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I’m native French speaker and do not understand what you mean with “avant la lettre”. That translates to “before the letter”, what do you mean?
by dgellow 2mo ago
I’m native French speaker and do not understand what you mean with “avant la lettre”. That translates to “before the letter”, what do you mean?
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]
- mistersquid 2mo ago> I’m native French speaker and do not understand what you mean with “avant la lettre”. That translates to “before the letter”, what do you mean? Metaphorical language, of which French is a rich source, often prevents native speakers from understanding. Literal translations are of no avail. > avant la lettre : before the letter : before the (specified) word or concept existed [0] [0] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/avant%20la%20lettre https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/avant%20la%20lett...
- dgellow 2mo agoTIL, I should have just googled it, I assumed it was a bad auto complete Thanks!
- BuyMyBitcoins 2mo agoAs a non-French speaker, I had assumed a native speaker would suspect that this was another instance of English taking something from French and mangling it into something worse.
- klez 2mo agoI think they meant the same as the latin phrase "ante litteram"
- omsta 2mo agoHa. In my defense, it is a common phrase in Dutch culture!
- bondarchuk 2mo agoYou could say e.g. Spinoza was a punk avant-la-lettre, he was a punk before the word "punk" even existed. I think GP is using it exactly opposite to the normal usage.