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Old 06-04-2012, 02:23 PM   #47
Dave de Vos
 
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Dojo: Shoryukai, Breda (aikikai) & Aiki-Budocentrum Breda (yoseikan)
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Re: Morihei Ueshiba: Untranslatable Words

pont = bridge
d' = contraction of de before a vowel = of. The particle de is just the way to express the genitive. Like jus d'orange = juice of orange = orange juice.
argent = silver (money is a derived meaning)
monnaie = coins
or = gold

French is one of the languages everyone in the Netherlands learns for some years in school (4 years in my case). My French is good enough to manage on vacation, but I would expect that Tom speaks French fluently as he obviously lives in France. Also, his name is Dutch or Belgian, which suggests he also learned French in school even if he moved to France as an adult.

Still, pont d'argent is simple to translate, and I'd expect any French translator to translate it as either silver bridge or money bridge, depending on the context.
I don't see how it could be bridge money (whatever that means). I think bridge money would be argent de pont.

Last edited by Dave de Vos : 06-04-2012 at 02:31 PM.
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