Gicler!

Another gem from my birthday. You kind of had to be there, but most of you were, so that all works out.

One of my presents was a really cool art piece that wove several elements from the past few months of my life into an amusing picture. The style of the picture is giclée - a new term for me, and, thankfully, for Mr. Accuracy too who said upon hearing the word, "Is that the name of the artist?" ...Which was enough to get us started on a long, hilarious epsisode of Family Fun With French.

Dad tried to explain that "gicler" means "to spatter", and that's how the style got its name. But then he went one better and printed out the dictionary definition. That's when things got really funny.

Giclée (zhee-klay) - The French word "giclée" is a feminine noun that means a spray or a spurt of liquid. The word may have been derived from the French verb "gicler" meaning "to squirt" or "to spurt".

(Dad's dictionary source was better - it provided sample sentences like "I spray champagne all over my face". Funny enough on its own.) But in that crowd, just saying the word "spurt" is usually enough to go places you maybe didn't think you'd go that night. And did we ever.

I don't remember everything we came up with that night, but we've decided that "Gicler" is the name of the French version of Frogger. It's also a curse word - and when you start hearing it used in the Midwest, you know it's all because of us. (HV pointed out that when it eventually reaches New England, people will assume it's just Midwesterners trying to be uppity, and will themselves pronounce it as "gick-lerr" so as not to seem like they're putting on airs.)

I really can't do this whole episode justice. (HV, you want to try?) Just trust me when I say..

GICLER!

Love,
J.