Well, what a surprise, Manuel! Thanks for letting me know. "Brave"
was one of those adjectives, I seem to remember, that had dual
meaning depending on its postion relative to the noun -- before or
after. But for the change to be that drastic, eh?
I blame our cousins over the other side of the Pond; oh, wait, they
don't speak that language so it can't be their fault ... :-)
Chris
On 13 Dec 2006, at 10:17, Manuel Viet wrote:
> That's fine with me, but you should avoid « mon brave » if you are
> interested
> in your body integrity and have no fantasy of having your head put
> at the top
> of a spear to lead an angry mob. As a matter of fact it was a
> common address
> between a master and a servant, and as such it's considered quite rude
> nowdays.
>
> « brave » meaning has shifted from « courageous » to «loyal but
> slightly
> dumb», and is nowday used to call dogs, or eventually by women to
> describe
> their last date (when said date isn't in hearing range). Any other
> use is
> procribed.
>
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