h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Literal meaning : "nana"= girl/ woman; "gonzesse"= woman/cow; "nŽnette"= young thing, Now this is a serious subject, this business of what you can call girls/women and what you can't.

"Nana" is the most innocuous. I would say (meaning no offence), "The BBC nana is having a hard time coping with the complaints". She might be any age between 25 and 65. Male equivalent: "mec". Could be replaced by "bonne femme" as in "la bonne femme de la BBC m'a envoyŽ promener" (= the BBC cow sent me packing). perhaps not quite "cow" but definitely not complimentary. Male equivalent would be "un bonhomme".

"Gonzesse" is more vulgar and derives from the Spanish "gonzo" ."Cette gonzesse me tape sur les nerfs" (This cow is getting on my nerves). I wouldn't use it but many men would.

"NŽnette" means young and cute and pea-brained. Of course no one could possibly have called me "nŽnette" for a while now, but few did it to my face even when I was young and cute. "Minet" (kitten), cute young guy, and "Minette" (=pussy..., in all meanings of the word) , both slightly passŽ.

Now I bet that will make your day.

Hooray! FWT back!

That makes the disaster of New ML all the more bearable.

And yes, to my mind it is a disaster.

Cheers

Dagesh x

Fantastic - good to have you back martine!

nŽnette? =nénette?
This is a new one for me.

I'm trying to keep out of all the 'new boards' conversations, but actually I don't think they're that bad.

Hi again Martine

<" means young and cute and pea-brained.> so Emmurr is really "NŽnette"
then.

Better than that Polly, she's "une petite nŽnette"...