Is there a translation of the Monty Python quote "And now for something completely different" that is actually recognized by some French speakers as a reference?
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Are you looking for a similar reference to the Monty Python or to a similar cliché?– Stéphane GimenezSep 23, 2012 at 15:15
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A reference to Monty Python.– PhiraSep 26, 2012 at 13:22
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Someone wants to close this as "too localized"? I guess that counts as the answer "No" to my question.– PhiraSep 26, 2012 at 13:23
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1A "no" would be a better answer than a closure, until the Monthy Python make it enough into French culture for a "yes" to be posted :·)– Nikana ReklawyksOct 13, 2012 at 10:01
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4 Answers
I don't know of any official translation. I'll propose et maintenant, sans transition (literally: “and now with no transition” [to ease the change of topic]). It, like “and now for something completely different”, was a catchphrase of a TV presenter (maybe not from the same generation) used as a transition phrase between two topics in a TV program. I think that presenter was Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, who presented the TV news program with the largest audience in France for two decades, though I don't know whether it originated with him. The phrase gets a lot of use, I think most French people today will recognize it as something they've heard before (even I do, and I've probably never watched that news program).
answered Sep 23, 2012 at 15:06
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2@Evpok I'm no TV buff, but as far as I know, the catchphrase is genuinely from PPDA, and the Guignols used it because it would be recognized as such, much like the Monty Pythons expected their audience to recognize “and now for something completely different”. Sep 23, 2012 at 22:01
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What makes it a reference could be Les guignols de l'info, even if it originates from PPDA. That's how I guess it sounds familiar to me too, without having watched any more than a handful of times. Oct 13, 2012 at 9:57
I've just found the answer in “The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons”. French version is:
Et maintenant quelque chose tout à fait différent
I guess it's the best translation we can get.
I don't think the series was widely known in France so the reference will not be recognized by many people. In fact I would say the english version might be as much recognized as the translation used in the dubbed version which is "Et maintenant, quelque chose de différent."
The series has been dubbed La première folie des Monty Pythons (The Monty Pythons' First Folly), but the original title is almost always used as far as I can tell. As far as I know, there is no official translation of the phrase itself ; I have actually seen it used as is in French (granted, from English literate persons).