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Haddock's Curses: Original French, and English translations?

#1 · Posted: 24 Nov 2011 04:47

I understand that most of Captain Haddock's swear-words in English translation had to be constructed from the ground up, but what are some of the Captain's swear-words in French, and what do they mean?

Thanks!

hadtins
Member

#2 · Posted: 24 Jan 2014 17:32

Does bashi-bazouk really have any meaning in English?
I mean, if I say it in Bengali, it would mean, "play the flute" - but that of course wouldn't be the meaning. Does bashi-bazouk mean anything in any other language?
Hadtins the joker:)

mct16
Member

#3 · Posted: 24 Jan 2014 19:25

Tintinrulz:

What are some of Captain Haddock's swearwords in French and what do they mean?

In the original French, "Thundering typhoons!" was "Tonnerre de Brest" which literally translates as "Thunder of Brest". According to the French Wikipedia, it's a reference to the canon at the arsenal of Brest, a French coastal town. The canon was fired twice a day when the arsenal opened at 6am and when it shut at 7pm .

"Blistering barnacles" was originally "Mille sabords" which translates into a "thousand portholes"!

hadtins:

bashi-bazouk

According to Wikipedia, a bashi-bazouk was a soldier who served in the Turkish army under the Ottoman Empire.
They were renown for being ill-disciplined, engaged mainly in pillaging and looting. Such poor soldiers would be deemed suitable for insults. I expect that that was the image that Hergé was trying to convey.

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