Les mots qui n’existent pas en français
2:33 AM To begin, let me just say that languages are very telling of the cultures they belong to, and that not many people know/understand my weird obsession with that fact, and languages in general.
Maybe because this obsession didn’t really start until college, or perhaps because I don’t speak of it much for fear that no one will understand or comprehend my thoughts on it, but languages are really one of my main passions. The most striking discovery I've had in my 12 day stay in France thus far is the fact that certain words/phrases in English get somewhat 'lost in translation' and truly don't exist here. And for some reason, I find the lack of these specific words particularly hilarious...
'Awkward' – the closest French words that we can think of comparable to “awkward” are the words “bizarre” and “uncomfortable”, neither of which captures the somewhat endearing connotations that I have of “awkward” in English. For some reason, this just makes me settle upon the fact that the French are far too chic and cultured to experience a phenomenon such as “awkward silence”. It. Simply. Doesn’t. Exist.
'Wave' – This was brought to my attention by the other American living in the homestay with me, while she told our faux-father figure that we saw him earlier and wanted to wave to him. Not knowing the word, she gestured a normal wave, at which point he threw in“Tu as dit bonjour?”. Yes, this accomplishes the same goal, but one can't really "dit bonjour" when there is a window and a street inbetween two people. The most normal conclusion I can take from this scenario is that most of the communication in France is done verbally.
'Feel' – In English, there are hundreds of ways to feel; I feel hungry/sticky/sexy/worried/loved/sick. In English you can “feel” different ways emotionally, physically, mentally, you can even “feel” the way that other people/places/inanimate objects “feel”. Although there are ways to say things like “I feel hungry” in the French language, there is no all-encompassing word for this, which leads me to the conclusion that the French truly just don’t care how you feel.
'I am excited' - One of the only things I learned in my high school French classes was that "Je suis excité" does NOT in fact mean "I am excited" in a good clean 'Jack and Jane' kind of way, but instead translates to "I am excited sexually/turned on". Unfortunately, my quality OPRF education did not provide me with a decent way to say "I am excited" sans the sexual undertones, but I figured I may learn it in college. Nope. Maybe during my stay in France? False. No one can give me a decent translation for this phrase, which makes me believe that in France, you have two emotional states: either super horny, or no emotion at all.
Je ne sais même pas,
ming.
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