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Today’s Wonderful Word: « samediqqch »

I’m sure you’re wondering what samediqqch means.

Let me take you to its origin. 


« …parce que tu commences à te mélanger les pinceaux. » I caught the end of the first guy’s sentence as I passed on the sidewalk en route to the Boulangerie Aux Délices de Saint Pierre.

The next guy said, « Samedi quelque chose, » which is not a complete sentence and roughly translates to “Saturday something.” Both men laughed, and then I was out of earshot.

What on earth does that mean? I thought. Saturday something? I made a mental note to look it up when I returned to my dorm room in Bâtiment H.


Side note: quotation marks in French are way cooler than in English. They’re called « les guillemets. »


My Google search yielded no results. I wrote the phrase on a little notebook where I kept track of challenging expressions and unfamiliar words.

Later that week, my French literature professor at L’Université de Caen posed her usual question to the class in hopes of eliciting a response on the material we were covering. « Ça vous dit quelque chose ? »

“Does this ring a bell?” she asked. A proper response to her question could begin, « Oui, ça me dit quelque chose. »

So THAT’S what he said!

A bell rang in my head.

Welcome to samediqqch. A love of language pushes me to create and write and experiment. The purpose of samediqqch.com is to explore and share the depth and beauty of language with those who share my passion. Posts on Wednesdays will showcase wonderful words, and there will be a little something each Saturday.

Ça vous dit quelque chose ?

“Qqch” is the abbreviation for « quelque chose. » This little « jeu de mots » and the excitement in discovering similar joys of the French language inspire me to learn ceaselessly.


Side note: exclamation points (exclamation marks?) and question marks (question MARKS!) in written French are spaced out from the preceding word – also way cooler than in English, right?!


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Bye for now,

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