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joyeux anniversaire

Dan asked me how to spell "Birthday" in french, and as i was lying on the bed staring at the ceiling in a state of post-workday malaise, i incorrectly told him that anniversaire had only one "n" in it. And to think i sailed through that college as a French major with a 3.94! Well, i could plainly see when i saw it in writing that it needed an extra "n". Sorry Honey!

But i'm not sorry for the next part: the appropriate adjective modifier for anniversaire is joyeux, not bonne. Joyeux literally means happy (joyfull might sound like a tempting translation, but the french version is much more casual and really isn't strong enough to merit an American word of such furvour.) Joyeux is mostly used in idom in the same way we American's use "happy": joyeux anniversaire, joyeux noel (happy birthday, and happy Christmas for the English Americans). The word bon (literally "good" in all American implications) is used as a modifier in many idoms ("bonne chance" par exemple) which involve well-wishing, but unfortunately not for birthdays. On the other hand, ther is the popular expression "Bonne Fette" which means, generally, happy holiday, or have a good holiday, and can be taken to mean any holiday, whether it's Christmas or your birthday or a party on the weekend when your parents aren't home.

So that's what dan meant: Bonne Fette et Joyeux anniversaire: felicitations a Squibix Web: le cite ou on racconte toutes les aventures de Dan et Leah.

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