The Education of Miss Jeanne Fourmont

Something that happens almost nightly here in the shoe box that I call home is that Jeanne arrives at my door on her way home from work, and if there's anything new on the weblog, she comes in to read it by my side.   

Her new thing is to ask me if I am being “ironic” when she doesn’t understand something I’ve written.  This started when she learned the word from this post, the post where I said she was completely lacking in irony.  (It's one of my favorite things about her, and in that way, really not a "lack" at all.)   While reading my most recent entry last night, Jeanne noticed that I called an acquaintance, the girlfriend of Alex, “nice” and questioned it, asking me if I was being ironic.  "Of course not," I said.  But Jeanne pressed on, "Tu as dit qu’elle est gentille, mais pourquoi?  Ca fait rien de dire ca."

She's right.  Using the word "nice" adds about as much to the story as Brad Pitt’s naked ass in the film Troy, but it somehow makes me feel better about throwing real people’s names around on the internet, (some that are merely acquaintances), if I can say "the very nice XX” or "the very pretty XX.”  I explained to Jeanne my reasoning, but she only said, “Je n’aime pas ce genre de choses” with a lordly certainty that shows me she would be an AWESOME editor in chief of lacoquette.blogs.com.  Should I ever be beaten publicly for wearing my gym clothes on the street or poisoned by my downstairs neighbor for all those times I dropped the remote control on the floor, I hereby appoint Jeanne as my Number Two. 

Jeanne will also question words that are not in her vocabulary as she reads my entries, and in that way, La Coquette has been very good for her English.   Last night, she was reading commentary on the latest post and asked me “Ca veut dire quoi ‘unhip’”?  I explained, saying it meant pas branché, and she tossed her hair off her shoulder with a cry of ecstasy and in her best french imitation of a Valley Girl said “I am sooooo heep.”

Comments

[la.dauphine]

I don't understand why you wouldn't say someone is nice or sweet if you like them. Those are the kind of things that baffle, mystify and bamboozle me about the French. (New words for Jeanne!)

...and pardonnez-moi but Brad's rear was the Climax of the film! Well, it was for me anyway. :)

[la.dauphine]

OOOPS! Double post. Please erase one, it :)

[R J Keefe]

I am surprised that Mlle Jeanne does not share your tact. But then she's not the one blogging, is she? "Nice" stays in.

"Unhip" has always struck me as a very graceless word. Why not "hipless"?

[April]

That word will forever make me think of a bunch of Alanis Morisettes singing in a car, using the word incorrectly. La la la...

[Alisa]

Here's the deal.
When you say that a girl is nice in French (in language and culturally) - elle est gentille, it is most often used ironically, and NOT considered complimentary. Perhaps that is why your cousin was so surprised. This language thing is a lot more than just words!

[schuey]

I had the pleasure of meeting you and Jeanne and I must say that this post resonnates even better. Put a big smile on my face :)

[nardac]

I agree. Saying someone is nice is almost like saying they have the personality of a glass of water. There's more effective ways of illustrating character, non?

I theenk I wood like deez Jeanne.

[Miss P]

So Jeanne IS French (yes sorry, I haven't read everything from the start...),looking at the pics, I would have sworn a 100% that she was american... gosh, I don't often mistake usually...

[Coquette]

100%, born and raised. Her dad and my dad are brothers, but my father married an American (my mom). Funny huh? You can't always tell...

[Stu "El Inglés" Harris]

Don't think I agree about "gentille". It's something you say for want of anything more specifically enthusiastic, yes, but not actually disdainful in my opinion.

The real compliment, of course, is to be referred to as "cowly owl" (vachement chouette)!

[Mica]

I too add a common nicety to posts just to let people know I mean things in a friendly way. In person I'd be smiling, so you'd know. But I've learned that on the 'Net, things are not always so clear. I say "keep the nice!"

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