When a good friend - i.e. un bon ami - recently said crudite represented the extent of her French, my first instinct was to quote the lyrics of Lady Marmalade and Michelle to her. Voulez vous couchez avec moi, ce soir, ma belle? To preserve our friendship, I refrained from asking her that question but you get my point, non? Tres bien. And given how common French words and expressions are - in popular song and otherwise - my friend's statement gave me carte blanche to reprise a short-lived series from early 2015, in the hope of providing a socially-isolated frisson for a few of you. I doubt anyone will find this post too avant-garde.
Food? Even in Omaha, "Bon appetit!" often follows the entree being served, no matter if everything is a la carte or if the whole meal is prix fixe. Clothing? Beret on the coat rack, negligee and other lingerie in the boudoir. Sex? Caught on the chaise lounge in the chalet apres-ski, you say? Were there any voyeurs? How would any of us survive without the use of an occasional "Je ne sais quoi" to describe the indescribable? Isn't "Touche!" exactly the mot juste to exuberantly cry when someone has beat you at your own game? Now, a petit segue to the final paragraph's challenge before ennui settles in.
Not counting ordering French fries, I challenge any reader to try avoiding the use of a single French word or expression over the next week. Consult the first and second installments of this series - links directly below - if you're still not convinced how thoroughly vous parlez Francais. Which way should I sign off? Using my nom de plume or my nom de guerre? Vive la difference!
https://reflectionsfromthebellcurve.blogspot.com/2015/01/bonjour.html
https://reflectionsfromthebellcurve.blogspot.com/2015/01/deux.html
About Me
- Pat Barton
- My most recent single release - "My True North" - is now available on Bandcamp. Open my profile and click on "audio clip".
Zot alors! I was taught, but did not retain, very much of the one semester of seminary/high school French taught by a lay teacher by the name of William McGowan who as a GI in WWII Indochina behind Japanese enemy lines. On a recon mission in Burma, in a area bordering Vietnam, not wearing any insignia and driving a jeep down a deserted road he and his patrol were stopped at gunpoint at by the Vietcong . This was in the 1940's of course, a decade before the disastrous U.S. involvement there. William saved the lives of the patrol by uttering in his best high school French :"Je suis un American."
ReplyDeleteI can still say my name in French, je m'appelle Etienne. And I can with great confidence ask where to find the closest library.
Etienne; Ou est le biblioteque, mon ami? Merci beaucoups pour le contributione. (I think I made up that last word)
DeleteSo clever! Pat I think this is my favorite of your series!
ReplyDeleteThanks sweetie; coming from my biggest fan (on some days, my only fan) that means a lot. Je t'aime.
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