Citation :On 13 May 1968, André Bay of Editions Stock, who were about to publish a French translation of The Hobbit, wrote to Alina Dadlez that he was unhappy about the word Hobbit, which had unfortunate connotations in French – which, however, he did not dare to explain to a woman. He suggested Hopin instead. When this was put to Tolkien he replied: 'I must rely on the objections raised by those who know more of the depths of the colloquial language! Anyway hopin seems to me a suitable and ingenious solution: hopin/lapin = hobbit/rabbit, I suppose. Not that I intended such a connexion … So hopin let it be: as long as any illustrator is aware that it should not influence him unduly' (15 May 1968, Tolkien-George Allen & Unwin archive, HarperCollins). In the end the French translation also used the form hobbit.

Citation :André Bay of Editions Stock, who were about to publish a French translation of The Hobbit, wrote to Alina Dadlez that he was unhappy about the word Hobbit, which had unfortunate connotations in French – which, however, he did not dare to explain to a woman.