At the end of his resignation speech Tricky Dicky famously says "au revoir" and tells there's no correct word in English to convey what he meant. Why weren't "We'll meet again" or "See you someday" for example appropriate to what Nixon wanted to say? "We'll see you again" does he eventually says.
And weren't American voters somewhat flummoxed by the use of a foreign word (and a French one at that!) in such a circumstance by an American president?
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I'll wait for SemperFi to address your questions.
In the meantime, there's a good tennis match in which Adrian Mannarino, a French tennis player, is up two sets against Sam Querrey, an American.
At this moment Querrey looks nervous and Mannarino looks more confident, although he did bang his racket on the court awhile back. Great match!
Mannarino won! Now he has to deal with Federer... That must be an exciting prospect for him.
btw SF, I finally got around to responding to your free will response on the other thread.
Well, Monfils lost to Isner. What a delightful match to watch. Monfils has such a wonderful personality and plays so well that he really gets the crowd cheering for him.
For what I know, Monfils ("My Son") comes accross with a nice personality. Although he was born in Paris, his parents are from the French Caraibes with his father from the island where ZapPow lives and that you once visited.
Ah, so he's a Martinican.
Monfils Wins Crowd by Charming It, but Isner Takes the Match by Force
Oh-oh. I check out the site to see what is going on, and discover that I have been called out by name on flocon's blog.
What will the neighbors say when they find out that my security clearance has been revoked? Will I be able to pay for a sailing holiday?
On the other hand, I may now have the time to compose lucid responses to flocon's thought-provoking posts. The glass may be half full.
So I think there is something worth examining here.
The key is why the Terminator said "hasta la vista, baby" instead of "goodby."
SemperFidelis
I admit the question à propos Nixon's au revoir wasn't really worth a post but I was a young and tender soul at the time and I have always wondered how Americans felt about this bizarre remark on such an unprecedented day in the history of the US of A.
On the other hand, for what I see, that wasn't the official resignation speech but a last meeting with collaborators at the W/H (probably).
He could as well have chosen auf wiedersehen since the German expression is the very exact rendition of the French Au revoir.
Anyway, had Giscard said Goodbye when he was not reelected or Sarkozy Sayonara, everybody would have thought the two men were suitable cases for treatment...
Yes, SemperFi, what would the neighbors say if they knew that you hung out with the likes of Flocon and Anijo. Quelle horreur! - Je dis ça exprès pour toi Flocon ;)
I have the time to respond to Flocon's thought-provoking posts and I still have difficulty coming up with a lucid response!
I remember the first time I learned that there were two ways to say "goodbye" in French and that one meant "goodbye until we meet again" and the other meant "goodbye for good". I'm sure that this is why Nixon said that.
It's also true that being able to say something in another language gives one an aura of being well educated. And if it's French, there's that added air of sophistication and romance.
J'avais oublié le Adieu qui est effectivement très solennel et définitif since it basically means ''To God''.
The Farewell to arms of Hemingway is translated as L'adieu aux armes.
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"being able to say something in another language gives one an aura of being well educated. And if it's French, there's that added air of sophistication and romance."
which explains why the air is filled with a sense of sophistication and elegance in the southern city where this church stands...
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Had Nixon said "auf wiedersehen", I guess it would have sounded even more bizarre.
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One question : I sometimes come across the abreviation the U.S of A. instead of the usual the U.S or U.S.A. Is it just OK to use it or is there an underlying ironic bia that I'm not aware of?
To my ears the US of A sounds rather exaggerated and something that I might expect to hear/read from a southerner who's a super-patriot type such as Donna Fargo
Or if someone is criticizing the U.S. sometimes they'll begin by saying something like, "In the good ole' US of A"
But then someone might use "good ole' US of A" in a loving way.
Or perhaps someone will use it to emphasize the difference between the USA and another country.
It all has to do with context.
Had Nixon said "auf wiedersehen", I guess it would have sounded even more bizarre.
I can't imagine that, you're right. I'm afraid that WWII has affected the way that German words sound to some American's ears. Still, fancy schmancy writers like to use words such as zeitgeist, weltanschauung, and schadenfreude.
When I hear "auf wiedersehen" this song comes to mind, although "adieu" is also used in the song.
In fact, "au revoir" is also used.
"I'm afraid that WWII has affected the way that German words sound to some American's ears"
Have you looked at this?
and particularly the paragraphs dedicated to the phenomena in America?
There's a very strong antiGerman feeling in the UK and not really dormant, at par with antiFrench sentiments.
As a chess player you're also familiar with the blitz game I guess.
One also has Weltanschauung which indeed isn't used as much in English as it is in French
Yes, yes. Germanophobia or Francophobia.. Anti-Americanism.. and other ridiculous phobias..what have you.
Yes, I'm familiar with a chess game in which one has to make one's move very quickly. Another German word yes.
The German word for world view is used quite often in English, but by those writers who are considered to be more literary.
What's interesting is that the more that I speak with this man from Québec (trois-rivières) the more convinced I am that French Canadians are more like Americans than they are similar to the French from France. And no, Canadians do not think of themselves as being "American" so don't go there! ;)
"French Canadians are more like Americans than they are similar to the French from France".
Oh, yes, no doubt about it, that's why there are next to no bonds between les Québécois et les Français. They're now a far away branch of the original family. No bad feelings at all to be sure but the Ocean is so wide...
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