Turning wine into coffee
When camping in France many years ago, I bought some wine in a café, then went into the supermarket next door to buy some groceries. At the checkout, the cashier counted up the groceries, then pointed to the bottle of wine under my arm, saying: Et le vin aussi, monsieur?, and the wine too, Sir? I replied: Non madame, c'est du café, meaning to say 'No, madam, that's from the café'.Mais, non, monsieur, c'est du vin, but no, Sir, this is wine, she retorted, adding an aside to the next till: Ils sont fous ces anglais! They are mad, those English. What I've said to her was: 'No, madam, this is coffee.'
Editor's note: You could have said: Je l'ai acheté au café, I bought it at the café.
Sent by: Michael
Comments
Ils sont fous ces anglais is used very widely: it's actually a quote used in "Astérix in Britain" comic book. In fact, almost every Astérix book uses it: ils sont fous ces romains - they're mad these Romans - and also ils sont fous ces gaulois - they're mad these Gauls.
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