Tintin Forums

Hi everyone,

In Destination Moon, possibly the most memorable scene is when Captain Haddock carelessly says to Calculus that he is "acting the goat."
Calculus then proceeds to lose his temper over the course of several pages, to hilarious effect.

My question: in the original French version, what expression did Hergé use as the term that was eventually translated into "acting the goat"?

Thanks!

In the original French Tournesol (Calculus) is accused of acting like a "zouave" (à faire le zouave). Haddock quite often used zouave as an insult in the original editions.

Zouave was the name of a regiment in the French army (see the relevant wikipedia page here).

The zouave were known for their courage and bravery. Hence, from what I can gather, Calculus most likely took offence to this insult because he was "acting the zouave", i.e. he was a fraud, pretending to be courageous rather than really being it.

I hope that's right, I'm sure someone will correct me otherwise!

If that's the case I prefer the English version, it's much more humorous.

Thanks for that interesting info, Harrock.

Here's perhaps the most relevant passage from that Wikipedia article which Harrock helpfully gave the link to:

The French expression "Faire le zouave" can be translated roughly as "to play the giddy goat". It is a long established term, dating back to the nineteenth century, and appears to reflect the popular image of the French zouaves as devil-may-care risk takers.

In imitation of the abusive verbal style favoured by the cartoon character Captain Haddock in The Adventures of Tintin, "zouave" is occasionally used as a modern insult in both French (France) and French-Canadian cultures.

From what it says in that first paragraph, I didn't interpret the meaning of the insult quite the same as you, though, Harrock. I don't think to accuse someone of "acting the zouave" is meant to imply that they're not as brave as the Zouave they're pretending to be; more that they're behaving as recklessly as a Zouave (in the same way that the English translation's phrase refers to the seeming recklessness of a mountain goat).

I think Tintinrulz may well be right that comparing someone to a goat may have the comedic edge over comparing someone to a devil-may-care soldier - especially if the person you're insulting happens to have a goatee beard.

Thanks! My curiosity has been satisfied.

I also thought it was hilarious when we saw Calculus showing Tintin and the Captain around the rocket. He was still so annoyed about being called a goat that he constantly took jabs at the Captain, implying that he's clumsy.

Haddock is clearly the clumsiest in the whole series. He's constantly tripping over something, falling, being hit by something, etc. You almost never see that happening to Tintin. Snowy also is the brunt of much slapstick humor. Oh, but I forgot les Dupondt! Yes, I'd have to give them the crown of clumsiness. Two crowns, shaped like bowler hats.

Has anyone noticed that when Calculus gets in a rage at being called a goat that he really does act the goat - making a spectacle of himself, causing a scene, nearly causing a load of accidents, driving recklessly, taking a vehicle without authorisation?