I discovered that saying the word “knuckleball” (as in, “The Red Sox knuckleball pitcher isn’t playing in the World Series”) has an interesting effect on Mr. P, who gives a delighted chuckle not unlike the Pillsbury Doughboy when he receives a poke in the stomach.
That’s how we discovered that Mr. P didn’t know what “knuckles” are. It’s an increasingly rare event that he’ll come across an English word that he does not understand, so when it happens, I must exploit:
“Want a knuckle sandwich?” I asked, to which he gamely agreed. Pow. “Wanna play Bloody Knuckles?” I asked, to which he demurred.
It turns out that there is no commonly-used French equivalent of the word knuckle. Like, they’ll say craquer mes doigts (cracking my fingers) or craquer mes jointures (cracking my joints), but don’t use a specific term for the joints of the fingers.
Knuckle is a German-origin word that can also be used as a verb to mean applying oneself industriously to a task. Interestingly, this is another concept for which the French lack a word.
