Talk:La plume de ma tante (phrase)

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Full version[edit]

The full version of this phrase, traditionally used in French language lessons in school, is la plume de ma tante est dans le bureau de mon oncle (my aunt's pen is in my uncle's desk). Presumably the objective was to demonstrate feminine and masculine nouns and their associated grammar. There is no reference to this in the article. --Ef80 (talk) 20:43, 13 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Possible mischievous origin?[edit]

Having some knowledge in 19 century slang, after having read this expression I was quite curious.

A slang meaning in French of "la plume de ma tante" could be "the penis of my (effeminate) homosexual (friend)".

The full version as previously mentioned ("la plume de ma tante est dans le bureau de mon oncle") could mean (in slang) "the penis of my (effeminate) homosexual (friend) is in the belly/anus of his boyfriend".

That is only a pure hypothesis and I have no document to prove it, but knowing the mind of the 3rd French Republic people especially relative to the English people, that could have been a pretty mischievous trick of putting such a sentence in an French learning book, knowing that for generation English people would say it without knowing the hidden meaning...

If anybody can find some more information...

Oc.Gal. (talk) 09:20, 17 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Use of phrase in The Exorcist[edit]

I've restored mention of the phrase's use in The Exorcist, with at least one citation (though admittedly a better one might be found). It's a pop culture invocation, yes, and I agree that the encyclopedia shouldn't be an arbitrary mess of those. However there is room for discerning judgment, and in this case I think the article really warrants this specific cultural mention, because it's the only way I knew the phrase before viewing the article, and I suspect the same is true for most (by definition) English readers who visit the article. So it's a relative-importance argument (this one specific use next to the overall existence/awareness/significance of the article's subject).

I don't believe that most of the little traffic to this article (about 50 views a day, currently) is driven by prior knowledge of the odd phrase in arcane French phrasebooks (although the latter are clearly the original, historical source of the article's subject, presumably better known in Francophone culture). Rather, I believe that many/most contemporary English readers first came across the phrase in The Exorcist, and only then sought out this article. By restoring the pop-culture mention I don't mean to engage in presentism, or the irrelevant, but simply to acknowledge a notable usage in culture. In my write-up the "silly" aspect of the phrase as it is used in the film's context goes to the silly nature of the phrase itself, already explained in the article. MinnesotanUser (talk) 05:39, 20 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Use of phrase in Good Omens S2[edit]

In Good Omens S2E5, a character says "Où est la plume de la jardinière de ma tante?" Obviously it's an obfuscated version but I figured I'd make a note of it in the talk page if it's ever needed. 2600:6C55:7C00:924:B1E5:4B22:4753:684A (talk) 03:20, 22 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Recently Gaiman noted in a blog post that this is an intentional use. 2600:100A:B1CF:DA99:0:1D:82F0:6001 (talk) 23:33, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]