Lent

  How many  are giving up chess for Lent?  Asking for a friend.....

This doesn't seem to. be a popular choice for Lent.....

I'm trying to figure it out. It popped into my mind during mass yesterday and I'm thinking about it.

Lent is French for slow. What is it to you guys?

Not you so obviously. But breaking news: not everyone is you, nor a caveman at heart.

Anyhow, if I explained that lent is French for slow, it's in order for anyone to understand why I'm asking what "Lent" is (regarding this thread), since Google will come up with tons of links to "slow" things and topics, since it's France here, and if you type a French word in Google, it'll show, well, French results.

You comprendo? No? Si? Hasta la vista baby?

Lent is the 40(+sundays) days before Easter. (I had a google translation of it but it seems that's referring to lent as in lending money instead of lent as in the time period).

A bit of research finds the actual french word for Lent is apparently Carême.

Thank you, but Google translate has it wrong.

Prété is lent in English, in the following sentence: "he lent me his record" (il m'a prété son disque).

But if you type "Ce bus est lent", it'll be "This bus is slow.

Lol, I verified it and yes, Google says that. But it's nonsense to me. Nobody ever says such things. I promise the main meaning of lent is slow. Carême is already a Catholic religious word barely used nowadays in France.

Also, nice you mention what would be lent in French, as if it was a foreign word that would need translation. To a French person, lent is a French word that require no translation and simply means slow (in English). The average French person, even fluent in English, will be unaware this word also exists in English. Because you never hear it in (English speaking) movies nor in (English) songs, etc.

Yes, I updated my post. It seemed google translate used the wrong homonym for this context, so I looked up the french wikipedia page for Easter and followed the links to find Lent (the time period, not the word describing money or item lending).

Well, that is an unsurmountable obstacle. Absolutely no way to work around that. If you try "lent english", that has no chance of finding anything.

(I tried it on google.fr and yes, it works splendidly.)

Oh, magipi, and so, what is then Lent? A board game? Something else? Because, giving up chess for (something else) is the first way I understood it. It did not strike me it could be "giving up chess for some religious thingie" yeah.

First page for "Lent English" on Google.fr

https://www.google.fr/search?q=lent+english&sca_esv=f9e9aef3ae3c6c42&source=hp&ei=9oknZtGdHY2vkdUP8LS9uAo&iflsig=ANes7DEAAAAAZieYBrOiVJ7lVsEoPcaRxsuIAJEPQ2kS&ved=0ahUKEwjR8JSHjdiFAxWNV6QEHXBaD6cQ4dUDCBU&uact=5&oq=lent+english&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IgxsZW50IGVuZ2xpc2gyBRAAGIAEMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIIEAAYFhgeGA8yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB5IihxQAFicFnAAeACQAQCYAZYBoAHVCKoBBDEwLjK4AQPIAQD4AQGYAgygApkJwgILEAAYgAQYsQMYgwHCAhEQLhiABBixAxjRAxiDARjHAcICCxAuGIAEGLEDGIMBwgIOEC4YgAQYxwEYjgUYrwHCAg4QLhiABBixAxiDARiKBcICDhAAGIAEGLEDGIMBGIoFwgIIEC4YgAQYsQPCAggQABiABBixA8ICCxAuGIAEGNEDGMcBwgIKEAAYgAQYRhj_AcICCBAuGBYYChgemAMAkgcDOS4zoAeaZw&sclient=gws-wiz

Makes no sense when you're trying to find out what game would be "Lent".

So, I also tried "lent game", but nothing made any sense. Not everyone has a Catholic education or mindset.

As I said, it's Carême. During Lent (Carême), catholics traditionally tend to temporarily stop eating (i.e. 'give up') certain foods like eggs. Protestants and some other catholics are generally less strict about the specifics, and so often stop eating or doing other things instead, such as stopping playing ('giving up') chess.

Now, all of that having been said and clarified, I suppose that if I was fasting for religious reasons, it would make sense to give up on entertainements along it, since the heart and the mind are then supposed to focus on the divine.

Oh, cruel fate!

Thank you for the explainations.

Because?

Because sarcasm fails when conversations are nonsense to begin with.