David Jaggard
The No-Smoking Law in France: When the Fire Went Out(side)
Ah, For a Breath of Fresh Outdoor Air!
When the Euro Zone authorities put the new currency into circulation on January 1, 2002, I, and the Euro Zone authorities, expected it to generate a plague of problems, ranging from conversion errors to price gouging to tantrums. It didn’t. … Read More
Sign of the Weeque 18.03.15
C’est Ironique Sign of the Weeque Did you name your restaurant yourself? Yes! My daughter thought of the name. Oh — so you didn’t name it yourself. Yes I did! It’s called “Yourself.” You mean it’s named after me? No, … Read More
Sign of the Weeque 11.03.15
C’est Ironique Sign of the Weeque Spotted by Nancy Li. Two stores in a row, one letter each away from being an Anglophone preteens’ giggle fest. And the little dots on the Mini Nippes sign don’t help any. I sometimes … Read More
The Good Old Days in Paris — Or Were They?
It Depends on What the Definition of “Good” Is
My wife Nancy used to be close friends with an American woman who had lived in Paris in the late 1940s and early ’50s. One day they were talking about what the city was like back then, and the older … Read More
Sign of the Weeque 04.03.15
C’est Ironique Sign of the Weeque Spotted by reader P.K. Munroe. A sign for the season! This is more of a graphics malfunction than an ill-advised trade name: what we’re supposed to see here is the word “Fluo,” as in … Read More
Sign of the Weeque 25.02.15
C’est Ironique Sign of the Weeque Spotted by reader Jake Dear. It’s a watch shop. Get it? Get it? Get it? In Pnin, Vladimir Nabokov describes his main character as having “a bright foreigner’s fondness for puns.” I think we … Read More
Sign of the Weeque 18.02.15
C’est Ironique Sign of the Weeque Bar spotted on Avenue de la République. “Is the name of this bar okay?” “No, man. It’s pretty ****ing far from okay.” David Jaggard Have you seen a ridiculous sign in Paris? Or anywhere … Read More
Dining in France: Getting My Hands on the Good Stuff
How I Struggled, Salmon-like, Up the Food Chain
I once ate a frozen hamburger. Oh wait — that sentence is not entirely accurate. Let’s take it word by word: “I” is true — this really happened to me. “Once” is also correct, in the sense of both “at … Read More
Sign of the Weeque 11.02.15
C’est Ironique Sign of the Weeque Plaque spotted on Rue de Gramont.This might not actually be a French company, but it’s still a pretty strange use of English and, more importantly, it offers me an excuse to shoot my mouth … Read More
Gained in Translation: Bilingual Fun and Games
The Language Barrier, and How to Make it Worse
One of the great things about learning a foreign language is that it gets you into all kinds of messes. Specifically, I’m thinking about the muddles, mix-ups and snafus that arise when two bilingual people aren’t sure which of the … Read More