avoir l'esprit de l'escalier: to think of a great response after the moment has passed.
This great expression doesn't really have a direct translation into English, but we all know too well the frustration of winning an argument in your mind after everyone's gone home. Somewhat ironically (or fittingly?), this happens to me a lot more in French than English, usually from taking a few seconds too long to understand or find a piece of vocabulary. Most embarrassing is when you're passing someone in the corridor: in the few seconds you have to exchange pleasantries I tend to come out with something a bit awkward, even in English:
But in French this all becomes ten times worse when you realise seconds too late that the person you just spoke to in fact said 'bonne année' (happy new year), rendering my hurried reply of 'oui, merci' (yes, thanks) entirely inappropriate and just a little odd.
More frustrating are the moments when words as simple as Tuesday seem to have fled the mind, in favour of my inner idiot dancing around and shouting 'Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! It's Jeudi!' (which definitely means Thursday). I'm sure these things are part and parcel of starting back at school after two weeks in the UK, but I'm also sure they'll never entirely go away, which is possibly the most frustrating part of language learning.
Afterthought: Speaking of my two weeks in the UK, they were lovely (thank you for asking), and filled with mince pies, Terry's chocolate oranges, friends, family and all kinds of homely, Christmassy wonderfulness. That said, other than the usual 'back to work' blues, I'm not entirely put out at being back. Ever the optimist, I'm looking forward to the Winter term, which I'm sure you'll hear all about in due course.
No comments:
Post a Comment