Anyhow, here's Marcel's rather cutting reply .....
" On n'entre pas dans mon roman comme dans un moulin."
... and naturally, being the inquisitive type, I asked myself ... why a windmill?
Why not a garage. or a supermarket, or a post office, or a library ?
What is so special about this "moulin ?"
So, readers, I investigated ...................oh yes.
My dinky-dictionary that lives in my pocket says ...
moulin [moo-len ] nm. mill;
jeter son bonnet par-dessus les moulins, to throw propriety to the winds.
Well, that's all well and good, but it hasn't got us very far.
So ... I didn't muck about, I threw propriety to the winds and got out the big guns.... well, not that big ... Hérail and Lovatt's " Dictionary of Modern Colloquial French.
Now that's what I call a book.
Bedtime reading par excellence.
It's full of rude stuff, surprise surprise.
But will it solve the "le mystère moulin" ?
Well, here's what I found..it was in the 4th entry..
"Alors, on entre ici comme dans un moulin ?" ( iron) (that means ironical)
"This is not a public place, you know !"
( The English ironical " Come in, it's a shop !! is equally meaningful )
So that's that sorted out. Sort of.
But , of course, there's lots of other "moulin-related" stuff in there too.
You'd be surprised. Here's #3
3. Profitable enterprise, ' going concern' that brings in a steady stream of money. It can refer to a shop, a string of nightclubs, or a 'fleet of prostitutes' , the staple expression being avoir des moulins qui tournant.
What strange visions that "fleet of prostitutes" brings up. I imagine them drifting around the town square, occasionally tilting over in the gusty wind, their flowing dresses rustling, their hats, canted to one side or the other as they wallow along. I suppose they have to wink at dodgy men as well. all very very "Clochemerle" !
And why are nightclubs always " a string of" ? I suppose, if you're totally drunk, you can get from one nightclub to the next by holding on to the string that connects them. Obviously.
My dad used to go to a nightclub ... it was called something wacky like The Purple Stork or The Blue Giraffe. I wonder if he ever consorted with those, er, fleets ...hey, maybe I've got various unknown brothers and sisters out there that I don't know about ...
And ... topically ... "mouliner" is in there too... it's cycling slang and it means " to pedal away at a fair pace."
Anyway, here's today's music .... Autour de Lucy ... " Sur tes pas."
Sur le pont entre deux quais
l'eau tournoyait sous nos pieds
N'y avait-il que cette eau
que le courant emportait ?
Je t'ai suivi du regard, même si ça ne suffit
Il me reste un espoir mais tu ne te retournes pas
Sur tes pas... sur tes pas...
Sur le quai entre deux ponts
le sol glissant des pavés
à mesure que nous marchions
manquait de stabilité
Je t'ai suivi du regard, même si ça ne suffit
Il me reste un espoir mais tu ne te retournes pas
Sur tes pas... sur tes pas... sur tes pas... sur tes pas...
Tu ne te retournes pas
Tu ne te retournes pas...
Sur tes pas...
Tu ne te retournes pas.