Here they are: the two most confusing conversations to have in a French-English multi-lingual environment. Like our own household:
1) "How was your entrée at dinner last night?"
Well, if you hear the word "entrée" in French, and this is what you get, then great.
But if you hear it in English, then you expect a full main course. Which it is not. It is an entrée, as in the entry into your meal, or what we call an appetizer. Why do we call the main course the "entrée" in English? It makes no sense at all.
2) The girls tell me about their day at gymnastics, "My front flip was great!" Well, do they mean flip in English, which is a tuck or flip with no hands touching the ground? Or do they mean flip in French, in which case it's a handspring? It's hard to know because they regularly sprinkle their English conversations about gymnastics with French terms.
Those are French flips above, and American back-handsprings.
1) "How was your entrée at dinner last night?"
Well, if you hear the word "entrée" in French, and this is what you get, then great.
But if you hear it in English, then you expect a full main course. Which it is not. It is an entrée, as in the entry into your meal, or what we call an appetizer. Why do we call the main course the "entrée" in English? It makes no sense at all.
2) The girls tell me about their day at gymnastics, "My front flip was great!" Well, do they mean flip in English, which is a tuck or flip with no hands touching the ground? Or do they mean flip in French, in which case it's a handspring? It's hard to know because they regularly sprinkle their English conversations about gymnastics with French terms.
Those are French flips above, and American back-handsprings.
No comments:
Post a Comment