Tintin Forums

Tintinologist.org Forums / Curious about Tintin? (Non-album specific) /

Favourite Haddock insults

Page  Page 3 of 5:  « Previous  1  2  3  4  5  Next » 

jock123
Moderator
#21 · Posted: 15 Jun 2005 17:00
"Jack" is an odd word in English, in that it occurs in several compound words (jack-rabbit, jack-boot, jumping-jack, "every man-jack of them", and (jolly) jack-tar) but without any clear etymology as to why.

It also turns up, in black-jack, or cosh, so presumably a "jack" might "crack" you (it might even be a cracker-jack) - perhaps a hint of the pressgang for an old salt?
Richard
UK Correspondent
#22 · Posted: 15 Jun 2005 18:06
I suppose the only answer is it's untranslatable directly, so the English translators substituted the 'ration my rum' phrase.

I was just curious if it bore any meaning in French, or simply a pun or idiom that wouldn't work in English.
jock123
Moderator
#23 · Posted: 16 Jun 2005 15:22
I'd bear in mind what was said by the translators in the past: they were constrained to find things which fitted the space available; it may be that the expression wasn't so much untranslateable as too long to render into a direct translation?

Also they took liberties with most of the curses throughout the canon - "Thundering typhoons!" and "Blistering barnacles!" aren't translations from French, just vaguely nautical alliterations, so it isn't really such a surprise that "Ration my rum!" isn't either.

Hergé's stock of expressions given to Haddock were just words whih he found funny or again nautical, so I personally wouldn't give any more weight to this expression than any other in the series.

However...

I have just come across these uses of the expression, both from the works of 19th C. French novelist Guillaume Joseph Gabriel de La Landelle:

"Que le grand crique me croque si je mens!"

"S'il n'entend pas le français comme toi-z-et moi, matelot, je veux bien que le grand cric me croque sans sel ni poivre!"

Given that La Landelle appears to specialize in slightly pot-boliery tales of life on the ocean waves, I think that, whatever it actually means, or meant, it's an expression which, to those in the know, would imply that you were listening to an "old salt", or rugged, time-served man of the sea.

I'm also wondering if "le grand crique me croque" - something like "the big eat-me up" - is simply an acknowledgement of the power of the sea over the life of a sailor, akin to "let the Deep swallow me up"...?
Harrock n roll
Moderator
#24 · Posted: 16 Jun 2005 15:34
Anybody ever wondered why barnacles would be blistering?

My theory is that barnacles build up on the underside of ships and need regularly to be scraped away when the ship is in dry-dock. This hard scraping induces blisters on the hands...

Well, it's a theory...
fritzette
Member
#25 · Posted: 19 Jun 2005 12:53
My favorite Haddock insult is "ICONOCLASTS!"
Danagasta
Member
#26 · Posted: 23 Jun 2005 20:32
My fave is definitely from "Coke en stock"---"Schizophrène!!!"
Tintin and Snowy
Member
#27 · Posted: 2 Feb 2006 02:38
I think me favorite insults are ectoplasm, iconoclast, ostrogoth and of course we can't forget "Blistering barnacles!" and "Thundering typhoons!"
Persephone101
Member
#28 · Posted: 13 May 2006 21:40
Definitly, "Politician" a true insult. :-D Or wait, Carpet Salesman!! Haddock is so awesome! Do you have an archive of all of the insults ever? That would be so cool! :-o
marsbar
Moderator
#29 · Posted: 14 May 2006 01:16
Prsephone101 wrote: Do you have an archive of all of the insults ever?

Hehehe - Check out our attempt to record all of Haddock's insult found in the English language books.
mkpdluv
Member
#30 · Posted: 30 May 2006 18:59
I'd have to say my favorite is "Purple profiteering jellyfish"... There's just a ring to it...

Page  Page 3 of 5:  « Previous  1  2  3  4  5  Next » 

Please be sure to familiarize yourself with the Forum Posting Guidelines.

Disclaimer: Tintinologist.org assumes no responsibility for any content you post to the forums/web site. Staff reserve the right to remove any submitted content which they deem in breach of Tintinologist.org's Terms of Use. If you spot anything on Tintinologist.org that you think is inappropriate, please alert the moderation team. Sometimes things slip through, but we will always act swiftly to remove unauthorised material.

Reply

 Forgot password
Please log in to post. No account? Create one!