to Francois and Micawber

[jiang]

Dear Francois,

2. The following is a French proverb:
A good meal ought to begin with hunger.
Does it mean only when a person feel hungry can he think the meal is delicious?

And I have received Micawber's explanation.

'A good meal ought to begin with hunger.'-- hunger is a promising start, in ensuring that a meal is satisfying.

After I read the explanation I posted another question:

Thank you very much for your explanation. I planned to ask Francois before I read your explanation. This is the surface meaning. And I think "hunger" is a metaphor. Could you please tell me what the underlined meaning of the proverb?


Micawber is offline now. I don't know whether Micawber will come back today and reply my question. Therefore I am posting this to make sure that at least one of you will give me an answer.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

[Francois]

This is an old proverb; I've never used it nor heard it. In essence, it means that hunger will go a good way toward enjoying one's meal -- one is less picky, and enjoys his food when he's hungry.
A lot of the proverbs on http://fr.wikiquote.org/wiki/Proverbes_fran%C3%A7ais for instance are hardly ever used, and many are plain new to me. Try a few out w/ some native speakers, and you'll see what I mean

FRC

[jiang]

Dear Francois,

Thank you very much for your reply. If you don't know the meaning I am sure it isn't often used by people therefore isn't important.
I have surfed the website you gave me. However, I have only learned a little French and since my French isn't that good I have to consult my French dictionary before I can catch the meaning of some simple proverbs.

Best wishes,

Jiang

Originally Posted by Francois

This is an old proverb; I've never used it nor heard it. In essence, it means that hunger will go a good way toward enjoying one's meal -- one is less picky, and enjoys his food when he's hungry.
A lot of the proverbs on http://fr.wikiquote.org/wiki/Proverbes_fran%C3%A7ais for instance are hardly ever used, and many are plain new to me. Try a few out w/ some native speakers, and you'll see what I mean

FRC

[Tdol]

It's a good proverb though. I'm feeling peckish.

[Francois]

We have "L'appétit vient en mangeant", which is much more common.
vient =~ comes
mangeant =~ eating

Don't bother with the link I posted, Jiang, as I said most of the proverbs there are not worth the trouble.

FRC

[jiang]

Thank you for your attention. Unfortunately I don't know how to reply humorously.

Best wishes,

Jiang

Originally Posted by tdol

It's a good proverb though. I'm feeling peckish.

[jiang]

Thank you for your reply. In Chinese there are so many proverbs and we can get the meaning of every.

Reading the link is OK. I have been learning French and to read something in French is to test how good my French is.

Best wishes,

Jiang

Originally Posted by Francois

We have "L'appétit vient en mangeant", which is much more common.
vient =~ comes
mangeant =~ eating

Don't bother with the link I posted, Jiang, as I said most of the proverbs there are not worth the trouble.

FRC