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Of course. "Oursenplus" sounds Latin because it ends in "-us", like "Gaius", "Julius", etc. It's a standard joke in Asterix to make up "Latin" names that are in fact French words or short phrases with an "-us" (or other Latin-like) last syllable. e.g. "Gaius Faispaslgugus" (appearing in "Le Devin") - from "ne fais pas le gugusse" which translates roughly to "don't be ridiculous". The same goes for making up Gaulish names, except the last syllable is usually "-ix" e.g. Abraracourcix, from "[prendre quelqu' un] a bras racourcis", which means to beat someone up. And the same with all the other cultures satirised in Asterix [1]. Now, "Oursenplus" (appearing in "Le Domaine des Dieux") sounds like "Ourse en peluche", meaning a plushie bear. "Peluche" is felt. In a native French accent it is pronounced with a silent "e", so more like "plush" with a long "u" as in "heuristics". Well, OK, it's hard to explain the pronounciation without sound. The funny thing is that I know the word "peluche" and what it means (I learned it from another comic book, Bob & Bobette) but just seeing "Oursenplus" written, I didn't get it, because I was confounded by the "enplus" at the end, which could as well stand for "en plus", or "one more"; as in "one more bear". Or, more unlikely "en plus, c'est un ourse", as in "also, it's a bear". I figured that was some kind of saying I didn't know and I only caught on to the actual meaning when I asked a French colleague whether the knew the character in Asterix, and what the name meant. My colleague in turn, who didn't know the character, misheard the name and asked me "Comment, ourse en peluche?". And then I started laughing with the confusion of decades finally lifted, the joke finally understood :) ___________ [1] See: Epidemaïs, a Phoenician merchant, from "épis de maïs", "ear of corn"; Okéibos a Greek javelin-thrower, from "OK Boss"; Soupalognon y Crouton, the Iberian chief, from "soupe à l'oignon avec des croûtons", oninon soup with croutons, etc. Many more here: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_des_personnages_d'Ast%C3... |