Re: Cases, again

I'm afraid I'm under 50 (so I hope to survive at least
one more summer + winter). I can't remember where I
heard this expression, I just know it. True, it is
seldom used (or maybe locally ?) But many expressions
seldom used can nevertheless be understood by a fair
number of people. The proof is that you knew it too.
Some can revive, too (let's save and recycle, as says
our friend Czhang).

It's a bit the same with Latin phrases. Of course, if
you go through Paris Northen suburbs, you will find
very little people understanding, let's say, "mutatis
mutandis". Nevertheless, many people understand it
yet, even if they don't use it. It's part of a certain
culture.

"PPH" is on the same model as "BCBG" (which probably
came later ?): "Bon Chic Bon Genre", also
reinterpreted by "Beau Cul Belle Gueule". I think "P4"
is also still understood, although military service
has ended by now. It was a code used by the Army to
indicate that somebody couldn't serve as a soldier
because he hadn't all his wits (that's what the Army
recrutor thought, of course).

--- Christophe Grandsire
<christophe.grandsire@...> wrote:
> En réponse à Philippe Caquant :
>
>
> >True, there is an irreverencious expression for an
> old
> >and ill-looking person: PPH (Passera Pas l'Hiver =
> >Won't Survive Next Winter). By now it could be
> clever
> >to change it into PPE (Passera pas l'Ete), since
> >15.000 didn't survive the last, very hot summer.
>
> Eh... how old are you, and when is the last time you
> heard people less than
> 60 years old talk? Because the expression "PPH" has
> disappeared from the
> Spoken French lexicon more than 2 generations ago. I
> myself know it only
> from an article about linguistic diachrony and
> lexical changes in French,
> as an example of how terms can fall into disuse. My
> parents never used nor
> ever heard the term (which means that their parents
> didn't use it either,
> so you can nearly say the expression disappeared
> more than 3 generations
> ago), and I'm pretty sure most people I know never
> heard it either (and I
> know French people of all ages). My educated guess
> is that if you ever use
> this expression, 95% of the people you'd be with
> wouldn't understand you,
> and the 5% that would would find it rather outdated.
>
> This whole comment comes from your "there *is* an
> irreverencious
> expression...". Say "there *was*..." and I'll agree.
> But PPH is certainly
> not part of the French language anymore than the
> object case on nouns is.
>
> Christophe Grandsire.

=====
Philippe Caquant

"He thought he saw a Rattlesnake / That questioned him in Greek: / He looked
again, and found it was / The Middle of Next Week. / "The one thing I regret',
he said, / "Is that it cannot speak !' " (Lewis Carroll)

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