Earl Evleth

The International Herald had a special article
by a couple of French linguists who have written
a book "Insider's French, Beyond the Dictionary"
explaining the nuances.

They explained the nuances of what Chirac said in
his famous "shut up speech" to Europeans.

That is not quite what he said

Earl


****


Back to Start of Article European disunion

by Eleanor and Michel Levieux

PARIS Did President Jacques Chirac of France actually tell half of Europe to
shut up last week? Was he scolding a bunch of unruly children?
.
Not exactly. Translating the nuances of the "language of diplomacy," as
French was once known, can be trés difficile.
.
Although France and Germany have stood at the forefront of European
resistance to the Bush administration's position on Iraq, 13 East European
countries have expressed support for the United States. They include Poland,
Hungary and the Czech Republic, already accepted by the European Union as
future members, and 10 others, most of them candidates for membership.
.
Chirac said that these countries "ont manqué une bonne occasion de se
taire," rendered in part of the American and British press as "missed a good
opportunity to shut up."
.
But Chirac's words were a significant notch above that level of discourse.
To be sure, he could have been quite formal and said "ont manqu? une bonne
occasion de s'absentir de tout commentaire" ("refrain from making any
comment"), or "garder le silence" or "se garder de s'exprimer" ("keep
silent" or "say nothing"). And of course, he also could have taken a much
lower road and said "ont manqué une bonne occasion de fermer leur gueule" or
"de la fermer", which would indeed mean "to shut up." The verb Chirac chose,
"se taire," ("to remain silent") was neither elegant nor rude, simply
neutral.
.
That's not to say that he wasn't upset. France and Germany have long been
the pillars of the European Union, and Eastern Europe, for all its
politeness in seeking admission to the club, almost certainly appeared to
Chirac to be taking undue license.
.
"Their behavior is rather irresponsible and not very polite," Chirac went on
to say. In French, that's "Ce n'est pas un comportement bien responsable. Ce
n'est pas trés bien élevé."
.
"Bien ?lev?" means "well brought up," and when used in the negative, as
Chirac used it, it typically describes a misbehaving child.
.
But "ce n'est pas trés bien élevé" is definitely not as strong as "c'est mal
élevé" would have been.
.
That would have simply meant "it's rude."
.
Eleanor and Michel Levieux are the authors of "Insider's French: Beyond the
Dictionary."
European disunion

Oopsdaisy2

    >Subject: French nuances in Chirac`s "shut up" speech
    >From: Earl Evleth [email protected]
    >Date: 2/27/2003 7:49 AM



    >"Bien ?lev?" means "well brought up," and when used in the negative, as
    >Chirac used it, it typically describes a misbehaving child.

It is better to treat 13 other European countries as misbehaving children? (for
the record, they are not all "Eastern European") Their opinion matters less
because they are future candidates for the EU? I guess, I'd respect "shut up
more.

Donna Evleth

Dans l'article ,
[email protected] (Oopsdaisy2) a écrit :


    >>Subject: French nuances in Chirac`s "shut up" speech
    >>From: Earl Evleth [email protected]
    >>Date: 2/27/2003 7:49 AM
    >
    >>"Bien ?lev?" means "well brought up," and when used in the negative, as
    >>Chirac used it, it typically describes a misbehaving child.
    > It is better to treat 13 other European countries as misbehaving children?
(for
    > the record, they are not all "Eastern European") Their opinion matters less
    > because they are future candidates for the EU? I guess, I'd respect "shut up
    > more.

Honesty compels me to say that this defense of Chirac is stupid. Believe it
or not, there were people in France who were appalled by Chirac's attack on
the Eastern European countries; The morning newspaper Libération, described
by an American journalist who reports often on France as "nondoctrinaire
left", reacted immediately after Chirac's "shut up" comment. They said:
Question: Who lost an opportunity to shut up?
Answer: Jacques Chirac.

This was a gut reaction, which all the semantic games of the kind given
above cannot change. I happen to agree with Libération.

Donna Evleth
    >

Go Fig

In article ,
"Donna Evleth" wrote:

    >
    > Dans l'article ,
    > [email protected] (Oopsdaisy2) a écrit :
    >
    >
    > >>Subject: French nuances in Chirac`s "shut up" speech
    > >>From: Earl Evleth [email protected]
    > >>Date: 2/27/2003 7:49 AM
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > >>"Bien ?lev?" means "well brought up," and when used in the negative, as
    > >>Chirac used it, it typically describes a misbehaving child.
    > >
    > > It is better to treat 13 other European countries as misbehaving children?
    > (for
    > > the record, they are not all "Eastern European") Their opinion matters less
    > > because they are future candidates for the EU? I guess, I'd respect "shut
    > > up
    > > more.
    >
    > Honesty compels me to say that this defense of Chirac is stupid. Believe it
    > or not, there were people in France who were appalled by Chirac's attack on
    > the Eastern European countries; The morning newspaper Libération, described
    > by an American journalist who reports often on France as "nondoctrinaire
    > left", reacted immediately after Chirac's "shut up" comment. They said:
    > Question: Who lost an opportunity to shut up?
    > Answer: Jacques Chirac.
    >
    > This was a gut reaction, which all the semantic games of the kind given
    > above cannot change. I happen to agree with Libération.


Was is the sentiment being expressed from the release of Chirac's
chauffeur (of 15 years) book ?

jay
Thu, Feb 27, 2003
mailto:[email protected]


    >
    > Donna Evleth
    > >

--

Legend insists that as he finished his abject...
Galileo muttered under his breath: "Nevertheless, it does move."