Oh, not Patient Zero?

"Patient Zero" is the common name for an individual supposed to have been the starting point of a viral outbreak or pandemic.

But, did you know that the original "patient zero," Gaetan Dugas of the HIV epidemic, was originally labelled "Patient O," that's the letter O as in outside of California?

And it turns out that Dugas was not responsible for bringing AIDS to New York, as some shrill fear-mongers said in the press.  The virus was already present there when he was spreading it.  But then, it's easier to point fingers at a boogeyman rather than understanding science or just accepting the vagaries of biology.

I'm the head honcho around here, comprende?

There is a common belief, probably because of the fact that it ends in o, that the word honcho is of Spanish origin.  Well actually!  It's derived from Japanese.  Han means corps or squad and cho means the head or chief.  This came to English through American GIs in Japan during WWII.  

A propos, "head honcho" is therefore a redundancy, since the honcho is already the leader of the squad.  (Although, I guess, there could reasonably be a series of leaders, as in the army, with one leader of the leaders, who is in charge.)  Anyway, remember, redundancies are repetitions of the same or similar words, and therefore you should endeavor to try to avoid them.  That said, now I'm off to the ATM machine.

une écrevisse - a crayfish

Les écrevisses peuvent avoir l’air difficiles à manger, mais une fois que vous avez pris la main, vous en mangerez des kilos, comme le font les habitants de La Nouvelle-Orléans.

Crayfish may seem difficult to eat, but once you have them in hand, you will eat them by the kilo, like the people of New Orleans do.

un éplucheur - a peeler

À l'aide d'un éplucheur de légumes, peler de longs rubans de carotte. 

Using a vegetable peeler, shave long ribbons of carrot.

ronfler - to snore; to whine (engine)

Mais Luc, après avoir émis des sons inintelligibles se retourna sur le côté gauche et il se remit à dormir et à ronfler. 

 

But Luc after making a few unintelligible sounds, turned onto his left side, fell back asleep, and snored.

traîner - to drag, pull, haul

Mon fils a traîné sa grande valise en haut de l'escalier.

My son dragged his big suitcase up the stairs.

fainéant - lazy

Le garçon fainéant n'a rien fait sauf dormir toute la journée.  

The idle boy did nothing but sleep all day long.