French for sailors

[Neil_Y]

I've never in ......lots of years called up a marina, just head in and the visitors pontoon is usually fairly clear or the location is detailed in the pilotage book.

Same in france....drive in sometimes at busy places in the summer you are met by a launch but otherwise tie up and go and see the office.

 

[macd]

I imagine Googling for Naughty Marina would give even more interesting results

Well that was the point: googling "nice marina" rather unexpectedly produced a spate of results for the place called "Nice". No doubt Cyril would have been impressed.

"Sh*te marina" I didn't google, although no doubt we can all think of lots of...er...hits.

 

[LittleSister]

I've never in ......lots of years called up a marina, just head in

I take it your boat doesn't have a long keel?

 

[Neil_Y]

I take it your boat doesn't have a long keel?

Good point, most of them didn't.

The Rival 38 never wanted to reverse so we parked it where it chose to stop.

 

[Neil_Y]

A friend swears he was present when a group of visiting French dignitaries were greeted by his boss in slightly mangled french with the phrase "J'espere que vous sentirez tous un acceuil chaud" - I hope that you all will feel a warm welcome.
Unfortunately all present heard him say "J'espere que vous sentirez tous mon couille chaud", which means something slightly different.

Off thread slightly but be careful when in Sweden ordering the chocolate balls you will see in every cafe, or just use English. In my best Swedish I ordered chocolate testicles, friends told me afterwards as the shop assistant was very polite (or Swedish)

 

[john_q]

Check out https://www.amazon.co.uk/French-Cruisers-Boaters-Complete-Language/dp/0967590515, I have used the Spanish version and it is very helpful

 

[DownWest]

Off thread slightly but be careful when in Sweden ordering the chocolate balls you will see in every cafe, or just use English. In my best Swedish I ordered chocolate testicles, friends told me afterwards as the shop assistant was very polite (or Swedish)

One needs to be careful about tomatoes in Portuguese as well. Slang for testicles.
To Add: And REALLY don't ask for a Cona Coffee machine, as a friend of mine did. He got slung out of the shop.

 

[Wansworth]

There’s a new car with the name KONA in Spain

 

[escapism]

I get so embarrassed trying to describe the item I need in French/Belgian/Walloon chandlers/bricos, situated in some God-forsaken Zone Industriel or equivalent that I've taken to the simple alternative of slapping the offending article on the counter and muttering "Je voudrais quelque-chose comme ca", to be followed in cases of poor service with an gravelly spoken "J'ai besoin de quelque-chose comme ca". This seems to be taken as a prelude to potential armed robbery, so the rope, filter, tubing (pour chaud), winch handle, or whatever eventually appears. I'm happy, and the price doesn't seem overly inflated. I hate to think how a monoglot francophone would cope with Toolstation or Screwfix. I've also no idea if my phrases are grammatically correct, but they seem to work.