''La plume de ma tante'' ("my aunt's quill") is a phrase in popular culture, attributed to elementary French language instruction (possibly as early as the 19th century
) and used as an example of grammatically correct phrases with limited practical application that are sometimes taught in introductory foreign language texts. As
''Life'' magazine said in 1958, "As every student knows, the most idiotically useless phrase in a beginner's French textbook is ''la plume de ma tante'' (the quill of my aunt)."
The phrase is also used to refer to something deemed completely irrelevant.
The term lent its name to the musical play ''
La Plume de Ma Tante
' is a 1955 musical theatre, musical comedy, written, devised, and directed by Robert Dhéry, with music by Gérard Calvi, and English lyrics by Ross Parker (songwriter), Ross Parker. The play consisted of a number of short sketches in English, F ...
'', which won a
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
in 1959.
The phrase is also used in teaching and remembering the sounds of the French vowel ''a''; ''La plume de ma tante'' contains three instances of ''a'' that use two different pronunciations. Other limited-use phrases used as pronunciation guides include: ''Le petit bébé est un peu malade'' ("the little baby is slightly ill"), which contains six variants of ''e'', and ''Un bon vin blanc'' ("a good white wine"), which contains four nasal vowels.
The phrase's French converse is , the first in the original English guide from French publisher
Assimil
Assimil (often stylised as ASSiMiL) is a French company, founded by Alphonse Chérel in 1929. It creates and publishes foreign language courses, which began with their first book ''Anglais Sans Peine'' ("English Without Toil"). Since then, the c ...
. The similar, more recent phrase "Where is Brian? Brian is in the kitchen" was popularised by comedian
Gad Elmaleh
Gad Elmaleh ( ar, جاد المالح, Latn, ar, Gād el-Māleḥ; born 19 April 1971) is a Moroccan-Canadian stand-up comedian and actor who achieved fame in France, Morocco and the United States. He is best known in the French-speaking worl ...
.
In other media
In the 1973 horror film ''
The Exorcist
''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty W ...
'', Catholic priest Damien Karras interviews Regan MacNeil, a girl believed to suffer from
demonic possession
Spirit possession is an unusual or altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors purportedly caused by the control of a human body by spirits, ghosts, demons, or gods. The concept of spirit possession exists in many cultures and reli ...
. While Karras probes to determine whether the possession is a hoax, the demon
Pazuzu
In ancient Mesopotamian religion, Pazuzu ( akk, , translit=pà.zu.zu; also called Fazuzu or Pazuza) was a personification of the southwestern wind, and held kingship over the lilu wind demons.
As an apotropaic entity, he was considered as bo ...
—who has possessed Regan—speaks in Latin and French, languages presumably unknown to Regan. When Karras demands "Quod nomen mihi est?/What is my name?" in Latin, the demon exclaims "La plume de ma tante!", using the phrase as a
non sequitur to mock and evade Karras' line of questioning.
Singer and comedian
Anna Russell
Anna Russell (born Anna Claudia Russell-Brown; 27 December 191118 October 2006) was an English–Canadian singer and comedian. She gave many concerts in which she sang and played comic musical sketches on the piano. Among her best-known works a ...
wrote and performed a song called ''"Je n'ai pas la plume de ma tante"'' ("I don't have my aunt's quill"), as a parody of French
art song
An art song is a Western vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano accompaniment, and usually in the classical art music tradition. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the collective genre of such songs ...
.
See also
*
My postillion has been struck by lightning
"My postillion has been struck by lightning", "our postillion has been struck by lightning", and other variations on the same pattern, are often given as examples of the ridiculous phrases supposed to have been found in phrase books or language in ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plume de ma tante, La
French words and phrases
Language education
education-stub