Beer for breakfast
On holiday in the French speaking part of Switzerland I was showing off my appalling French skills and ordered some butter to go with our continental breakfast. I am still sure I said Du beurre, s'il vous plaît but with my Birmingham accent and my mouth full of dry bread roll perhaps I shouldn't have been so surprised when deux ²ú¾±Ã¨°ù±ðs, two beers, arrived at the table a minute later.Perhaps this also hints at how the Swiss regard us Brits, and (luckily) the beer is so nice over there it is never too early to enjoy a glass or two!
Sent by: Richard
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If you want to compliment the cook, it's better to say très bon - "very good" instead of très bien - "very well".
When travelling through Belgium, having enjoyed a meal, one of my friends attempted to tell the waiter that we enjoyed the meal by saying très bien. A few minutes later the waiter unexpectedly returned with three beers. We had a good laugh when we figured out that the waiter had understood my friend to say trois ²ú¾±Ã¨°ù±ðs!
In a French restaurant, out of season, I ordered a beer (²ú¾±Ã¨°ù±ð) and a Byrrh (pronounced beer) apéritif. Clearly I did not pronounce them differently enough as he bought two beers. He was most apologetic when I refused the second beer. I think he may have assumed that we were not familiar with the local(ish) apéritif.
My partner (also a Brummie) made a similar mistake last month. He thought he'd asked for two beers, but when his arrived and mine didn't I explained he'd asked for some beer - de la ²ú¾±Ã¨°ù±ð. I got mine eventually !
Myself and three mates went to France at the end of our A-Levels to celebrate a job well done. On our last day we wanted to sample some of France's beautiful deserts but share them. We asked for quatre cuillères, four spoons, but unfortunately the context of four 18-year-old students in a café who spoke with a slight Yorkshire accent meant we were presented with quatre ²ú¾±Ã¨°ù±ðs, four beers.
Mispronunciation of ²ú¾±Ã¨°ù±ð seems to land us Brits in a lot of trouble.
A French friend told us in English that his wife was a "good stove". Because in French, ³¦³Ü¾±²õ¾±²Ô¾±Ã¨°ù±ð can be a cooker or a female cook.
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