Dear Maryse Pey�,

�Bats in the belfry�.

You imply that this is an English expression, but, of course, both you and I know full well that it is a borrowed French expression, similar to:

1) �Cherchez la femme�

2) �Danny la Rue�

3) �Donner kebab�.

Every one of these phrases has its roots in French, (which can be discerned only by the trained linguist).  The translations are:

1) �The church is hungry�

2) �In the (diminutive) street�

3) �Give me a key, Baby!�

In a similar way, the sandal-wearing French linguist, Philippe Philoppe, has analysed the phrase, �Bats in the belfry�:

�bats� is derived from the  French verb, �battre�, �to fight�

�in� = �en� = �in�

�the� = �th� = �tea�

�belfry� = �belle�, �fr� = �La Belle France�.

This was a rallying cry in times of peril:  �Fight in tea, la Belle France!�

Many individuals have become mad, trying to decipher this mysterious, mystical, magical saying.  Indeed, many English students of French, raised on a diet of, �La plume de ma tante�, began to sing strange songs.

� �I talked to the trees; so they just took me away!��

 � �Since you bought the water-bed, we�ve drifted far apart!� �

� �I thought that she was jogging, but she was running out on me!��

� �If the phone doesn�t ring, it�s me not calling you.��

� �Come down off the stove, Granny, you�re too old to ride the range.��

For this reason, �Bats in the belfry�, has become connected with inanity, imbecility, or even idiocy.

In the UK, some English students receive criticism for learning a foreign language.  As an example, a French tourist fell into the River Thames in London.  He shouted: �Au secours!  Au secours!� (�Help! Help!�)

A Londoner looked down from a bridge, and shouted: �Instead of learning French, you should have learned how to swim!�  

Les