Sunday, February 14, 2010

my favorite phrase of the day

“Il a manqué une occasion de se taire.”


(He missed an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.)

I found it in an article about an untranslatable novel that sounds utterly delicious and fun: Foreign Tongue by Vanina Marsot.
at

6 comments:

  1. Ricky Bush2/14/10, 10:33 PM

    Gotta to admit that I missed a few of those. That's a very wise observation.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dana King2/14/10, 10:54 PM

    Reminds me of a great George F. Will line about Yassir Arafat: He never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Elisabeth Black2/15/10, 5:41 AM

    Awesome.

    I like to call this "ignoring my inner shut-up."

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anne-Marie2/15/10, 9:27 AM

    As someone with a French mother growing up in Toronto, I can't wait to read this. I write in English too, but I still dream in French sometimes, and love the difference between the two languages.

    My favourite French expression, which means to get fed up: La moutarde me monte au nez (literally, mustard is going up my nose). And in French, you're not getting on my nerves, but actually tapping on them (Tu me tappes sur les nerfs!)

    Another gem, which means you think you're all that and a bag of chips: Tu te crois sorti des cuisses de Jupiter (you think you came out (born) from Jupiter's thighs)

    xx
    AM

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unknown2/15/10, 1:20 PM

    I experience this every day. Being able to say it in French will at least will make it sound better!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sam2/16/10, 10:09 PM

    Very good words to remember.

    ReplyDelete

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