Kemm int baby, qisek Franco Debono
Published:
October 11, 2012 at 7:43pm
It’s been some years now since I had young children, so I’m a little out of touch with playground insults. I was surprised to hear from several disparate parents of schoolchildren that “Franco Debono” has over the past year or so been used as just such an insult.
If anyone whines, cries, is a spoilsport, sulks horribly on the playing-field or behaves like a dog in a manger, the taunt is “Franco Debono”.
Who says children are unaware of current affairs?
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Miskin.
@ Censu
U vera miskin, as he shall only be remembered in all the wrong ways.
Also, when mobiles ring during meetings or lectures it is customary to tease the ‘offenders’ by saying: “Mela tieghek idoqq meta mitfi?”
Yet, Franco gave the nation a good excuse for those cases where one’s mobile rings when it shouldn’t, such as during a conference.
“Oh, I’m sorry. But my mobile rings even when it’s turned off.”
Yes, it’s a joke between us at work – if someone’s phone rings during a high level presentation with management (when phones should be on vibro or switched off), we say “he pulled a Franco Debono”.
High level presentation – presentation as in without getting into a lot of detail?
U meta xi hadd jinsulenta jew joffendi lil haddiehor, tghid jghidu: ” Qed jaghmel bhal Daphne ” ?
[Daphne – Yes, right. Mr Privitera, you are SO sad.]
True. It happened during a football match for which I was present.
Bikkej bħal Jeffrey … supperv bħal Jesmond u bejbi bħal Franco.
Short and to the point. Great observation :)
Thanks Adrian, just had a great morning at the office with your comment.
Seems like Franco has given up at getting his own back on his eternal foe Joseph Muscat, so he has decided to give him a helping hand. He will soon be saying:
“Qed tara kemm jien bravu il -Lejber rebah l-elezzjoni bis-sahha tieghi…ghiduli grazzi jahasra.” But by then no one would even be mentioning his name.
Do yourself and us a favour Franco….vanish
I can’t help but observe that it seems to me that we have had a silent change in the leadership of our political parties.
While JPO has full control of the Nationalist Party, Franco Debono is in effect leading the Labour Party, and Muscat just jumps when Franco Debono screams.
My eleven year old daughter sometimes throws a tantrum for attention. I call out “do you have a bout of Debonitis?” She immediately comes back to her senses and says “not that one pa!”
Ninu: Mela vera Franco genninkhom !
Ma nafx kif Gonzi ma ghajrux traditur u kif Mifsud Bonnici ma marx jahbat ghalih barra l-palazz. Kont mort ghand S Rita Ed?
Please decide whether you wish to write “genninhom” or “genninkom”. Your version does not exist. And if you can’t write proper Maltese kindly spare us your comments or write in English – if you know how.
The three posts uploaded by Franco tonight don’t appear to be written by him either.
It is unfortunate that Frantic Franco does not possess the wherewithal to promulgate his own species. However, on the other hand, they probably would disown him, due to acute embarrassment.
Before I thought that Franco was rebel..But now I changed my mind.He is doing a very good job defending us.
When is this man going to realize that the entire island is making fun of him. Nobody takes this man seriously.
Incredibly stupid and selfish. He is in his 40s and learned nothing from school and from life.
“It’s been some years now since I had young children.” Now that’s stating the obvious if ever I heard it!
[Daphne – No, actually, James, it isn’t obvious at all. Remember that I am significantly younger than your much loved Astrid, even though our children are the same age. People my age tend to have children who are still at school, because they’ve had them in their 30s. My own sister, who is just two and a half years my junior, has children aged 10 and 12. So do several of my friends and contemporaries. Do you have children? How old are they? I remember working on, quite correctly on the basis that you knew what an Afghan coat and flares were and actually owned and wore some, that you are probably around 60 years old. By my calculations, given the habits of the time, your children should now be in their 30s, if you had some, that is.]
When I was young mother’s used to scare their kids with threats of the bogey man. Now they don’t have to resort ro fiction they just threaten them with Daphne Caruana Galizia.
[Daphne – Indeed. The chances of your knowing any young “mother’s” are quite remote, James. Sheep, perhaps, but certainly not human.]
My kids are even sick and tired of the billboads, they complained that “this politics thing is all over”; and they haven’t hit 10 yet.
Oh my God! I used that phrase recently on a family member – An eight year old boy.
Poor kids.
Mine are into Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Percy Jackson, Twilight and other stories that ignite their imagination.
As for politics, they merely quizzed “Why is Gonzi covering his eyes?” and moved on to the next thing without waiting for a reply.
[Daphne – I have always been fascinated by parents who think it is something to be proud of that their children know nothing of politics and that they don’t discuss current affairs/politics at home. Different folks, different strokes, but children who grow up in homes where politics – as distinct from partisan talk – and current affairs are discussed are at a huge advantage over those who don’t grow up in such homes. Also, stories which ignite their imagination and politics/current affairs are not mutually exclusive. It’s not either one or the other. It should be both.]
Your theory is spot on, Daphne. The only problem is that the vast majority of parents (especially in Malta) can’t tell the difference between partisan chatter and politics. Some are even convinced they discuss politics. I’m sure you know which category you fall into.
[Daphne – It’s not a theory in my case. It was practice. For a start, being exposed to situations where they actually have to think about issues develops children’s analytical skills enormously – and this at a stage when, if it does not happen, it never happens at all. Analytical, clear thought is directly linked to the ability to use language. The two are interlinked and develop (or fail to develop) together.]
‘Analytical, clear thought is directly linked to the ability to use language.’ That’s pure nonsense.
[Daphne – Rob79, thought and language are interlinked. Words shape thoughts and thoughts shape words. You cannot have thoughts unless you have the words to have them in, and language does not develop unless people have thoughts they wish to express. Clear thought is reflected in clear language. That is a fact. When people write incoherently or use tangled sentences, it is because that’s what their thinking is like.]
Nope, language is arbitrary. In fact, language is a tool which has its limitations. The bible is a good example of this.
‘That is a fact. When people write incoherently or use tangled sentences, it is because that’s what their thinking is like.’
Only if you take the world, or a ‘concept’, to be logical. However, most of the world and its concepts are not black or white, and in fact one can find many contradiction. Analytic thinking, while it has its uses and benefits (e.g. science), is flawed when it does not take into account that the predicate of a proposition is in fact arbitrary. This is especially true when it comes to politics and this is also why poetry and literature (and by this I do not mean academic writing/research) will always be deeper and have more substance than any political rethoric.
[Daphne – You illustrate my point with this comment. I could boil that down into clear language in two minutes, but I can’t be fagged right now.]
It only proves a skill, and that is what writing is. So much so that writers get better at it. Skills are learned. If you have limited skills using a foreign language you might ‘appear’ incoherent but it does not follow that your line of thought is flawed. I would say that the fact that Malta has two languages makes your claim, i.e ‘Analytical, clear thought is directly linked to the ability to use language.’, invalid.
[Daphne – I do not speak of limited knowledge of foreign languages. That is irrelevant. I speak of the use of language. That this means one’s own native language is implicit. Nor am I talking of fiction when I speak of ‘writing’. The fact remains, Rob, that a muddled thought cannot be expressed in clear language, and that muddled sentences are a reflection of muddled thought. I repeat that you yourself are a good illustration of that.]
‘muddled thought cannot be expressed in clear language’. True, but it does not follow that ‘clear language’ can express clear thinking when most of the issues and concepts, and terminology related to those them are ‘abstract’. Hence, deconstruction proves contradictions in what is often assumed to be ‘clear’ and that words have their own moral weight.
Hello!? How can you put Franco and “politics” in the same sentence as if there’s any real connection?
Well i can hardly think that you can make a distinction given that your “political contribution” through your write ups is made of the same stuff.
Doing The Franco:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ9c-wC6x-g
Dan ghad ikun tifel biezel u high achiever.
We take politics too seriously. Its like life and death. A good joker sometimes is a must to let out the pressure. Thank God for Franco.
The usual maltese hamalli who come up with these stupid sayings. example when they came up with the stupid nickname for the arriva busses “aspetta” or “Arriva Arriva! in a speedy gonzales way. *roll eyes
I have heard about school children using that phrase too. I don’t have any so I have no idea where I heard it but I did.
Franco Debono has managed to turn himself into such a joke that even children use his name as an insult. Incredible.
F’hiex spicca miskin, dan ic-carlatan Franco Debono.
The political game here in Malta is dirty, and I do not want to be part of it. In fact many times I did not vote. It does not interest me who is in government. I am sure that whoever is in power is there for the good of the nation.
[Daphne – I despair.]
Lola, now imagine you were a Jew and Hitler got elected…
Lola, you are definitely going to heaven. Smile, god loves you.