The novel, “Pa Sage a Taba” which, translated from French jargon, means “Not Wise to Smoke” with a pun playing on the expression for beating someone up may “annoy the guardians of the French language” but it will also serve as an entertaining public service for youngsters, the author, Phil Marso, said.
“Twelve- to fifteen-year-olds are the biggest users of SMS sending an average of 57 per month,” he added.
The book relies on the concise, if sometimes confusing, slang that has sprung up around the internet and mobile phones as a way of getting words and sometimes entire phrases across in a minimum of key presses.
Thus an example passage in the book has a Dtektive (detective) asking the villain: ‘6 j t’aspRge d’O 2 kologne histoar 2 partaG le odeurs ke tu me fe subir?’ Which, once expanded and translated, would come across as ‘What if I spray you with cologne so you can share the smells you make me suffer?’
Other sentences showcase the French equivalents of terms along the same lines as English internet equivalents that have given rise to ‘LOL’ (for Laugh Out Loud), D8 (for date), OMG (for Oh My God) and OvR8d (for overrated).
For older readers who may not be fully conversant with the necessary vernacular, the book has a lexicon in an appendix. Marso said the work doesn’t point to any personal cellular obsession he might have, and he stressed that, apart from his writing, he is also the organiser of an annual ‘Day Without Mobile Phones’ in France.
2004-01-29
Source: Yahoo UK & Ireland
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