In French it means - Les Schtroumpfs. In English it means - The Smurfs?

1) It does not mean anything in standard French, but it means something in German: "Schtroumpf" is spelled in French like the German word "Strumpf", meaning "sock". "Schtroumpf se prononce pratiquement comme le mot allemand Strumpf qui signifie « chaussette » (les Schtroumpfs s'appelant Schlümpfe en allemand)." Translation: "Smurf [Schtroumpf] is pronounced almost like the German word Strumpf that means" sock "(Smurfs are called Schlümpfe in German)." Source and further information: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Schtroumpfs#Origine_du_nom 2) "Here is Peyo's own explanation of the origin of "Schtroumpf": [from http://www.franquin.com/amis/peyo_amis.php ] "En 1958, j'étais un jour en vacances à la mer avec Franquin et, à table, je lui ai demandé de me passer quelque chose, sans en trouver le nom : "Passe-moi... le schtroumpf !". J'avais forgé ce terme sur le modèle de "un truc, un machin, un bidule"... Il m'a répondu : "Tiens, voilà le schtroumpf, et quand tu auras fini de le schtroumpfer, tu me le reschtroumpferas !" On s'est ainsi amusés à schtroumpfer pendant les quelques jours que nous avons passés ensemble, c'était devenu un gag pour nous. Nous consacrions nos moments de détente à traduire n "schtroumpf" des tirades de Racine ou des fables de La Fontaine, ainsi que des chansons à succès de l'époque. Ce qui donnait des résultats assez surprenants et tout à fait hilarants, du enre : "Maître Schtroumpf sur un arbre schtroumpfé tenait dans son schtroumpf un schtroumpf !..." My translation: [begin] In 1958 I was on a seaside vacation with [André] Franquin [another of the greats of French comics], and sitting at lunch, I asked him to pass me something, without being able to find the word: "Pass me ... the schtroumpf." I had just invented a word along the lines of "thingamajig". He answered: "Here, here is the schtroumpf, and when you have finished schtroumpfing with it, you will schtroumpf it back to me." We thus continued to amuse ourselves with schtroumpfing for the few days we spent together, and it became a joke between us. We spent some moments of relaxation translating into "schtroumpf" passages of Racine and La Fontaine as well as hit songs of the era. This gave some surprising and hilarious results like "Master Schtroumpf in tree enschtroumpfed held in his schtroumpf a schtroumpf..." [end] Another version of the story has Peyo sneezing while asking for the thingamajig, which was actually a saltshaker. Six months later Peyo invented the blue elf characters in his series "Johann et Pirlouit" and remembered the schtroumpf gag. As he explained, if it made him and Franquin laugh, maybe others would find it funny too." Source and further information: http://lists.pglaf.org/pipermail/project-wombat/2006-March/000763.html

I used to watch les Schtroumphs in French. I like how the names change from French to English. Schtroumph à lunettes (Brainy Smurt), Schtroumph Costaud (Hefty), Schtroumph Bricoleur (Handy), Schtroumph Parresseux (Lazy), Schtroumph Farceur (Jokey) and so on. They would come on in France all the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPlveXTVN8U

The Schtroumpfs.

Literally, it means the smurfs. "Les" means "the" but it's the plural form...obviously, we don't have that in English. "Schtroumpfs" is also plural so in it's singular form, it would be "Schtroumpf" which mean smurf, or cartoon.

It's not a French word but a German one.It means the socks in German.