays, and it never hurts to ask.

[Stamatia]

I'm seriously bugged by Sherrilyn Kenyon whose plots I otherwise love. She has her characters speak what she thinks of as Greek but most of the time it's gibberish! Why doesn't she consult a Greek speaker? They are not THAT hard to find!(end of rave)

[Dina]

Stamatia wrote: "I'm seriously bugged by Sherrilyn Kenyon whose plots I otherwise love. She has her characters speak what she thinks of as Greek but most of the time it's gibberish! Why doesn't she consult a Greek ..."

Those Harlequin books are full of Greek billionaires. Kenyon could easily consult one of them, don't you think? (LOL)

[Stamatia]

Oh God, they slipped my mind but most of them are even worse than Kenyon's work. What annoys me with Ms Kenyon is that the bad Greek tend to spoil my enjoyment of her books!
If you believe Harlequin more than half of the Greek male population are millionaires, I wonder where they live that the rest of us don't get to meet them :P

[Dina]

Well, those Greek hunks never marry Greek women, that's why you don't get to meet them. ;)

[Eastofoz]

Dina wrote: "Well, those Greek hunks never marry Greek women, that's why you don't get to meet them. ;)"

LOL! It's true those Greek guys are always gazillionaires in the books.

[Julianna]

The Gaelen Foley book I just finished had a Russian bad guy, so there were a few Russian phrases scattered throughout the book. Since I don't speak any foreign languages, I wouldn't know if authors who use them are getting it right or not unless it's a word or phrase I recognize. Anyway, I was impressed when I read in her author's note at the end of the book that she had consulted with Sylvia Day, who used to work as a Russian linguist for U.S. Army Intelligence before becoming a romance novelist. So kudos to Galen Foley for doing it right.:-)

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

Oh, I so love Russian men. Which book was that, Julie? I should make friends with Sylvia Day so I can use her as a resource for my Russian hero stories I am writing.

[new_user]

LOL, Danielle. She is on GR, though I couldn't tell you how active she is. That's cool that Foley consulted with Day. Way to use your resources. :)

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

Well at least I know how to get in touch with her, NU. :)

[Julianna]

Danielle wrote: "Oh, I so love Russian men. Which book was that, Julie? I should make friends with Sylvia Day so I can use her as a resource for my Russian hero stories I am writing."

The book was One Night of Sin, but be warned, the Russian guy in this one is a super baddie.:-) There were a couple of minor secondary Russian characters, an ambassador and a spy, who were good guys though.

[Melanie]

Stamatia wrote: "Oh God, they slipped my mind but most of them are even worse than Kenyon's work. What annoys me with Ms Kenyon is that the bad Greek tend to spoil my enjoyment of her books!
If you believe Harlequ..."

I have a question: I know that modern greek is different than ancient greek: is it possible that it's the latter Sherrilyn uses? My ancient greek is rusty and I haven't read her books in a while, but I was just wondering.. And may I say that it's great to have a greek speaker here:-)

If anyone needs italian, german, spanish or french translated, let me know:-)

[Stamatia]

Well I'm positive that she studied ancient Greek somewhere along the way but the way she uses some of it in some phrases isn't correct for the Ancient form of the language either. The grammar hasn't changed dramatically along the centuries just some of the words..Let me just say that I LIKE MS Kenyon's storylines and most of her heroes too, it's just that I find her misuse of my native language a bit annoying and it detracts from her otherwise quite enjoyable books

[Melanie]

Lol... That I can understand! I sometimes read sentences in French or Italian that mean absolutely NOTHING!!! :-) And it is annoying... Having not studied Ancient Greek in years, I was just wondering :-) Thanks for the clarification!!!:-)

[Auntee]

I'm reading the anthology Wedding Favors and Nikita Black's story is filled with French phrases spoken by the hero (It takes place in New Orleans, and I think he's Cajun or Creole). Some of them I can figure out, some of them she provides a translation, but some have me stumped. Here's a sampling if anyone can help me out...

maison
Putain de foutre.
"Historical foutu landmark, mon cul." (I think I can figure this one out)
"Complètement fou."
Bordel de merde.

[Eastofoz]

Here goes Auntee:

maison = house

putain de foutre must be Creole because I've never heard the two together (not like I'm a "bad word" expert or anything though Auntee--lol!). Putain is a prostitute or a slut but it can also be used as a swear word like "shit". Foutre is "f*ck". Can't really give you an English equivalent but it's safe to say that the person is angry :)

foutu in that sentence can mean damn/god damn/f*cking depends how mad the person is
mon cul is "my ass" so that lovely sentence would likely be: "Historical f--ing landmark, my ass" (an expression of incredulity --lol!)

Complètement fou= totally crazy/cracked/wacked/nuts

Bordel de merde = something along the lines of "Jesus F*cking Christ/Jesus H Christ/For f*ck's sake/F*ck almighty etc etc :p

What an lovely bit of literature you're reading there Auntee :p

[Auntee]

LOL, the hero certainly has a potty mouth, doesn't he?!
Thank you for that, East.:) Verrrry interesting!

[Auntee]

Here's how putain de foutre was used:

Thwarted. Again.
Putain de foutre. F*cking hell. This was all that damned fountain's fault.

[Eastofoz]

You're welcome Auntee :) I'd say that "f*cking hell" is the translation there for Putain de foutre.

[Auntee]

I agree.;)

[Caty]

wow! this thread is great!!!
I'll be over here, my first language is spanish so i'll be glad to help with any traducción you may need :P
I'm more used to it by now (and thank god for urbandictionary dot com) but still, sometimes i get lost with expressions, so i'll be asking a lot too

[Eastofoz]

The more the merrier Caty :)

[Auntee]

Got another one, please...
Salleau prie--what does it mean?

[Eastofoz]

Maybe that's how they spell it in Cajun French so I'm going by "sounds like" Auntee. It's normally spelled "saloperie" and it can mean anything from garbage to shit depending on the intensity. I'd guess it's likely "what a piece of shit/crap" if it's the same character who used the choice vocabulary above (lol!)

[Auntee]

No, it's probably just "shit" because the hero is looking at the heroine (naked, of course) and he's thinking "Salleau prie, she's stunning."
Yeah, this hero likes to swear--a lot!:)
Thank you!

[Caty]

Auntee, what book are you reading?

[Eastofoz]

That's strange to use that in that context but it could be a regional thing. More of a "Holy shit (or another "Jesus Christ"), she's stunning"

[Tonya]

I just saw a post from a lady on another website that said "I grew up speaking french, but not parisian french, it's a cajun french that nobody seems to understand but us." She says: "Salleau prie" means Doggonit, or Damnit.

[Eastofoz]

Thanks for letting us know Tonya :) Weird how it's less "intense" than the French from France (that expression I mean).

Auntee, maybe you could go with a "look of awe" 'holy shit' --lol!

[Auntee]

How interesting! Maybe he doesn't have quite the potty mouth then? That is weird, huh East?

Caty, the book is Wedding Favors by Nikita Black and others.

[Lizz (Beer, Books and Boos)]

Kathrynn wrote: "In Texas, we are becoming northern Mexico...We have all Spanish commercials once in awhile now and some businesses are all in Spanish.

Almost everywhere there are Spanish/English signs...

"

Yeah I know where are.

[Auntee]

Does anyone know what the Italian words "La fidanzata" mean in English?

[Pamela(AllHoney)]

Auntee, I think it means either fiance or girlfriend.

[Harlequin Books]

I agree with Pamela. It means girlfriend.

[Stamatia]

It means "the fiancee"

[Auntee]

Okay, thanks--either one works for me!:)

[Eastofoz]

Yup it's often "the fiancée" (the girl one that is--lol!) or a more serious girlfriend.