Fluency – Page 8 – The Paris Savannah Connection

Clint Eastwood talks about Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Moviemakers have set their cameras here. Here’s why:

“ance” and “ence” spelling

I made a huge spelling mistake in yesterday’s newsletter as well as an obvious typo of the word “thirteen.” Sherry B., a Savannah gal, quickly pointed them out. Thanks, Sherry!

Independence: this is the correct spelling in English. Likewise : independent.

Indépendance: this is the French word. Et aussi: indépendant.

In both cases, the notions are the same: without being dependent (in French dépendant).

It’s no surprise that this concept is linked to both America and France. Isn’t “independence” linked to the concepts of “freedom” and “liberty?”

Associated concepts might include : free thinking; emancipation; non-conformity; autonomy … More? Add them please!

Maybe the gift of the “Statue of Liberty” was like so many gifts … One reflecting the giver as much as the receiver?

The Declaration of Independence. Asserting one’s freedom.

French expressions: “au four et au moulin”

The French love bread. And to make bread, you need flour. To make the flour, you need wheat. To grind the wheat into flour, you need a mill. The French word for mill is “moulin.” You probably have heard this before as in “Le Moulin Rouge” – or a “Moulin à Poivre” (Pepper mill)

But to make bread, you need to mix the flour with water, add salt, yeast and make dough. The dough needs to be kneaded and then finally when it has risen after a few hours … you need to bake it in an oven. Oven is the English word for what in French is named “le four.”

There’s a French expression, still used today that says you can’t be both at the mill and watching the oven at the same time.

Ne pas pouvoir être au four et au moulin (en même temps).

No matter how independant we might want to be … we can’t be everywhere, doing everything … and certainly not simultaneously.

What’s the opposite of independence: “dependence” or … “interdependence” ?

Happy July … Four (th) !

… When France lent America a hand …

Newletter July 2, 2010

Too much! In French, “C’est trop!”

What more can you express with just this short exclamation?! This is one we hear everyday all around the world because it’s so true every day! I can’t believe it!

How much? Too much!

How far? Too far!

Are you kidding me? C’est trop beau. Beyond expectations. Beyond what I ever imagined.

How beautiful? Too beautiful for words.

“Let’s go to …”

Too expensive … too far … too new … too old … too cold … too fast … too slow … too good …

What’s the difference between the French and Americans?

The conservative French often say “C’est trop …tard…” And daring Americans … “It’s never too ….late.”

And can’t we all say to someone: “Nothing’s too good for you.”

Of course, some days, on either side of the pond … it really is “Too Darn Hot.”

And that’s just what Ella Fitzgerald is singing on today’s Paris Savannah Connection.

Enjoy it!

Related Images:

Cross Cultural Comments France Video

At the Musée des Beaux Arts, Rouen

Le Livre de l’Hospitalité

Je me suis aperçu, ensuite, que dans sa vulnérabilité, l’étranger ne pouvait tabler que sur l’hospitalité dont ferait preuve, à son égard, autrui.

Tout comme les mots bénéficient de l’hospitalité de la page blanche et l’oiseau, de celle, inconditionnelle, du ciel.

Et c’est l’objet de ce livre.

Mais qu’est-ce que l’hospitalité?

Edmund Jabès.

Le Livre de l’Hospitalité éditions Gallimard, 1991

I later realized that, in his vulnerability, the foreigner could only rely on the hospitality that others would care to show him.

Like words that profit from the hospitality of the blank page, and the bird, from the unconditional (hospitality) of the sky.

And that is the reason for this book.

But what is hospitality?

(translation Mark Levinson)

Eats shoots and leaves

A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons.’Why?’ asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

‘Well, I’m a panda,’ he says, at the door. ‘Look it up.’

The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the dictionary and, sure enough, finds an explanation. ‘Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots, and leaves.’

By Lynne Truss. Masterpiece. The best there is on punctuation.

This is the cover of the Illustrated Edition

Order your copy now right here!

Amazon – Abe – Momox or buy one at your favorite bookseller’s!!

miles and kilometers

distances … measuring how far … or how close!

In our age of precision, we have learned that … we strive for precision but that … actually, statistically, nothing is perfectly exact.

We ordinarily say that 1 mile is equal to 1.6 kilometers and that 1 kilometer is .6 of a mile.

For most practical purposes, this is sufficient. This is, in Donald Winnicott’s terms, “good enough.” … Maybe even better, in the circumstances, than precision down the scale:

kilometer

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/mf24352.mp3|titles=kilometer]

What’s the equivalence?

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex24352.mp3|titles=A mile equals one kilometer six hundred and 9 meters]

mile

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex25604.mp3|titles=A mile equals one point six kilometers]

meter

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/mf24353.mp3|titles=meter]

((A meter equals 39.37 inches. Their house has floor space of 200 square meters. A square meter is equal to 1.196 square yards.)) And then there are other meters, too … like parking meters … electricity and gas meters …

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex24353.mp3|titles=A meter equals 39.37 inches. Their house has floor space of 200 square meters. A square meter is equal to 1.196 square yards]

centimeter

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/mf24347.mp3|titles=centimeter]

One hundred centimeters …

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex24347.mp3|titles=One hundred centimeters make a meter]

light

How many concepts does “light” bring to mind? Light itself, weight, humor …

Edith Wharton wrote :

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”

When a word has more than one contrary, more than one antonym, this is proof that it’s a strong word. The pronunciation of the word is vital. The accent is important … and the context is the determining factor. Humor plays on words with more than one meaning.

The word “light” is especially rich. It functions as a noun. A light, the light; it functions as an adjective: it is light, light blue; it also functions as a verb: to light … not to mention “to lighten” … and words with the root like “lightning” and just at the sound of it, you see the long yet short flash, that oh so powerful LIGHT against the (dark, darkened) sky.

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/I-like-to-define.mp3|titles=I like to define words by what they aren’t …]

first by their polar opposites (black/white) and then in more nuanced ways (shades of grey) according to their uses, their contexts, their connotations.]I like to define words by what they aren’t … first by their polar opposites (black/white) and then in more nuanced ways (shades of grey) according to their uses, their contexts, their connotations.

What’s the opposite of “light” ? …. Well, it could be …. just a moment … what’s the context?… what time is it? Is is still (light) outside?

What is the opposite in this context? If white is light, black is …… dark.

and of course
And of course the other very frequent context using “light” to describe the concept of weight would give us … heavy, of course.

As for the verb “to light,” .. why… if the linking concept is fire, it seems to me that “to put out” is probably the most frequent in everyday speech, though “extinguish” could be very popular among firemen … and officials.

By the way, Edith Wharton also said this:

If only we’d stop trying to be happy we’d have a pretty good time.

Why don’t you try recording this one?

If only we’d stop trying to be happy we’d have a pretty good time.

If you’re interested in words and concepts … subscribe to the Paris Savannah Connection.