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Male for Female?



Dear Margaret in Australia -

I must apologize for not getting around to your request sooner.  It seems 
that of late I've had a bit on my plate. As I understand it, your grandmother 
uses the handle of "Jean" and you wish I would lengthen my handle to avoid 
her being taxed with the responsibility of my e-mails.  Since I have just 
learned from our interlocutor that I have a very poor command of the English 
language, I got an English translation that reads," "She doesn't want it all 
coming down on her."

I shall try to remember to type in "Jean Paul."  If Paul were a family name 
rather than a middle name, that would still leave our interlocutor still in a 
quandary---even though only a male chauvinist would judge one by the color, 
blue or pink, of his\her sex instead of the character of his\her emails.

Actually, Jean Paul are very common given names in French and translate as 
John and Paul.  Jean is pronounced moreorless as Zhan and Paul as Pole.  They 
are not only common, they are commonly used in unison, and they are not only 
commonly used in unison, they are commonly used in that order, as Pope John 
Paul.

The feminine equivalent of Jean is Jeanne, like in Jeanne d'Arc.  That is 
pronounced moreorless as John Dark.  To translate for those who have nothing 
at all to do with French, that does not mean a John with a burned out light.  
It is French for Joan of Arc.

Query: If saying things against the French, even if true, translates into 
having an obvious dislike for the French, does that not mean that saying 
things against America means one has an obvious dislike for the Americans?

Jean Paul

    
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