French Songs

Let's talk about some French songs. Because, hey? Why not? Recently in one of my French classes we examined a song entitled Le Déserteur, by Boris Vian. This is an anti-war song, composed during France's war with Algeria over the French colonization of that country. Here it is:

These are the lyrics, translated into English:

Sh*t Everyone Says

Lately a meme has been going around the interwebs, the prime example being "Sh*t Girls Say". The easiest way to explain what a meme is would be to say that it is a formulaic joke that acquires its humor based on the assumption that your audience knows why it is so funny. Incidentally, the term "meme" seems to come from enthymeme, a rhetorical tool that leaves out the commonplace in order to let the audience plug in their own experience.

Now, let's take a look at an example:

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Videos like this are funny because assumptions are made about the target audience and experiences that they might have had.