tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post2508311336599115798..comments2024-03-29T08:27:25.228-04:00Comments on Jungle Red Writers: Parley Vous Murder? A guest post from Susan SheaJungle Red Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16646429819267618412noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-65669716972216526092017-05-07T11:32:20.090-04:002017-05-07T11:32:20.090-04:00Susan, I so empathize! My new Cory Goodwin mystery...Susan, I so empathize! My new Cory Goodwin mystery "Another Number for the Road" is coming out Bastille Day, since it's set mostly in Paris & small-town France with a soupcon of EuroDisney. I look forward to reading yours! My favorite betise was a chat with a French village bus driver -- one of those encouraging moments when you feel brilliantly fluent, until you realize that he didn't say he HAS an American wife, he said he WANTS an American wife, & now you're fending off an enthusiastic suitor. See you at SinC . . . marchons, marchons!CJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17841896303282488265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-47049290441564678352017-05-05T23:50:17.314-04:002017-05-05T23:50:17.314-04:00Thank you, Rhys and JRW authors, for inviting me t...Thank you, Rhys and JRW authors, for inviting me to spend the day with the Jungle Red Writers community. I loved everyone's stories and it was fun to meet a few Francophiles! I live at www.susancshea.com, where an excerpt of the new book is posted and where I maintain a page called "All Things France!" Drop by and visit any time. Merci beaucoup!Susan C Sheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18225627756540127032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-21599217284749774232017-05-05T23:45:59.126-04:002017-05-05T23:45:59.126-04:00Thanks, Melanie. You can always give me feedback o...Thanks, Melanie. You can always give me feedback on www.susancshea.com or my Author page on Facebook if you have any thoughts after reading L&D.Susan C Sheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18225627756540127032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-74109263703407135802017-05-05T22:48:38.728-04:002017-05-05T22:48:38.728-04:00This probably is a language fail. I've prided ...This probably is a language fail. I've prided myself on keeping up with my French--five years in high school and two years in college. Kept up a bit of reading and speaking, although not terribly much. Two years ago, hub and I went to Montreal. Whee! I think. That French is not wasted--they'll think I'm a native. SNORT! Things would go just fairly well with my French (although I'm sure they were invisibly rolling their eyes and thinking 'Anglais!') until the point when I was given an answer to a question that I wasn't expecting. I must have looked like I was concentrating just a bit too hard on the answer to be a fluent speaker. And so, the other person would switch to absolutely perfect English. Ah well.<br /><br />Susan, your book sounds like so much fun--I loved hearing about the cast of characters! It's on my TBR list, for sure. Melaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17946905881136839301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-19171282729917947882017-05-05T18:13:08.841-04:002017-05-05T18:13:08.841-04:00It really is amazing that anyone learns American E...It really is amazing that anyone learns American English!<br />I tried to take Italian in college, but kept translating the English to Spanish, then to Italian. It was not pretty. I dropped the class. <br />libbydodd at comcast dot netUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03967590242114956411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-532412334988322652017-05-05T17:23:24.161-04:002017-05-05T17:23:24.161-04:00Not so much a language fail but when I told a wait...Not so much a language fail but when I told a waiter that, yes, I knew tripe was in the dish and that I liked tripe, the chef was so delighted he doubled the amount of tripe in my bowl. Sadly, that became the last time I ordered (or liked) tripe. Thanks, Ingrid, for stopping by JRW today.<br />Susan C Sheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18225627756540127032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-71275517089057955872017-05-05T17:21:13.706-04:002017-05-05T17:21:13.706-04:00I knew 'verge' was feminine in this instan...I knew 'verge' was feminine in this instance but not that most are. It is strange and I have no idea why genders are assigned. When I first studied French, I was surprised that both dog and cat were masculine, I guess because my felines were always females!<br />Susan C Sheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18225627756540127032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-77240566284024925432017-05-05T16:42:39.823-04:002017-05-05T16:42:39.823-04:00Interesting to note that most, if not all, slang f...Interesting to note that most, if not all, slang for penis are feminine in French. Verge, queue, bite. All feminine.James W. Ziskinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677940119373480715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-86354325327841274032017-05-05T16:40:36.108-04:002017-05-05T16:40:36.108-04:00Verge is also a slang term for penis.Verge is also a slang term for penis.James W. Ziskinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677940119373480715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-1271157566676080002017-05-05T16:17:21.278-04:002017-05-05T16:17:21.278-04:00The biggest language fail I can remember is when I...The biggest language fail I can remember is when I traveled to Paris with my family many years ago, and we had dinner in a little out-of-the-way restaurant. We ordered, and the food that appeared bore no resemblance to what we thought we had ordered! We never figured out if our French was that terrible or if the chef made an executive decision about what the Americans should eat!Ingrid Thofthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04063912686011336076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-40326752972460500902017-05-05T15:54:47.587-04:002017-05-05T15:54:47.587-04:00Yes, I'm sure too. But then there's the cl...Yes, I'm sure too. But then there's the cliche of the American who thinks speaking louder and s-l-o-w-l-y as if to a deaf child (or their concept of a deaf child since deaf children are fluent and flexible in my limited experience) is going to help. So perhaps there's a middle ground. But my French friends don't think we speak quickly. In fact, one woman who teaches English to french business people says she reassures her students that we don't speak as rapidly as do the French. Thanks for stopping by to comment!Susan C Sheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18225627756540127032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-26824685380914371512017-05-05T15:30:48.754-04:002017-05-05T15:30:48.754-04:00I took French in high school, but most of it has l...I took French in high school, but most of it has left me now. I can usually pull out the correct answers for a crossword puzzle, so I guess there's that! And I know what you mean about how native speakers speak so fast! I am sure English sounds just as garbled to them at times. holdenjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04563239351498816805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-25303906486057188432017-05-05T15:03:54.553-04:002017-05-05T15:03:54.553-04:00I spent some time researching slang, both on Googl...I spent some time researching slang, both on Google and with a couple of French friends. But it's dicey. I used a term - verge - that can mean the green edge of a road where it meets the grass, or slang for a dirty old man. Both Google and one friend said, yes, they knew it. The other French friend had never heard it!Susan C Sheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18225627756540127032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-92177881083430682272017-05-05T14:59:17.748-04:002017-05-05T14:59:17.748-04:00Hi Kathy! Thanks - the cover is pretty nice, I hav...Hi Kathy! Thanks - the cover is pretty nice, I have to say. The St Martins folks captured the feel of a summer evening in Burgundy, with just the littlest hint of trouble! <br /><br />You're so right. This is a big country and people have immigrated here from everywhere in the world, migrated to regions, to communities and to neighborhoods where over generations they salt English with accents and expressions and introduce us to their own vocabularies. I have lived in New England, New York, Maryland, California and everywhere I go I listen for - and cherish - both the dialects and the local slang. We are lucky even if we have to scratch our heads from time to time! I love your examples. Susan C Sheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18225627756540127032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-63383572705485241862017-05-05T14:56:46.281-04:002017-05-05T14:56:46.281-04:00Yes, and like pidgen, a sort of universal language...Yes, and like pidgen, a sort of universal language that sailors had to use. Karen in Ohiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13846039203123720312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-29092190628824993702017-05-05T14:49:51.999-04:002017-05-05T14:49:51.999-04:00Hi, Susan! So happy to see you here on my favorit...Hi, Susan! So happy to see you here on my favorite writers' blog. I so enjoy being FB friends and following your posts there. I must tell you how much I love the cover of Love & Death in Burgundy. It is a book I would pick up solely for the cover, but Katherine's story is equally intriguing. <br /><br />My language story deals with coming from two different parts of a state. I grew up in northeastern Kentucky, in a beautiful little town that was more Southern than the places within an hour's drive, Cincinnati, Ohio and Ashland, Kentucky. Our bridge actually touted the sign, "Gateway to the South." So, some of my language and foods and such are much more Southern than western Kentucky, where I moved when I married. My hometown also has some carry-over from Appalachia, such as English (the country) influences. So, many years ago, my mother-in-law and I stopped at a little hamburger joint to eat for lunch. We had been shopping, and I asked her if she wanted me to put the packages in the boot. She looked at me like I was from either a foreign country or outer space. I thought to myself that could it be she didn't know what the boot of a car was, so I said the trunk, and she immediately relaxed the puzzled look on her face. We laughed about it and went on in to order our lunch. She ordered her hamburger "through the garden," and I frantically searched the wall menu for that item, which was obviously a hamburger in a salad or some such oddity. I worked up the courage to ask her what it was, and we got another good laugh as she told me that it meant a hamburger with all the fixings. So, I didn't have to go abroad to have a language mix-up. Hahaha!Kathy Reelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17004247271452356577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-16065730859189377472017-05-05T14:03:42.888-04:002017-05-05T14:03:42.888-04:00Yep. I think it is scrambled brain syndrome.Yep. I think it is scrambled brain syndrome.Pat Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12732230586783432052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-71319684996248376932017-05-05T13:24:57.034-04:002017-05-05T13:24:57.034-04:00Isn't that odd? I do that too. In Italy, searc...Isn't that odd? I do that too. In Italy, searching (fruitlessly) for a word, I talk to myself in French: "Quel est le mot...?" There's undoubtedly a brain reason for this.Susan C Sheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18225627756540127032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-36830469212633918032017-05-05T13:22:45.046-04:002017-05-05T13:22:45.046-04:00Hi Lisa! If you're learning Gaelic, my hat'...Hi Lisa! If you're learning Gaelic, my hat's off to you. I learned a bit at university but the mismatch between what's on the page and what you hear when Irish is spoken aloud is great. Love your Irish mysteries....Susan C Sheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18225627756540127032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-13462205785860994362017-05-05T13:20:28.863-04:002017-05-05T13:20:28.863-04:00Thanks. It's always the right time for a trip ...Thanks. It's always the right time for a trip to France for me! One thing I've noticed in the years since I began visiting that lovely country is that Parisians have become less dismissive of my American-accented, stumbling French, and the people who live in the rural communities understand more English. Is that TV, do you think, or that the French travel more outside France than they did 40 years ago? Whatever, I am less intimidated and so have had many more wonderful experiences.<br />Susan C Sheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18225627756540127032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-2284082041235043092017-05-05T13:06:59.160-04:002017-05-05T13:06:59.160-04:00Your book sounds fun, Susan! I mangled German in H...Your book sounds fun, Susan! I mangled German in H.S. and Spanish in college. Now I mix them up. If I need a word in Spanish, the German one pops up miraculously. As in I probably never knew that word so why do I know it now? The only out-and-out gaffe I can remember is ordering off the wall menu at a Burger King somewhere in Quebec. Ham and cheese. Easy. Jamon and fromage. Except I pronounced jamon as if it were Spanish. The girl taking my order just stared at me. Let's hope I didn't say something disgusting.<br />Pat Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12732230586783432052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-16685373277937203212017-05-05T13:02:07.254-04:002017-05-05T13:02:07.254-04:00I know my attempts certainly would qualify as fake...I know my attempts certainly would qualify as fake.Jay Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11409350742317719903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-71304322565241516432017-05-05T12:59:01.867-04:002017-05-05T12:59:01.867-04:00Hi dear Deb! Love & Death in Burgundy begins w...Hi dear Deb! Love & Death in Burgundy begins with a lunch Katherine Goff has decided on as a way to insinuate herself into the closed little world of Reigny-sur-Canne. It goes horribly wrong when an elderly aristocrat smashes a plate over the head of the local bookseller, a rakish man who has dropped the aristocrat's daughter in favor of a wealthy American woman who is culturally tone deaf. When the older man is found dead on the stone stairs of his chateau, the gossip begins. Katherine is drawn deeper and deeper into the small town's secrets, as is a clueless young English woman who fancies herself a mystery writer. A motherless teenager, a malicious French widow, a brash music producer..everyone in this crossroads village is caught up in the drama. Michael, Katherine's husband, who speaks not a word of French, comments on the foolishness but tries to rein in his wife's determination to play detective.<br />Susan C Sheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18225627756540127032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-56916330685139630212017-05-05T12:44:30.777-04:002017-05-05T12:44:30.777-04:00Hi Susan -- congratulations!! You must be so happy...Hi Susan -- congratulations!! You must be so happy the book is finally here. :-)<br /><br />I had so many gaffes while living in South America -- in both Spanish and Portuguese -- but I can't remember them now. What I remember are the gaffes in my native language while visiting Ireland. First and foremost, asking a guy if he'd give me a ride. Rather than say "a lift," because a "ride" is a tumble between the sheets. Thank goodness, he knew what I meant, but he laughed his arse off and told all his fella friends in the pub we were hanging out in what I'd said. <br /><br />The term "craic" threw me for a loop the first time I heard it. The sentence was, "How's the craic?" said to someone who entered the pub (yes, spend a lot of time in pubs; it's where I hear all the good stuff :-)), and my first thought was that there was a drug deal about to go down. Hah!Lisa Alberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12591430453957883948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-50390734867702136872017-05-05T12:40:36.153-04:002017-05-05T12:40:36.153-04:00I was boarding a plane in Hong Kong once and a you...I was boarding a plane in Hong Kong once and a young aAsian woman in line had on a tee shirt that said something obscene in English. I'm sure she had no idea. When I got home, I asked a Chinese friend to translate the lovely Chinese characters on the tee shirt souvenirs I had purchased to be sure I wasn't about to create a similar faux pas.Susan C Sheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18225627756540127032noreply@blogger.com