Jun 3, 2009

Comment ca va?

exp. – how do you feel?
To follow up on my last entry, I took the metro again this week when there wasn’t a strike and found it just as unpleasant during the rush hour commute. So I guess the strike wasn’t as much to blame after all, but regardless I still appreciate our car even more. We took the bus over the weekend with my father who is visiting and he pointed out that there’s an awful lot of wasted space where there could be more seats. We realized after talking it over that in fact the empty space is well utilized when the bus is crowded as more people can stand, but luckily that’s been something I haven’t experienced yet.

Being squeezed into a crowded space makes me cranky or as the French say, “etre de mauvais poil.” Literally translated this means to be of bad hair. “A poil” or at hair actually means to be naked. While “cheveux” refers to the hair(s) on your head, “poil” refers to the hair that covers the rest of your body. So you can just be at hair when you’re undressed, be of bad hair when you’re in a bad mood, or be of good hair, “etre de bon poil,” when you’re in a good mood.

To be in a good mood can also be described as “avoir la peche” or “avoir la patate,” having the peach or having the potato. I’m not sure what the connection is with the two other than the fact that they both begin with the letter “p” and both can be eaten. Of course Americans do use the expression peachy or peachy keen which is really cheesy if you’ll forgive another food reference. Food references also come into play with another way to say you’re not feeling your best, “je ne suis pas dans mon assiette” or I'm not in my plate. “Gronion” is a word for grumpy, usually used for children and not to be confused with “ronion,” which are veal kidneys and “onion,” which means the same thing in French as in English…once more, back to food.

“Heureux,” “content,” “ravi” mean happy, content, thrilled in that order. “J’ai hate de…” actually doesn’t mean you hate something, but rather you’re looking forward to something. “Detester” is the verb for hate or detest. Of course my mother always told me that you shouldn’t hate anyone or anything, but rather you should use the word dislike. So to reiterate I dislike being in a crowded space as it makes me be of bad hair when I would rather have the peach and be in my plate.

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