The beak, please!
My boyfriend's parents had been going on holiday to France for decades and prided themselves on their ability to get along in French. I was studying French A level at the time. In conversation, they revealed that when asking for the bill at a restaurant in France, you say: Le bec, s'il vous plaît.This sounded a bit odd to me as I'd thought it was l'addition not le bec. So I looked up le bec in a dictionary, and sure enough it means the 'beak' (or 'bill'!) of a bird! Funny thing is, despite asking for a beak at the end of every meal they had in France, they had always been presented with the bill. So there are two morals to this tale:1. After looking up an unknown word in another language, look it up back into English to check that you have the right word. 2. Context comes into play in many social situations and you will sometimes get what you need no matter what you actually say.
Sent by: Claire
Comments
This story points up the exceeding politeness and "discretion" of the French! While American waiters would have laughed out loud and corrected the diner, these people got by saying that for years without a waiter ever turning a hair! A woman we knew who prided herself on being able to speak French, asked the waiter at the end of the meal, "Avez-vous un sac de chien ?" What she wanted was a doggy-bag - absolutely NOT to be requested in France! What she asked for was a "dog’s bag"!
Attention! Means caution, as found on road signs entering Maine from Québec.
I was in a café in London not so long ago, and all the staff and most of the customers in there seemed to be native speakers of Polish, a language I can just about get by in. Emboldened after I had impressed them by asking for a green tea in their native tounge I then proceeded to ask them for the bill in Polish, but I mistakenly asked them for ratunek, help. I should have asked them for the rachunek, bill. Perhaps they thought I was being rude about their tea ...
I went to Paris for a conference recently and spent the first two days asking for the bill with the words l'attention s'il vous plaît instead of l'addition s'il vous plaît. I guess it roughly translates as 'Attention, please!' I'm surprised I got served at all and I just hope none of the waiters spat in my soup!
I sometimes get mixed up with coffee because in french it is cafe.
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