French pun on Python! :-)

[Michel Orengo]

Fred Pacquier wrote:

> pinard at iro.umontreal.ca (François Pinard) said :
>
> >Hi, people.
> >While introducing Python to a few friends, I noticed they tend to
> >naturally use `je Pythonne', `nous Pythonnons', etc. as an easy pun on
> >the word Python. I think that English people pronounce `pie-ton', while
> >French people say `pea-to[n]' (said faster, with the `n' silent).  This
> >has the same sounds as for the word `piton'.  A `piton' is a familiar
> >word to design any mechanical device on which someone pushes, like an
> >electrical button, or often, one of the keys of a computer keyboard.
> >So, `je pitonne', `nous pitonnons', etc. already became a familiar way
> >to express any soft computer hacking. I thought this might amuse some of
> >you.
>
> At least for this one it does :-)
> Note that this is idiomatic of "canadian" French -- on this side of the
> pond uses of 'piton' tend to me more restrictive (apart from slang
> variants). A 'piton' is essentially one of two things : either a very
> sharp, pointy moutain summit (like a peak), or the metal pikes that
> climbers drive into rock or ice to fasten their security ropes (the verb
> form, 'pitonner', explicitely refers to this latter activity). Either
> way, I find this neologism ('to python') has interesting implications for
> the language and its users (climbing higher, being secure, driving nails
> home, etc... :-))
>
> --
> YAFAP : http://www.multimania.com/fredp/

The paradise island for Python programmers is, then, St lucia in the
Caribbeans where "Gros Piton" and "Petit Piton" are the symbols of the
island.
Wanna do offshore programming? ;-)

Michel