Poetic Licence

They're not called the Romantic Languages for nothing. With their long vowels and dramatic vocabularies,  Italian, Spanish, and French, together epitomizing the language of love, have well-
earned their désignation. 
                                    
And so, it seems, even cereal boxes are not immune to la passion de language:


Why have maximum bran and raisins when you can have an 


AVALANCHE?! 


If that doesn't make you want to add fiber to your diet, nothing will. 


BTW: it's avalanche season in B.C. right now - watch out for falling raisins

O some-parts-of-Canada!

Try as I might, I have never been able to memorize the French version of O Canada! Over the years though, sitting through boring assemblies and school productions in smelly gymnasiums and staring at the two official versions in English and French which invariably flank the stage, even with my rudimentary bilingualism, I noticed something awry: the French isn't at all what I had always assumed to be a translation of the English - it is an entirely different anthem! Um, ok, you probably already knew that BUT have you ever really thought about how differently francophones feel belting out a significantly bolder, more passionate anthem. I mean really, compare:

From far and wide,
O Canada,
we stand on guard for thee.
With glowing hearts
we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

  

             AND

                                           

Car ton bras sait porter l'épée

Il sait porter la croix

Ton histoire est une épopée,
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits



BTW: You might recognize words for "sword", "cross", "epic", "brilliant exploits", "valour", "faith" - no glowing hearts here

OK, I got it - GOOD for food, BAD for hair

So, once I convinced myself that it wasn't plastic wrap made from pelican skin, I became concerned that it might be made from DANDRUFF 


BTW: Some folks soak their hair in antipelliculaire compounds AND then wrap it in pellicule plastique to combat dandruff. Huh. Oh, and "Saran" is not as innocent as it sounds. Google it. 

Got Chicken Milk?

'Tis the season, so this classic cannot be ignored.

English: Egg Nog. Yum, right?

French: Lait de Poule. Um, not so yum. Poule? Chicken milk? No thanks, I'll just have water.

BTW: what is "nog" anyway?

The New Dominion

Not only do Canadian labels support a burgeoning - if somewhat bungled - bilingualism but our literature does as well. From one of my favorite literary passages reflecting the intersection of language and culture:

When Madame Beausejour's petites filles walked into the town park, swathed in transparent blue silk and offering to represent les lacs et les rivieres du Quebec in the Methodist women's tableau entitled "The New Dominion"...a riot nearly ensued. 

pg. 228,  "Away" Jane Urquhart

BTW, the painting is "The Evening Star" by Sir Edward Burne-Jones

Skiing, castors, & queues

It's a new tradition with our family that after a day of skiing, no matter where we are, lodge, hot tub, or hill, we meet at the Beaver Tails shack for a gooey, sweet, super-messy "Tail", topped with apples and cinnamon or maple syrup or bananas and chocolate. Last week, as we waited for our warm sugar blast, I contemplated the Beaver Tails sign and logo. It's pure Canadiana with a pioneer font and standard French translation: Queues de Castor. I instantly imagined orderly lines of portly beavers in R.C.M.P.-red jackets standing hairy shoulder to shoulder. Not so says my son:

"Queue" also happens to be French for "tail"  


As I ruminate about beaver lines, cinnamon, and maple syrup, my 16-year old historian son tells me that the British adopted the French word "queue" after the Franco-Prussian war. According to him, during the war, the British ex-pats living in Paris wrote home about the lengthy "queues" of people eager for food rations. English, apparently not having a word to describe lines of waiting people, borrowed the word "queue" and never gave it back. 
Cric! Crac! Croc!

BTW: there are often lengthy queues for beaver tails at the ski hill around 3:45