Tintin Forums

So then what does sapperlipopette mean? Is this another church reference, or what?

Yes it is. Saperlipopette (or saperlotte) was first found in 1840.

It also has religious connotations: sa for "sacred": the alteration makes the word pronounceable without excommunication...

Quebec still uses a lot of religious curses, transforming the sacred words: tabarnac, taberouette or tabarnuche come from "tabernacle".

I am still waiting for a pirate edition in which Haddock curses like a Québécois.

Colonel Sponsz, does it exist, or may I suggest someone to write it?

A far more regular user than Tintin - and indeed the only other I can think of in English - was the dreaded French Count, Jim (Knees) Moriarty, a character found in the long-running, anarchic radio comedy programme, The Goon Show.

Sidekick to the villainous Hercules Grytpype-Thynne, he is heard to exclaim "Sapristi!" regularly, often in combination with other (nonsense) words such as "Sapristi knockoes...!".

He was played by Spike Milligan so it seems likely the phrase originated with him, but where he got it from, who knows?

Perhaps Tintin...?

Dear dsilcat,

Sapristi !

Count Jim (Knees) Moriarty ? - don't you actually mean Count Jim (THIGHS) Moriarty ?

Phil

Hi Phil and welcome to the boards!
Oh, I think you'll find that the Count was introduced by both names (and others too) over the years that The Goon Show ran - in the episodes The Moon Show and The Seagoon Memoirs, to name but two (e.g. "Count Jim 'Knees' Moriarty. Fruit bottler extraordinary to the House of Pronk...").
And it wasn't limited to thighs and knees: on at least one occasion, he was Count Jim 'Toes' Moriarty...

Update: Looking for the reference to Grytpype-Thynne's introduction to Moriarty in The Moon Show, I find that there is doubt: some sources give the reference to Count Jim 'Knees' Moriarty, and others say the quote in that episode was Count Jim 'Rumbles' Moriarty...

But as this is getting further and further off-topic, I think I'll stop my Goonish researches there... ("'e's fallen in da wa-der...!")