Piggyback

piggyback (adv.) - 1: up on the back and shoulders; 2: on or as if on the back of another

First off, I now wish to travel only by piggyback.

French students: have you ever heard a translation for this? The only thing I can think of is "sur le dos de quelqu'un" (on somebody's back) but that's not as fun as piggyback. With extensive (1-minute) research on WordReference, I have found "le ferroutage," but that's specifically for trains. Boo!

German students: do the Germans have a word for this? They seem to have a word for everything...

Down to business: I decided to learn a bit about "le ferroutage," so thank you WordReference.

Here's a brief answer to "C'est quoi le ferroutage?" (What is piggybacking?)

And a French wiki on le ferroutage.

And in English: piggyback.

Le ferroutage is the French word for piggyback in the railroad flatcar sense of the word. It is a kind of combined transport where something is carried on the back of something else.

I found a dorky yet informative TV show (~26 minutes) called "C'est pas sorcier" ("It's not Magic"). They did an episode all about le ferroutage! Linked here for your viewing pleasure if you should wish to watch a fun French show with a PBS air about it. C'est pas sorcier - Le ferroutatge.

In the opener, Fred says: "Le camion sur un train?! Qu'est-ce que c'est que cette histoire?", which translates roughly to "A truck on a train?! What is this madness?" ("Histoire" meaning story really, and the actual translation is "What's all this about?" but I like mine better and you get the point.) In fact, this is le ferroutage.

The show goes on to explain the intricacies of this mode of transporting goods, and all its pros and cons. As we know, a lot of resources such as fruits and vegetables are imported and exported between countries. Products are also made from different parts of the whole that come from different countries. So long distance transport of such products throughout Europe is necessary and frequent. The main advantage of le ferroutage is it allows for easier travel across natural obstacles, such as through the Pyrenées and the Alps. It also helps to reduce pollution and cut down on traffic jams.

So one could say that manufacturers throughout Europe piggyback their resources on the train in order to piggyback them with other resources to reach the final product. I wonder how and if this kind of transportation of goods will continue to develop.

Pugilism: The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club.

pugilism (n.) - boxing

This week's word stumped me. Upon my initial Google search, which I hoped would give me a multitude of ideas on how to relate "pugilism" to French culture in some interesting way, I found this, which while intriguing and a very literal interpretation of our fisticuffs-themed word of the day, did not particularly inspire me. Besides, one does not talk about savate club...at least for now.

So then I turned to my other search results: recent news about a French soldier who was killed in Mali. Corporal Cedric Chareton, a paratrooper, was killed Saturday during a military campaign that began in January to target a group of radical al Quaeda militants who were responsible for an attack on a gas plant in Algeria. Here is an article from early on in the conflict, which details the outbreak of fighting that really accelerated the process of France's involvement in Mali. The article also seems to predict the violence that is still ongoing.

An image from the Wall Street Journal from January showing the initial occupancy by Islamist rebels vs. the French and Malian forces. The French took action to prevent a possible takeover of the capital of Bamako.

Recently, there has been some discrepancy over whether two al Quaeda leaders were killed in the region where Cpl Chareton was killed. Reportedly, the Chadian army claimed it had killed Mokhtar Belmokhtar and Abdehamid Abou Zeid, but the French military has not yet confirmed their deaths. That led me to this article, which offers a strong critique of the French army's reservedness in publicizing details of the conflict. One quote in particular leaps off the page at me: "'The army is missing out on a chance to put itself forward at a time when it is doing something impressive all on its own, without our American allies,' said Michel Goya of the IRSEM defense research institute, who described the information blackout as 'counter-productive.'" While it's true that we don't often hear of France's military exploits, and that there is quite a bit of security as far as information coming out of this conflict in Mali, it seems a bit extreme to me to suggest that the French military should boast a bit more.

So here's my question: is the regulation of media justified? Should the French army take this opportunity to glorify itself, or is it right to be so reserved with this information?