XPost: alt.usage.english   
   From: HenHanna@devnull.tb   
      
   feu in "feu votre père" --  where else would the [feu]  go?   
      
              Maybe it's from a rule like this:   
      
      
      
   In French, adjectives that typically go before the noun (modified noun)   
   can be categorized with the acronym BANGS which stands for:   
      
   Beauty (Beauté):  Adjectives describing beauty or aesthetics often come   
   before.   
      
                   Ex: Une belle robe (A beautiful dress)   
      
      
   Age (Âge):  Adjectives related to age usually precede the noun.   
      
                     Ex: Un jeune homme (A young man)   
      
      
   Number (Nombre):  Ordinal and cardinal numbers (first, second, three)   
   generally come before.   
      
                 Ex: La deuxième porte (The second door) /   
                      Trois chats (Three cats)   
      
      
   Goodness (Qualité):  Adjectives expressing positive or negative   
   qualities often go before.   
      
                  Ex: Une bonne idée (A good idea) /   
                      Un mauvais comportement (Bad behavior)   
      
      
   Size (Taille):  Adjectives describing size typically precede the noun.   
      
                    Ex: Une petite maison (A small house)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)