Steve, That translation makes a lot more sense. I did a little translation and saw that the word "sein" does mean breast and that "jus" is a colloquialism for semen. I obviously jumped to the "obscene" conclusion. Tom Hansen Los Angeles, CA. USA
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of Steven Maasland Sent: Saturday, May 02, 2009 10:26 PM To: CR Subject: [CR] Recently ended Medici & Herse
Tom wrote about the recently ended Herse auction:
"Hey Guys, I am the nudnik who bought the Herse on Ebay ... (snipped)... By the way, there was a French phrase on the Herse ad that wasn't translated into English on the site. I think it's vaguely obscene."
I was the one who supplied the English translation to the seller. I had translated the whole description but he decided not to include the one phrase that Tom was questioning, namely: "le cadre est sein, vendu dans son jus". In colloquial French this would mean: "The frame is sound, sold in well-used shape" The seller made a spelling mistake when he wrote "sein" which is the French word for breast. He meant to write the homonym "sain" which means healthy or sound. The phrase "dans son jus" translates literally to mean "in its gravy", but in general parlance means "as is, in a well-used state."
As mentioned previously, if I have the time, I am more than willing to freely help any CR list member with translation problems relating to bike purchases whenever possible.
Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ
USA