A slice of butcher, please
I was in a restaurant in northern England looking at the menu. It was in French and one item caught my eye. As a starter, they offered sliced charcutier. The chef was somewhat surprised when I pointed out the misspelling. What he meant was charcuterie - mixed cooked pork meats. Le charcutier is the pork butcher who sells it to you!
Sent by: Paul
Comments
Marianne
2008-07-06
That is so common. I remember years ago, when French and Italian terms were creeping into menus, asking for an "espresso" and being given a "capuccino". The proprietor was insistent that he was using the correct word. Pity proprietors don't do their homework, isn't it!
I moved to South Africa after years of living in France ... when I order one of our fantastic local wines and dare to pronounce it correctly (blanc de blancs without pronouncing the c's at the end, cabernet sauvignon instead of kabernay etc) I get corrected by the waiters!
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