The Tower of Babel

Every country/region has its own special idiomatic phrases.  I was very pleased to pick up quite quickly that septante and nonante were the French-Belgian equivalents of soixante-dix and quatre-vingt (60 and 80).  And more recently to learn that the Belgian for a milky coffee was ‘lait russe’ (‘koffee verkeerd’ in Dutch, café au lait in France, except in Provence and southern regions -where it’s a noisette) and that a ‘sniuewe witje’ (shandy/radler) is  a ‘panache’. Both useful pieces of knowledge.

This week I was exposed to more ‘Belgianisms’.  I asked for a ‘lait russe’ in a café in the south of the country. ‘I don’t know how to make it’ was the reply.  I began to explain what it was and my Belgian travel companion discreetly kicked me.  He later explained that this was a Belgian phrase meaning ‘the machine is broken’ – adding that’s one reason why the French make fun of Belgians. Later that afternoon we crossed the border into France and stopped for refreshments – my companion ordered a milk shake; ‘je ne sais pas comment le faire’ was the response: I gave my companion a gentle kick on the shin and smiled; ‘not only in Belgium.’ If I learnt one thing that day it is that this region has a need for repair men for bar machinery.

The next day I started my tennis class.  The coach made comments to the female students along the lines of you must move your pretty legs (‘jolie jambes’ in French -  which has a certain poetry). In the Netherlands (and probably the UK) I could easily see complaints and possible dismissal resulting from such comments.  The women in question were obviously flattered to be addressed in such a way and showed no signs of complaining about sexual harassment.

 
Cultural codes can be so different, even in places that are very close to each other.