What does the idiomatic French expression attacher lundi avec mardi mean? Click to learn all about it, and then come back here to share your thoughts.
More: French expressions |Common French phrases
Subscribe to this French blog: RSS | Twitter | Facebook
More: French expressions |
Subscribe to this French blog: RSS | Twitter | Facebook
Comments
Absurd, isn’t, Laura. That’s why i always argue that French is a difficult language cos hearing a French speaking person speak this to me will obviously get me considering the literal translation. But no matter, little by little, we’ll get it just like i’m trying to do.
Let me seize this opportunity to say how grateful i am for helping many french learners all over the world including myself to learn the language pro bono. I must say your newsletter has been very very useful and i hope you will continue to provide us with more so that one day when we meet (ha,ha, ha), i’ll be in a position to communicate with you.
Whether we’re here in our French home in the
Vienne (86) east of Poitiers or our Stateside home in New Hampshire, we love reading and learning from your weekly lesson. Many thanks, Laura. Keep up the great work.
Je suis francaise, nee et elevee en France mais n’ai jamais entendu cette expression. Je me demande si c’est quelque chose de nouveau. Il faut dire aussi que chaque province de France a ses propres expressions de francais familier et c’est pour ainsi dire impossible de les connaitre toutes. Moi, quand j’etais petite, on me disait “tu as mis le bouton dans la mauvaise boutonniere”.
I love the French expression but I hate your English translation. Your grammar is terrible. “Wrong” is not an adverb. Try “wrongly” – To button one’s shirt wrongly.
Je suis quebecoise et je n’ai jamais entendue ette expression. Au Quebec on dit plutot “se boutonner en jaloux”.
Judith nadon
re: wrong(ly).
A digression but had to chip in here – as I understand it, it’s an British-American divide. Being English, I too favour (yes, with a ‘u’, hehe) the distinction of adjective and the seemingly unloved adverb, helpfully achieved by the -ly suffix (in regular cases) eg complete, completely / wrong, wrongly. As with much other grammar, however, the US versions are gaining acceptance here.
cf:
- “You’ve done good” (not in a do-gooder context, but instead of ‘well’)
- That was real[adv.] nice [adj.]. (*shudders*)
Note that many common adjectives and their adverbs are already homographs (eg, umm.. ‘fast’, ‘right’ etc)
No, I have no authority on any of this so feel free to verify and correct as necessary..
PS And yes, great column Laura, always useful!
This is certainly not a new phrase in our area of Brittany. Since our boulangère said this to me and explained the meaning I have used this expression and it has been understood immediately.
I’m with Robert on the usage of the word wrong … and George Bernard Shaw who said `England and America are two countries divided by a common language.’
I can see where the expression might come from. Think of how a shirt looks tweaked when it’s buttoned wrong…now extend the visualization (or visualisation hee hee) to how a day could be wrong when things you expect on Monday wind up occurring on Friday.
J’aime la langue!
Je suis Burkinabe. Je suis alle a l’ecole en 1954, donc je parle francais depuis. J’ai eu plusieurs sejours en France et en Belgique, mais je n’ai jamais entendu cette expression. J’etais vraiment surpris et j’aurais ete colle si c’etait un quiz. Et cela me fait penser a l’expression “mal culotte” dans la chanson “Le bon roi Dagobert”. En tout cas j’ai appris quelque chose aujourd’hui. Excellente page!
I love this expression. Is it used in other situations where mix ups occur?
This is a fantastic phrase. Such a charmingly poetic way to say something so mundane. Thanks for sharing it.
I told my parisienne friend that I’d learned a new expression today and she had never heard it. Elle a 62 ans donc peut être c’est toute neuve.
Attacher Lundi avec Mardi.
Oui, il ya 40 ans de ca, mon arriere grand-mere me disait deja ca. Non, ce n’est pas une nouvelle expression.
Astrid.
J’aime tellement cette expression! Je suis Americaine et je cherche toujours des moyens a mieux m’exprimer en francais. Je me demande si on est en retard et oublie de remonter la fermeture eclair des pantalons, quoi dire? Peut on encore dire “J’ai attache lundi avec mardi”?
mon mari americain a voulu savoir si on oublie de remonter le fermeture eclair des pantalons, peut-on dire “le train n’arrivait pas a la gare”?
Your articles about French expressions are an inspiration…I could not think of an equivalent so I’ve made one up(I think).
“You’re on the wrong train but on the right track”
I seem to remember a saying from the 40′s that addressed a similar issue:
“Tuesday is longer than Mondy”, meaning:
“Your slip is showing”.
It seems that both French and English create
verbal images from the same palate of words.
Salut! Je suis française, mais je n’ai jamais entendu cette expression non plus! En revanche, j’ai souvent entendu dire “attacher Pierre avec Jacques” ou “Pierre avec Paul”!
There was a short film in 2005 entitled “Lundi avec mardi.” A young girl wanted to make a mésalliance with a young voyou. Since the usual preposition for attacher is “à” not “avec,” this seems to me to be a better interpretation of the original meaning. It could have evolved, of course.
Laura, this expression is very interesting. I like to thank you for your postings, I have been following for 1.5 years, and learn much from you. Best regards.
I am appalled by the rudeness of some people who don’t just engage in linguistic pedantry (which I love), but seem to think it’s OK to patronise and insult others.
I am English yet I agree with Laura’s use of “wrong”. The Oxford dictionary states that it can be used as an adverb to mean “in a wrong manner or direction” or “with an incorrect result”, e.g. “guessed wrong” (or presumably “button wrong”). Thank you Laura for your great site.
Je pense que cette expression est peut-etre regionale. Dans ma region, on parle de boutonner lundi avec mardi ou boutonner Pierre avec Paul.
When I was in France last fall I asked someone about this expression “Attacher lundi avec mardi.” It turns out that many mothers in France recite the days of the week as they button their child’s shirt each morning. Seven buttons–seven days. Who knew!
Bonjour,
C’est une vieille expression qui n’est plus que rarement utilisée par quelques nostalgiques et que se dit lorque le vêtement de dessous dépasse celui de dessus. Ca donne “boutonner lundi avec mardi” ou “lundi boutonné avec mardi”… Donc si vous dîtes cela à un français, il y a toute les chances qu’il ne comprenne pas!!!
It’s an old expression. I remember my grand’mother telling me that “t’as boutonné lundi avec mardi”
You’re right it’s a lovely expression.
Hello, i live in london but i was born and raised in south of france ( marseille) and we use this expression a lot. I love it !!
My son button is shirt the wrong way a couple of days ago, he’s 6 , and didn’t know what i meant when i used this expression. I had to explain it to him. I was suprised because i thought it was quite explicit.
But he was born in england so fair enough i guess!!
Anyway, well done, i really like your blog, very interesting.
Bonjour,
J’ai entendu “boutonner dimanche avec lundi”, un synonym je suppose…
For those berating Laura or straining to sound intellectual regarding the correct use of English, do start your own page and regular publishing schedule to allow us the opportunity to patronise you. Yes, I mean to patronise in both senses of the word.
Great work Laura, newly arrived from the UK into Montreal and this is a real treat.
Merci.
good work madame
Laura, I echo the thanks for helping people to learn French. This saying is interesting and is a light-hearted way of making a comment.
Hello, Laura! I’m so happy that I’ve found you as a french teacher! My time is extremely short for having the pleasure of reading all of your uploaded data, but even the least amount of being here is so helpful and nice! Sorry for bad english! A bientot!
Use “samedi” and “dimanche” instead of “lundi” and “mardi” and you’ll find http://dictionnaire.reverso.net/francais-synonymes/boutonner%20le%20samedi%20avec%20le%20dimanche
le sous-entendu est aussi qu’en week-end, on est moins attentif à ce que l’on fait, d’où l’erreur.
effectivement et malheureusement peu utilisé;
mais justement, quand les francophiles feront honte aux francophones en parlant mieux qu’eux, cet appauvrissement de la langue* s’arrêtera peut-être !
*Même le “slang” actuel est le minable verlan, au lieu du fabuleux argot (cf “la méthode à Mimile”)
I am french and I’ve never heard this expression – in fact I seriously doubt that this is French at all – more a franglais interpretation.
Connais pas.Jamais entendu ça.Cela ressemble ou à une très nouvelle expression(il arrive qu’il y ait encore des trouvailles improptues)ou,plutôt à une très vieille et restée provinciale.Il y a un certain remps que nous n’av ons plus guère de boutons sur nos vêtements.J’aurais pu l’entendre de ma grand-mère,ça lui ressemblait assez.
En revanche,ceci dans mon enfance surtout,à un garçon qui oubliait par étourderie bien sûr,de fermer sa braguette,boutons ou fermeture éclair,on disait:ferme ton porte-feuilles,y a rien à payer !
The only comparable expression I can think of is the Russian one which reads ‘iz pod pyatnizy subota’ or ‘Saturday showing up from under Friday’ and which means more or less the same, wrongly buttonned, or wrongly tucked\untucked clothing item. Considering numerous Russian expressions that have been originated in the direct translation from French, I wouldn’t be surprised if the saying has a common ancestor.
I am French. When I was a child growing up in the 60s in Paris, my mother would say that when we used the wrong button. I think the expression was common in my family. (I used it with my children also) So it cannot be that recent, may be just not used very much.
Anne – Comment expliquez-vous alors les commentaires numéro 7, 13, 24, 25, 26 et 36 ? Et la Française qui me l’a dite il y a un an ? Et toutes ces pages écrites par des Francophones ?
Il est bien possible que cette expression soit régionale et / ou vieillie, mais vous exaggérez quand vous dîtes qu’elle n’existe pas parce que vous ne la connaissez pas, quand il y a plein d’autres qui la connaissent. De surcroît, il n’y a aucune influence anglaise / franglaise – comme j’ai dit dans la leçon, nous n’avons même pas d’équivalent en anglais !
#21 Personne n’etait pas impoli!
Il est permis apres tout, d’expliquer un point de vue!
Interesting expression. Many thanks Laura.
Laura, this truly is a most interesting expression. I recall reading about it when you first brought it to our attention a couple of years ago.
I had never heard it before but the expression sits in my mind and gets awakened quite often since I learned about it from you. I am always hopeful I can use it on someone someday to boast my knowledge of French.
In my reveries, remembering lovely times past, I sometimes can hear my French grandmother saying that to me. I don’t know if she may have ever known the expression either, but it is so like the words and phrases she would playfully use to admonish me when something wasn’t right about me.
Je suis Francaise, je n’ai “que” 33 ans et ma mère utilisait aussi expression avec moi lorsque j’étais enfant… c’est donc bien francais, peut être ancien, mais toujours utilisé : j’ai entendu de jeunes parents citer cette expression récemment avec leurs enfants.
Laura, il y a un autre expression comparable à “attacher Lundi avec Mardi”: “Le samedi avec le dimanche.” J’en suis tombé en lisant le romain policier “L’homme aux Cercles Bleus“ par Fred Vargas: Voici quelque phrases de le [du?] romain:
“Pour la chemise, il avail boutonné le samedi avec le dimancbe, comme disait son père, et il s’en aperçut. Tout en regardant le cadavre, Adamsberg s’appliquait donc à remettre les boutons de sa chemise dans le bon ordre….“
There’s another expression similar to “attacher Lundi avec Mardi“: “Le samedi avec le dimianche.“ I came upon it while reading “L’homme aux Cercles Bleus“ by Fred [Frederick] Vargas. Here are some sentences from the novel:
“Adamsberg’s button had been done up awry, as his father had once said, he realized. . While looking down at the body, he did them up again…..“
Merci pour la chance d’employer la langue français.
Attacher lundi avec mardi c’est une expression très courante ; on entend aussi attacher Pierre avec Paul, en tout cas veut dire “to attach the button to the wrong hole, so that the coat or whatever finishes up crooked.”
Certainly not an frangalis expression Anne. English are not prone to use such expression – more inclined to say ‘did you get out the wrong side of the bed’ – meaning that something is awry – either tempermentally or in mode of dress – different socks, bad hair day, buttons amiss or whatever. I presume the expression ‘attacher lundi avec mardi’ can also refer to different shoes, ear-rings, sox etc… Oui?
I am a Ghanaian and very happy with your lessons. It has helped me so much. In Ghana we say ” Ghana is longer than Africa” for wrong buttoning
Bonjour Laura,
What a great site! I am about to move to France for my retirement and am using every opportunity to brush up my French. Funnily enough, neither I nor my French-speaking neighbours (Charente 16) have heard of this neat phrase, but neat it is!
Perry
Thank you, Laura.
This is a very interesting expression. It’s a pity that we don’t have the same expression in China.
I loved this expression which I had never heard but I wonder how well-known it is among the French? I’d never heard it before – I lived in France for a long time – and I asked a couple of my French friends here in Boston and they’d never heard it either. One of them suggested it sounds like something you might say when talking to children. Thank you for your posts, I love them!
(38) yesjb – A mon avis, ce commentaire “I hate your English translation. Your grammar is terrible” est très impoli, n’est-ce pas?
Je suis française (31 ans) et ma mère me disait ça très fréquemment quand j’étais petite. Je pense que c’est une expression plutôt régionale (peut-être Nord-Ouest) de la France.
Avec les variantes : “boutonner lundi avec mardi” ou bien “boutonner lundi dans le mardi”.
J’adore cette expression, j’espère qu’elle ne disparaitra pas !
I was watching an Austrailian TV series called “RAKE” on DIRCTV in the USA when I first heard this expression. In the show a man had been up partying all night and was a little worse for the wear the next morning when his friend said to him “You’ve got Tuesday’s buttons in Wednesday’s holes mate.” The show is hysterical by the way.
Je suis française, du Nord de la France et ai tres souvent entendu cette expression lorsque jetais enfant; je vis maintenant a Vancouver mais continue a l’utiliser et la fais decouvrir a mes amis anglophones
Super site Laura! Je me rends compte a quel point nous utilisons beaucoup d’expressions en français et comprends pourquoi jai parfois tant de mal a trouver des équivalences en anglais.