Absurd French 1002 Trivia Quiz

Answer: I beg your pardon, but your goslings are digging up my petunias. If this keeps up, they'll end up in the goose liver pâté!

Par où commencer? First of all, les oisons are 'goslings'. As you will see in this quiz, I'm using some of the animal baby names that are slightly different from the adult animal. Déraciner is to uproot or pull up by the roots. If someone is 'déraciné' the meaning is clear, uprooted. For our French students, you have perhaps recognized the use of 'etre en train de' or to be doing something. This is the way you indicate the real process of doing something, otherwise, you can always use the present tense which means, 'to do' in general, as well as 'to be doing'. Aboutir is to end up. 'Bout' means end. Le foie gras is the legendary dish of stuffed goose livers. Actually the goslings would not be put into it, as it requires mature geese. It is produced in the Southwest regions of France known for its poultry. The French prize foie gras and indulge in it at holiday meals with excellent wine and reverence for its rich taste.

Answer: Look, darling! The stork brought us a baby called Popeye. There's a note attached that says, 'Spinach please'.

La cigogne, as you've surmised, is the stork. The stork plays an important role in the region of Alsace Lorraine as they nest on the rooftops of the charming villages. They are a symbol. The cicada, or cigale in French is a symbol of the Southern area and Provence in particular. In both regions you can purchase all sorts of kitsch items with these animals on them. Popeye is pronounced the French way, and I once laughed hard when I found out that they had not seen the fact that his eye does pop out or bulge! They pronounce it Pope pie with the accent on the last syllable. Les épinards are really exquisitely prepared in France and I know of no one who would actually eat them out of tin. I make a spinach soufflé that is really good, even for Popeye's exacting standards!
Le cygne, is the swan. Les épines are thorns.

Answer: The sky is blue and the sun is magnificent! How I miss you!

This sounds like a typical inscription on a postcard and many French people have a custom of always sending vacation postcards to their coworkers and relatives who aren't on holiday. It's a chore for some of them.

Answer: Alphonse had always dreamt of taking a trip to the Amazon on a raft.

Un radeau is a raft as in 'Le radeau de la Méduse' 1819, Géricault in which a raft is made of a shipwrecked vessel and the survivors cling to the hope of rescue.

Answer: The children started to laugh when the teacher slipped on the banana peel.

Se mettre à faire quelquechose is to begin to do something. Glisser is to slip and la peau de banana is obviously a banana peel.

Answer: We heard the wolf howl not far from our shelter, and because the moon was full, I suddenly got the urge to look for my razor, just in case I...needed it to shave my neck!

Hurler is pronounced quite differently from the English to hurl. Your lips must be projected with emphasis and you must make sure you've got the u sound. It means to howl though, or to cry out in pain. Le cou means the neck. By the way, a werewolf would be a 'loup-garou'. 'Un abri' is a shelter, a bus stop might be called 'abribus'(trademark) and a 'sans-abri' is someone without a home or a homeless person. The polite term for that is actually 'SDF' or Sans domicile fixe'.

Answer: Mean old lark, you really aren't very nice ! Get out of here or I'll whip you !

Méchant is mean, and now you know the song « Alouette » is from someone bringing home their prey and telling them how they'll pluck each part of their body. « Fouetter » is to whip, as in whipped cream which is normally called Chantilly or Creme chantilly but also fouetté. In some regions of France at the sixth of December, the Père Fouettard comes around with Saint Nicolas and threatens to get kids who have been naughty.
The expression 'chouette' is also one word for owl, but means 'neat' 'nice' or probably 'cool' in today's speech. This is because many experts trace it back to an older French verb for choyer, to kind of spoil or take care of or surround with care.

Answer: Suddenly, what do I see? A dove who had made its nest in my straw hat!

A dove is une colombe. Faire son nid= to make a nest. Le chapeau de paille is a straw hat. If you're on the paille, it means you're on the street, broke and really out of money.
This is dedicated to the little dove that's made its nest twice in the eaves of my house.

Answer: Did you know there was egg yolk on your tie?

Savais is the imperfect tense or l'imparfait. In this sense, it's did you know. Le jaune d'oeuf is of course the yolk.
La cravate is the tie of course.

Answer: I'm gonna love you, like nobody's loved you, come rain or come shine

The liberties taken with the torch song, 'I'm gonna love you, like nobody's loved you, come rain or come shine' are apologized for in advance.