"Quenelle"

[Laurence Horn]

On Jan 2, 2014, at 2:06 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:

> “It is the trademark of the hugely controversial French comedian Dieudonne
> M'Bala M'Bala, who once said he would like to put a quenelle - a
> rugby-ball-shaped serving of fish or meat paste - up the backside of
> Zionists.”
>
> Aren't I sorry I asked?

That was me (above).  FWIW, I've never seen a quenelle that was the shape of a rugby ball.  They (the quenelles de veau/poisson I've seen) are usually cylindrical.  Not that that would make this less insulting.

LH
>
>
> Yesterday, one of my French Facebook-friends noted that Dieudonne had hit
> on her to be his FB-friend. She was bent *totally* out of shape, really
> disgusted, than this anti-Semitic/anti-Semetic asshole - or French words to
> that effect - had the gall to hit on her.
>
> She uses the name, "Durand Lella" and is a ethnic-Gascon (and Jewish?) rock
> DJ).
>
> Thanks for the background. I had no idea what she was talking about.
>
> One Of my high-school teachers was surnamed "Quesnelle" [k@'nEl]. Another
> Jesuit, named "Connell," used the same pronunciation as that of his name.
> It made for confusion. I have no idea whether there's more than a trivial
> connection between that and "quenelle."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org