life is a beach

kbbylily

kbbylily

Senior Member
Paris
france, français
hello,
I 've seen this sentence several times on T-shirts.
I think this a joke, a pun with " life is a bitch", I am right?
the thing that makes me not be sure is that I saw that on children T-shirt and I don't think people would buy their kid a clothe saying that?
could you brighten this for me please?
 
    • Well, you're right, it comes from "life is a bitch". The thing is that when you change it to "life is a beach", the meaning is so different that it's OK even for kids, you know? It means I love the beach, I love the holidays, I love summer. Beach and sun, that's life!
     
    Although the expression 'life's a beach' may have originated as a pun for 'life's a bitch', it's also a statement on it's own, that life is not a bitch at all, rather, life's a beach. As zazap said, it signifies that the wearer views life as a pleasant beach - sun, surf, relaxation...
     
    zazap said:
    Well, you're right, it comes from "life is a bitch". The thing is that when you change it to "life is a beach", the meaning is so different that it's OK even for kids, you know? It means I love the beach, I love the holidays, I love summer. Beach and sun, that's life!
    Click to expand...


    Yes ok. I understand what you mean but... I find this a little bit offending anyway because, me, as a french person I think about "life is a bitch" so I guess that natives english will thing about that too. And it is made so we think about it. so I find it improper for a child... (my boyfriend had one when he was a child with garfield sayiong that, but his parents didn't speak english at all :p)
     
    kbbylily said:
    Yes ok. I understand what you mean but... I find this a little bit offending anyway because, me, as a french person I think about "life is a bitch" so I guess that natives english will thing about that too. And it is made so we think about it. so I find it improper for a child... (my boyfriend had one when he was a child with garfield sayiong that, but his parents didn't speak english at all :p)
    Click to expand...

    I don't think it would strike most English-speakers' ears as inappropriate for a kid. It is cute and clever-sounding and also, it really means that life isn't "a bitch"
     
    Nicomon said:
    In either case, I read a pun, i.e. de la mer(de) and mère. Although Pieanne's is closer to "bitch". :)
    Click to expand...
    I wasn't thinking about "mère", my French housemate always says "C'est la merde", or "c'est vraiment la merde"...That's what I was thinking about, just like pieanne;)
     
    Puzzled.
    Having ever enjoyed this kind of jokes in French, I couldn't help at first to try it also in English (this kind, not necessarily this one) until my first host in L.A kindly explained I would be the only one to laugh, since the english pronunciation (of for instance here beach vs bitch) was not the same at all. So I assumed that no english speaking native would do or even notice it.
    As for the sub-thread, a friend of mine used a long time ago to answer :
    "chacun sa mère", a phrase which have had since some success...
     
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