Hi Mr. Tony,
You are most welcome. Google Translate does not handle translations very well so there may be a few wondering what is this "Pardon my French" about.
My Dad had horses and restored buggies when we were kids. When one sits in a horse drawn buggy, in front of one's feet, is a vertical board, which he explained was called a dash. Early American horseless carriages had switches and ammeters mounted on this dash; hence, it later became a dash board.
On Model T's, early fenders were called mud guards; in French, fenders were, and "still" are called <une garde de boue>, or a mud guard.
But the dash on a horse drawn buggy in French he explained to us as kids was called <une garde de crotte>; i.e., a "turd guard", designed to prevent horse manure from falling inside the buggy.
Later, as the French horseless carriage developed very early in France, instruments were placed thereupon; hence, the translated French term for dash board in English was a "turd guard".
About 50 or so years ago I was driving a jeep in the former French speaking Colony of Cochin-China, and my foreign passenger & very respectable friend on my right told me in French that I was low on gas. I told him in French I was not too low on gas. Then he responded, "Oui, regardez sur votre "garde de crotte".: Which translated into, "Yes, look on your turd guard."
I had to hit the brakes and park I was laughing so much. He asked what I was laughing at & I never told him. The older French dictionaries still have this term for dash board, but in the modern French dictionaries, a dash is now referred to as, <le tableau de bord>.
We learned years ago in U.S. Military Command & General Staff College that in western European Countries, French is sill the Language of Treaties for NATO ...... maybe because the French always call a turd nothing else but a turd. So many French expressions have to be said after the expression, "Pardon my French". LOL
Mr. Tony, another comical entry into your French dictionary might be: How do the old French Catholics who used to fast and do penance during the Lenten season describe a young pregnant lady, in a white dress, (with a large stomach), walking up the aisle in Church prior to getting married?
Les Francais ont dit. <Paque avant Careme!>; e.g., translated, the old French people used to say, "Easter before Lent."
I sincerely hope your friend can successfully remove his Model A gas tank and please let him know that "all" of us are here only to assist anyone, anywhere, in any way possible.
