We've received the following email:

(In the title bar): Enfin le métrique chez-vous...chanceux
(In the main message box): Ouvrez-vous sur le monde, allez...courage

Can someone help with translation?
Thank you!

Translation (idiomatic) provided by Mrs Greta Bennett:

"Now, at last, you too can have the metric system in *your* country - you lucky people!"

"Open yourself to the world. Go for it! - have courage!"

"Vous pensez que la Grande Bretagne n'est pas ouverte sur le monde? La langue anglaise est parlee courrament par 1,6 billion de personnes. Notre Commonwealth a plus de cent members dans le monde. Notre commerce globale est enorme et nous sommes le deuxieme actionnaire dans le monde (apres les Etats Unis). Nous sommes la quatrieme economie globale (avant la France). Le chomage est moins d'un million ici mais pres de 2.5 million en France.

Notre systeme habituel de poids et de mesures est humain, naturel, historique et pratique et plus de soixante-dix pourcent de britanniques le preferent (les jeunes y compris)".

[English translation of above]:

"You think that Great Britain isn't open to the world? The English language is spoken fluently by 1.6 billion people. Our Commonwealth has over 100 members across the globe. Our global trade is huge and we are the second largest overseas investor in the world (second only to the United States) - and we have the world's fourth largest economy (ahead of France). Unemployment is under one million in the U.K. but around 2.5 million in France.

Our system of weights and measures is human, natural, historical and practical, and over 70% of British people - including young people - prefer it".


Tony Bennett

nicely phrased reply
someone in the family writes good french
I would be honored if you or Greta
would glance at my rhymed translation of
a Villon ballade, posted on web with original
for comparison

http://www.planck.com/rhymedtranslations/villoncriemerci.htm

can also get to it by
Google with keywords [villon crie]

the condescending smugness of metric-users is wonderful

It would be wonderful Leonard, if it weren't for the fact that our culture is seriousloy threatened by it. Of course, I do find it marvelous though.

Leonard,

Greta (my wife) has indeed glanced at your translation of the French poem. To have attempted to translate that would have been beyond her range of translation skills

Tony Bennett