It's all good

[shewhomust]

The French have a multiplicity of expressions for wishing you a good or happy whatever it may be; and they use them all. If you step inside a shop, you must say "Bonjour" to everyone present, and again when you leave. Even the jogger who was struggling up the Puy de Pariou found the breath to wish me "Bonjour", and I was delighted to come up with the appropriate reply: "Bon courage!" If you come across someone who is eating, you must wish them "Bon appétit" (actually, this isn't just the French; at my previous place of employment, colleagues from various European nations were distressed that they did not know the English equivalent of whatever phrase their native language deployed in these circumstances, and even more distressed to learn that English has no such expression. Only the English think it impolite to notice that someone is eating...)

But I digress.

Are these phrases actually multiplying? We encountered "Bon séjour" - have a nice stay - and "Bonne continuation" - enjoy the rest of your [stay, or trip, or whatever you might already have started to do]. At times there were so many possibilities that people seemed almost unable to end a conversation, what with wishing us good things, and having to counter our thanks with yet more good wishes.

Comments

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Interesting stuff!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ailz picked up on this when we were in France and now makes a point of behaving the same way in England, regularly getting into conversations with check-out girls and so on. I'm too shy to follow suite, but it's remarkable how much sweetness and light it engenders.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I think so, but it's good to know I'm not alone!

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

Yes, saying hello is no more than acknowledging that someone else exists; you wouldn't think it's such a big deal, but it is.