Topic: urgent french help needed (Page 1 of 1)

hey there
i'm applying for a student exchange course in france, and one of the questions they want to know is:
What is a "boulet" for you?

the course has something to do with nanotechnology....maybe this can help. i've also checked the french version of wikipedia, and maybe it's explained over there, but my french skills are too weak to understand everything.
can one of the french speaking inmates help me out?
thanks in advance!

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulet

The Space Between Us | My Blog: lukas.grumet.at

that page is talking about something like a cannon ball. I think Boulet is bullet but I'm not French so you might need to talk to Poi. I think he speaks French

Later,

C:\

Again, definitely wait for Poi, but the boulet pictured on the Wiki page above is "round shot." Here's the English version of the page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_shot

Why this would have anything to do with a student exchange course is beyond me. I suspect that it has an additional meaning in French.


___________________________
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I was doing this thing this one day involving certain things. "Boulet" means ball according to this thing I was up to. The context I was dealing with was more of the bouncy-bouncy play ball.

Poi!

(Edited by warjournal on 12-13-2008 15:22)

no, i think there is more than the cannon ball; i did check the german entry on wikipedia as you checked the english one i guess....which was about cannon balls.....but i think the text at the very bottom means something else

The Space Between Us | My Blog: lukas.grumet.at

Mas I can help you but I need the complete context. What exactly did they ask in french?

I know nothing about nanotechnologies, other than the concept, but I can tell you that a boulet is indeed a canon ball.

It can also refer to the "ball and chain", the ball part, that gets attached to a convict's leg. It is also refers to a horse's anatomy (bone).

I did a google search on boulet and nanotechnologies and nothing comes up, so that's the only definitions I know.

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nanotech + balls -> random guess leads to bucky balls, or C60 fullerene, but google doesn't seem to support this theory.

hm, in biotech context a "broyeur a boulets" could also be a machines for grinding things down
( "http://www.lessinesindustries.com/fr/produits/broyage/broyeur-a-boulets/ )

Bad timing, I was on my way to France for Xmas vacation. Just unpacked my laptop.

SleepingWolf's definitions are correct. I'll just add that "boulet" is the slang for somebody who is "challenged" or born with 2 left hands.

I never heard that term in nanotech-talk but it could very well have been coined to talk about some relatively big or heavy structure of spherical shape. I doubt it is used to refer to a single thing but is more some sort of nickname in a specific context or study.

mas: Do you have a few sentences using the word "boulet". To see the word in context. Is it used in the vincinity of a reference to a footnote ?

thanks a lot for your input everybody!
unfortunately, there is no context at all. the first question they asked was:
If a spaghetti is 30cm long, how thin can a "carbon nanotube made spaghetti" be?
and the second one:
What is a "boulet" for you?

go figure
i've answered the question with a mix of all your suggestions...i think they were expecting some fun stuff anyway..

The Space Between Us | My Blog: lukas.grumet.at

Anyone ever see one of those emails go around that is supposedly sent by a teacher with the crazy (and sometimes stupid) responses given on tests or homework?

I think we might just have a candidate here

Good luck mas, and have fun. I wish I would've done an exchange program somewhere when I was in school... Although the 'boulet' question would've sunk me too...

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Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature.

quote:

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Lord_Fukutoku said:

I think we might just have a candidate here

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definitely.

btw, this was not for school but for university I'll let you know if i make it in

The Space Between Us | My Blog: lukas.grumet.at

just wanted to say thanks again i've been accepted! i'll do some research on carbon nanotubes in Grenoble, France this April. you guys sure helped me !!
much love,

The Space Between Us | My Blog: lukas.grumet.at

Well done mas.
Carbon nanotubes, what a fascinating subject. I've been reading up on this technology ever since I heard of Buckminsterfullerene (C60) and how it can work with technology a few years back.

Grats! Don't forget to build that space elevator