"Mais oui!": a curious use of the unnecessary preposition 'but' to add extra emphasis and a Gallic tone of surprise to the simple [and perfectly adequate on its own] 'yes'. I used this at a restaurant in Paris on Monday. The waitress was ushering us to our table. I followed her initial babble then lost it. She paused, I paused and then realised the question she was asking so responded with a "mais oui!" She smiled in a what-a-fool-of-a-foreigner sort of way.
The expression is sometimes followed by "hon-he-hon-he-hon!". But not on this occasion!
The expression is sometimes followed by "hon-he-hon-he-hon!". But not on this occasion!
First one in a while, and yes a goodie - funny how either getting together or going away on hols sparks the Dadisms. Prompted me to post a new one...
ReplyDeleteI am really impressed Paul that you tried out an original Dadism on a real French person! very impressive -shame you didn't go the whole hog and do teh hon-he-hon-he-hon as well!
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