Sophie Grégoire Trudeau's Shinto prayer: Love, light, peace … and squash
Unfortunate spelling error has prime minister's spouse wishing for 'courge' in Japan
A skipped letter can change the meaning of a word in any language, and in French, a missing "a" can change courage to squash, as Sophie Grégoire Trudeau demonstrated in Tokyo on Monday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife visited the Meiji shrine in Tokyo as part of their trip to Japan for the G7 conference.
They were invited to write their wishes on a card and hang them on a wall with hundreds of others.
PM <a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau">@JustinTrudeau</a> and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau write their wishes and hang them on the wall of the Meiji shrine <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/hw?src=hash">#hw</a> <a href="https://t.co/LPYPPTDb6d">pic.twitter.com/LPYPPTDb6d</a>
—@CochraneCBCRadio-Canada's Marc Godbout took a shot of Grégoire Trudeau's prayer card.
Prière personnelle aux Dieux laissée par Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau <a href="https://t.co/vu7J7bOt9L">pic.twitter.com/vu7J7bOt9L</a>
—@GODBOUMAWhile it's clear that she meant to wish for "Courage, Love, Light, Peace," her misspelling changed the first word to "Courge," the French word for squash.
One Montrealer edited the photo to add a visual aide.
Comme on dit par chez nous:<br>«Courge, Amour, Lumière, Paix...» - Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau <a href="https://t.co/q1FdVqZRJT">pic.twitter.com/q1FdVqZRJT</a>
—@mariebernatchez"As we say back home," she joked.
The jokes didn't stop there, though.
Prière de Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau aux dieux japonais: Amour, lumière, paix... et une bonne grosse dose de légume. <a href="https://t.co/mvYmtuTix2">https://t.co/mvYmtuTix2</a>
—@pmartin_UdeM"Sophie Grégoire Trudeau's prayer to the Japanese gods: Love, light, peace … and a great big dose of vegetables."
Pour bien commencer cette courte semaine, un message de notre première dame au dieu des cucurbitacées. <a href="https://t.co/QbCjSKlIbc">https://t.co/QbCjSKlIbc</a>
—@infomantv"To get this short week off to a good start, a message from our first lady to the god of gourds."
C'est de bon ton de souhaiter une courge aux dieux. Tout le monde sait ça ! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/polqc?src=hash">#polqc</a> <a href="https://t.co/dzi1EbFXfa">https://t.co/dzi1EbFXfa</a>
—@BreitlingerZ"It's fashionable to ask the gods for a squash. Everyone knows that!"
<a href="https://twitter.com/lasoiree">@lasoiree</a> Seulement Sophie connait les virtues insoupçonnées de la courge.
—@SylvainPoliquin"Only Sophie knows the unsuspected virtues of the squash."
Pauvre chou, je lui donne un "A" pour l'effort 😃 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/selfiequeen?src=hash">#selfiequeen</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/polcan?src=hash">#polcan</a> <a href="https://t.co/VqRsuyH8QN">https://t.co/VqRsuyH8QN</a>
—@FBoivinGatineau"Poor darling (or, literally, cabbage), I'll give her an 'A' for effort."
Jamais courge n'aura autant fait parler d'elle que la courge à Sophie.
—@iericksen"Never has a squash been talked about as much as Sophie's squash."