So, in August, I'm traveling with my family and we're in a souvenir shop. My dad calls me over and says, "Sam, take a picture of this." And I obey.
There are a number of things I love about this situation. 1 - My dad was the one who pointed this out. 2 - The fact that when I think about it, I wonder why this doesn't actually exist (you know, like training bras - My Princess Tampons! They've got to have Hello Kitty ones in Japan, right?), and 3 - I can't decide whether the box above it was even funnier.
Tampon in French means stamp, but the kind you make in ink (not the envelope stamp, that's timbre) (And chevalier means knight, fyi). Tampon can also refer to a swab or a buffer. This is just one of those things that no one warns you about! Seriously, I've been learning French for how many years, and no one has ever bothered to teach me the word for tampon (which is actually also tampon, by the way, but how do you make a difference when you go to a store and ask where the tampons are?), or at least give me the heads up, like, "Hey, tampon isn't always what it looks like." But they don't teach you unsavory yet really useful words like condom (see preservatif) or pad (I had to look up sanitary napkin in an online dictionary, since they didn't have it under "pad": serviette hygiénique or serviette périodique). This is something legitimately useful and practical in everyday life, and yet my fine, public school education completely neglected it. Thanks a lot, American educational system.
French word:
un tampon
English equivalent:
Yes, it means a tampon. But also an ink stamp, or a cotton swab, or a buffer.
Word of the Day:
tampon en caoutchouc
rubber stamp (I just love how weird the French word for rubber is... caoutchouc...)
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