he he Brian custard in old money, the mind boggles
Perhaps we have got lost but keep the laughs coming in mate and I'll certainly stick in there.
Old Hag, never have the nerve to try that, especially being a couple of decades older... obstinate harridan, perhaps. Any better offers?
Hah! just just worked it out OH=Other Half!
Doh, I didn't like to ask, I quizzed my OH and she said Old Hag? I said I don't think. so If I'm wrong please correct me.
Nice to see this little threadette still going, are we getting anywhere? smiley face etc
Right Johnny, I'll largely agree with that. Langer Samstag in Germany (Langer Sonnabend for me though) always was largely regional. Northern Germany and the then isolated Berlin more or less killed that off decades ago. In Berlin in the early 80s I could shop 24/7 by going where I knew places were open and there are people in France who know that. Now in the northern cities it is standard to have 24/7 most things. However, bakers no longer open at 0400 as they used to and have changed to 0900 in some cases, 0800 as the norm. So, night workers on the way home no longer buy fresh bread...
The concessionaire with a local Casino 'stretches' his hours and fills gaps when others are not open. OK, my wife smokes still and I occasionally chortle when she forgets there are days when she cannot find tobacco but those are becoming fewer. It will change, there is a demand but it will simply take time. I have lived in rural settings for roughly 2/3 of the last 40 years and then Berlin and Swansea when I actually lived in town were lack of option, albeit in the former since I was back and forth I went to rural Cambridgeshire and Berlin realising the differences affected planning and often went 'home' with Berlin bought supplies in my luggage for the weekend.
Right Wayne, Liebig closed well before I was there, late 1970s I guess and opened again as you said (I was there mid-1980s). Yes, true but the A-As are still like ants on the ground in the area and sure the Hereford crosses were there when I was there. Welsh Blacks eh, when we lived in Swansea (we moved here from there in fact) we ate it from a really good butcher and along with saltmarsh lamb it is something I miss. Limousins didn't, back then, do well given the type of prairie land (las pampas y chacos) was not sufficient for their dietary needs. I know little about meat rearing but I got lectures galore whilst I was looking at child labour in farming in that part of South America, probably as an attempt to distract me from my work. I also ate some of the best, maybe THE best A-A steaks I have ever had which I could never finish because of their size and thickness.
not to metion Welsh Black beef prime meat,the slaughter house at Fray Bentos has only been reopend in the last 4 -5 years it had been closed for over 10 years until then,Also you might find that there is also a lot of Herefoed cross used in Argentina as the Angus like all slow maturing cattle are relatively small in comparison to the French breeds
Kharma. For those who can do that anyway.
Hi Steffi,
thank you for such a clear explanation. The French economists' joke had me chuckling. The second example is a bit rude? I certainly learned early on that the Brit humour doesn't translate, in my early months I was offending so many people that my friend who had been here 18 years was making apologies for me. I think we...joke along as a matter of course and I'm sure that humour, the appreciation of musical styles, etc. become ingrained if not genetically imprinted.
I think also perhaps in sync with history, fashion, economic climate etc humour develops even matures, in sophistication, but would aslo relapse or become retrograde too.
Yes, we might say," what! you are still watching Benny Hill, how old fashioned," but we would equally say to the Americans who love Monty Py-thon, the same thing. With light entertainment we can aslo be quite nostalgic.
It certainly is an interesting study and of equal import to history, society etc. I would be interested to know, Steffi, why you have such a 'mother' tongue awareness of both languages and culture.
Thanks
Ron
PS the last line was self deprecation. Have a nice evening.
Hello Andrew,
Love the pertinence of your usage of the word "Ghetto" :)
Hi Ronald,
Thank you for ranking my name up to noun :)
Here's a thing, the French have jokes, but do they have a sense of humour?
It is only in 1932 that the French Academy gave their approval to the noun 'humour'. Prior to that people knew 'esprit' (wit), 'farce' (prank), 'bouffonnerie' (drollery) and 'humeur' was, and still is a state of mind or mood.
Generally speaking, when the French laugh they're either laughing AT someone or at a puerile joke or 'jeux de mots'. The British laugh at themselves but the French don't do self-deprecation. So public displays of laughter are generally frowned upon (one of the reasons some think Brits are rude).
And for instance, a little joke like: "There are three types of economists, those who can count and those who can't", will at least get a little chuckle from a Brit, whereas the French is far too Cartesian and logical to understand the nonsensical.
The French love jokes about sex and bodily functions and with heavy word play. Here's a typical example: "Je vais ouvrir un fast food et l'appeler 'Ma Bite Mickey' ! Pourquoi ? Parce-que Macdonald a beaucoup de succès!
Get it?
I do believe that this is directly linked to the languages themselves, French being very direct and English being far more nuanced.
So if you were wondering... this is why you still get Benny Hill re-runs in France!!!
That's all... for now... I'm a girlie and have no interest in USB or Peritel size or compatibily :D
Reason for non-diversification by the French...Pompous... proud... and arrogant.
Similar character traits founds in their British "cousins".
Selling all and sundry is only good enough for the lesser nationalities...
Yeeeeaaah!
The rest was rhetorical :)
Good Evening Richard,
Vinaigrette... as with other French sauces and suchlike... subliminate food... KETCHUP... smothers it :) That... is a FACT... as far as "better" or "correct", well, that's the whole point isn't it... the point, I was making :) It's not about one-upmanship... is the colour blue better than the colour green? Our likes and dislikes are so deeply imbedded and part of us... the fact that we promote it, doesn't mean that we necessarily "pooh pooh" what we don't know or like... right? :)
Right, enough of that... shall now proceed in trying to sort of plough through the inordinate amount of responses... and see if we can't have a bit o' a laugh ;D
Well played Richard... you could win the prize for most responses... Keep it up :)
Personally, I may hand out a prize to the person who mentions.... "Steffi" the most :D :D :D
And bear in mind the US population is 4or5 times that of France !
Actually, I would say the city of Fray Bentos on the Uruguay River in Uruguay and much of Argentina to the west thereof are beef capital and realm thereto. When I said I was a Scot in Fray I heard about the world importance of Aberdeen-Angus cattle who are like ants thereabouts and if you ever get prime A-A make Limousin taste average and the texture stringy. Having said that I do not like beef that much anyway.
The Dordogne can be like Glen says if you go to a place that is on a main street where tourists/foreigners go. Sarlat has very little to offer within the city, true, but 10 minutes drive away and you can find real treats. I like duck, but the stuff in most very ordinary restaurants is not often worth bothering about, but you will still find it on menus in other places and it is black and white in comparison. Despite the rumours, it is not necessary to spend a fortune for good food, I have had set menus for 12€ that won me over and I am a food snob because I cook myself. As for not cooking out of the Dordogne box, surprising then that my wife and I would say the opposite and that more restaurants cook far more cosmopolitan food than in some other parts of France.
French red tape is far older than labelling it 'socialist' justifies. When they chopped off the old monarchies head they began keeping records and inventories that people can, for instance through the family books, access easily and see ancestry back two centuries at local townhalls and even further in some cases where churches were already at it. French paperwork makes German bureaucracy tame but in fact the difference is that there are so many regulations that people are told everything is forbidden just in case because bureaucrats do not have a clue. Those who do well take a chance and are often proven not to break rules at all. If more people would take a chance then they will go forward fast and it is beginning to happen.
funny :)
HI Rich, Got some shut eye thanks8 you still got a headache?
I'll kind of second much of that. Sure, we live in 'Dordogneshire' but a fairly poor and agricultural bit. So we are escapee types then? No, we could afford here and liked the house, et voila... The Provence lifestyle would not suit our more eclectic style one bit, too Mediterranean and hectic. I like the avoir/etre bit and totally agree and that it does not matter one jot is true. In truth, the more I look for difference the more I find commonality here in Europe and dread the days when I no longer get to NW Viet Nam, Kampuchea, Ethiopia and places where I can put on flip-flop sandals and not be classified middle class for doing so... If you get my possibly cryptic meaning.
If it is hung properly!
Oh Ron don't be daft...you've just as much right to say what you want as anyone else! I wasn't saying that it was you that was peeing me off, not at all...in any case, mine is just another opinion that's all...I'm guilty of being impatient and grumpy I know but the bark is often worse than the bite ;) I'm really an old softy and incidentally I've paid the price for that!
In any case, have a luverly Christmas and New Year et vive l'angleterre ;)!!
Phew thank God Jane. Misunderstandings. I will however drop out of these Fora, Forums...Forumsies, I'm well out of my depth..and I think I have dug myself into another hole elsewhere. Have a nice day. Ron