埼玉英語会 英検１級・準１級　コミュのJe ne comprends pas! 　休日なので息抜き！

Boris Johnson tells France to ‘donnez-moi un break’

Boris Johnson’s latest attempt at speaking another European language has gone
as well as you’d expect, with the prime minister being ridiculed for his French
retort to criticism over the new UK, US and Australian partnership.

The pact, often referred to as AUKUS, has sparked outrage in France,
after a submarine deal with Australia was dropped in favour of
the new security arrangement.

France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian dubbed the move as
“a stab in the back”, accused Oz of “lies and duplicity”.

However, standing outside the US Capitol building, Johnson brushed aside
the complaints, telling the media: “I just think it’s time for some of our
dearest friends around the world to ‘prenez un grip’ about all this and
‘donnez-moi un break’, because this is fundamentally a great step forward
for global security.”

If the prime minister’s remarks have left you thinking “je ne comprends pas”,
then you’re not the only one.

While it’s clear that the prime minister was trying to say “get a grip” and “give me
a break”, the comments have been mocked by Twitter users, with some questioning
if the sentence is actually grammatically correct.


I don't believe we have an expression saying "prenez un grip".
— Pascal Jacquemain (@jacquep) September 22, 2021

Prenez un grip and Donnez moi un break are not even close to grammatically
correct.
— Agathe Boulous (@agathe_boulous) September 22, 2021


Others have pointed out that ‘grip’ is incredibly similar to the French word, ‘grippe’
– which translates to ‘flu’.

Not the best thing to utter during a pandemic, Boris.


One potentially precarious/funny aspect of this: At least audibly, BoJo's "prenez
un grip" could be mistaken for "grippe," the French word for the flu.
— Jake Lahut (@JakeLahut) September 22, 2021

"Prenez un grip" - in French sounds like "get a flu" - so they think he wants
them to get covid.
— Frtl Englbrt (@fartelengelbert) September 22, 2021

La grippe in French means influenza. So when Boris says “prenez in grip”
he’s telling the French to catch the flu
— Bridget Jones 2021 (@BridgeJones2021) September 22, 2021