Nice

[Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P>]

It's the same in French, the language Ayatollahs would have had you crucified for less than that (using 'nice' willy-nilly) 30/40 yrs ago. Used to be 'c'est sympa' in French that enraged them, or 'c'est important'. Now, in our more linguistically tolerant times, the same people frown upon phrases such as 'ça, c'est clair !' (for 'yes, of course'), 'absolument' (incessantly -instead of 'yes'), 'c'est pas évident' (for 'c'est pas facile') -which is the Number One solecism in the French language this side of the new century. Not to mention their uncontrollable ire at hearing the countless barbarisms and angliscisms that, I'm sure, you've learnt to spot more quickly than a spotted dick on a French menu. There are few spectacles more preposterous to witness in this world than that of a French person being indignant about the misuse of their language by their own fellow French mortals !

[Christine Animal]

And what about the "tout à fait" every time you say something they agree with.

Christine

[Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P>]

Ah ça, tout à fait Christine, well observed ! c'est clair que, le Français moderne, quoi, ça peut esquinter les esgourdes*, absolument quoi. C'est évident non plus à comprendre quoi, j'veux dire, c'est clair que faut faire des efforts, quoi.

 

*ears/slang

[Christine Animal]

Effectivement, et je pense encore une fois qu'effectivement tu as raison Vraititi, et qu'effectivement il faut aller dormir, sinon demain nous serons d'une façon ou d'une autre effectivement un peu fatigués.  C'est clair?

Bonne nuit.

[bizzyliz]

And how about donc? I had the impression that this was the equivalent of like in English in the way it slips in all over the place with no (usually) apparent meaning. You've very cunningly avoided it so far!

[Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P>]

Donc, nous disions... Well, technically, 'quoi' is the more (albeit very loose in many cases) direct translation of 'like' at the end of a sentence but, you're quite right, it is now being challenged by the less irritating 'donc', but usually at the beginning of a sentence: 'Donc, on est partis, quoi, puisqu'on avait plus rien à faire'. When not the equivalent of 'so', it could be translated as 'well' or 'well like' if you're a Geordie...

Don't know if you know them but Thierry Roland and J-Michel Larqué (Legendary football commentators who've been on Telly since the 70's -Larqué used to play for France) are the classic exponents of the 'Tout-à-fait-ese' we are talking about. Their phraseology has become a classic in France (they've got their Guignol puppets on Canal+ and so on) soon, I'm sure, to be studied in Facs de Lettres. They  overuse and misuse all sorts of ordinary terms, of which the chief victim is the relatively obscur 'du reste' (that they use in every other sentence) which means 'besides, as a matter of fact'. Another one for your collection !

[Teamedup]

I know someone who starts just about every sentence with 'hein'. Drives me nuts, what an awful sound that is.

[Gyn_Paul]

Coming from the west coast, where we routinely say < au revoir m'sseurs-dames > on leaving a shop, say; I was astonished to find that here in La Creuse, on dit  <Allez au revoir >.

Is this something peculiar to the region, or a usage I've just somehow managed to miss ?

p

[Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P>]

No, 'allez au r'voir' is not a regionalism, I've heard it pretty much everywhere in France

[Tourangelle]

quoting TU

"Nice (nais) adj Difficile, délicat, (finicky); dificile, exigeant, scrupuleux, méticuleux (punctilious)

And it is the same in my Consise Oxford too. And that is why I was wondering what was taught or what would be understood in France by 'nice'.

I cannot remember hearing this word used in this manner, or maybe I have and just though it was irony, rather than the real definition."

Rereading Jane Austen's Persuasion at the weekend, and I quote "Most earnestly did she wish that he might not be too nice, or too observant if Elizabeth were his object"

Isn't it elegant? I might start using it and teach it to French people!

allez au r'voir! lucky if you get the "r" in round here! It is more of an auvoir!

[Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P>]

Sounds to me much easier to ban 'nice' outright from your teaching ! I never realised it had so many uses, and could mean 'finicky' or 'particular', interesting.

It's rare to hear a clear 'au revoir' these days (punaise, tout fout le camp), especially in bistrots; usually ''enr'voir'' or ''en'voir'', or sometimes 'à la revoyure (la compagnie)' -very colloquial- which is not an unpleasant variation on a very narrow field.