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Page 1 of 2 1 2 > Topic Options #127303 - 04/12/04 11:33 AM Job's comforter wwh Carpal Tunnel Registered: 01/18/01 Posts: 13858 Date: Fri Aug 20 00:02:00 EDT 1999 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Job's comforter Job's comforter (johbz KUM-fuhr-tuhr) noun One who is discouraging or saddening while seemingly offering sympathy or comfort. [After Job, whose friends pretended to comfort but actually found fault with him.] "Napoleon was but a Job's-comforter, when he told his wounded staff officer, twice unhorsed by cannon-balls, and with half his limbs blown to pieces: `Vous vous ecoutez trop!'" Carlyle, Thomas, Characteristics: Part II, Great Works of Literature, 1 Jan 1992. Now I've got to find translation of that French sentence! "You listen to yourself too much" just seems to miss something implied in Napoleon's words. Top #127304 - 04/12/04 07:36 PM Re: Job's comforter lastday stranger Registered: 12/27/00 Posts: 12 Loc: Earth Does "ecoutez" have an accent mark over any of the letters? I know vous = you and trop = too, but ecoutez has stumped me. Top #127305 - 04/12/04 07:42 PM Re: Job's comforter Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Registered: 06/24/02 Posts: 7184 Loc: Vermont doesn't ecoutez=listen? therefore he's saying something like"well, you give good orders, but you shouldn't have listened to yourself this time..." _________________________ formerly known as etaoin... Top #127306 - 04/12/04 07:44 PM Re: Job's comforter wwh Carpal Tunnel Registered: 01/18/01 Posts: 13858 The use of diacriticals in French words on internet is quite variable. The original did not have the accent aigu.I suppose écoutez was meant. To me it sounds as though Napoléon were saying: "Cut your bellyaching!" Top #127307 - 04/13/04 06:28 AM Re: Job's comforter Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 13653 "You listen to yourself too much" just seems to miss something implied in Napoleon's words. Literal translations can be misleading. Perhaps it was meant to imply that he should have listened to others a little more. Top #127308 - 04/13/04 10:04 AM Re: Job's comforter wwh Carpal Tunnel Registered: 01/18/01 Posts: 13858 Remember Carlyle cited it as an example of cruel treatment of a sufferer. Napoléon could not afford to be tender - he had to be tough. War was,is, and always will be hell. Top #127309 - 04/13/04 03:10 PM Re: Job's comforter sjmaxq Carpal Tunnel Registered: 07/20/03 Posts: 3230 Loc: Te Ika a Maui Is this a nickname for someone who buys a Mac? _________________________ noho ora mai http://maxqnzs.com/References.html Top #127310 - 04/13/04 03:18 PM Re: Job's comforter wwh Carpal Tunnel Registered: 01/18/01 Posts: 13858 Is Job's dunghill where Macs are made? Top #127311 - 04/13/04 04:30 PM Re: Job's comforter jheem veteran Registered: 01/06/04 Posts: 1474 Loc: California Is this a nickname for someone who buys a Mac? That'd be Jobs's comforter, wouldn't it? Top #127312 - 04/13/04 04:31 PM Re: Job's comforter sjmaxq Carpal Tunnel Registered: 07/20/03 Posts: 3230 Loc: Te Ika a Maui >That'd be Jobs's comforter, wouldn't it? Yep, I knew it was pretty feeble to start with. _________________________ noho ora mai http://maxqnzs.com/References.html Top Page 1 of 2 1 2 > Previous Topic Index Next Topic Preview Hop to: General Topics ------   Information and announcements   Q&A about words   Wordplay and fun   Words and languages in schools   Miscellany   Weekly Themes   Looking for (writers, speakers, ...) (Old) Weekly themes. 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