Wednesday, February 08, 2017

COMPRENDS-ENTIENDES-CAPISCI...UNDERSTAND?

There are still the remains of sales in some local shops. I am looking for something in particular and  I was in the one shop that might just have provided it. I browsed the department upstairs where you find cushions, bedding, curtains and some menswear. So far no luck, I could not see what I wanted.  All the staff work downstairs, which is where  I found a shop assistant.  While I was asking, it occurred to me that she might not understand what I was looking for:
Me –“I am looking for a counterpane, do you have any?”   Assistant- “ Could you tell me what that might be?”
It seemed I was speaking a foreign language. I explain it is a bed-cover….she continues to look vacantly at me….. I’m thinking quickly about what might be the current trendy modern translation for 'bed-cover' and I tentatively suggest “A throw”.  Some comprehension dawns.  The assistant tells me there are no throws……“Throws are for Christmas”  !
    

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7 comments:

zalandeau said...

Un Couvre-lit ?

Je ne sais même pas si on en vend encore en France ???

ZACL said...

Tu as tres bien compris.

Vraiment Zalandeau! Ca je m'amuse beaucoup.

En fin, si il n'ya autre chose similaire, il faut j'utiliseras un 'couvre' de plastique, qu'on peut trouver par tous.

Jennytc said...

Rather like me the other week in a shop in Chester, looking for hair mousse. The girl I asked hadn't a clue what I was talking about!

ZACL said...

Jenny, I am speechless.....hair mousse of all things!

I am sometimes asked in hair salons which I prefer, a mousse, or a variety of other spray on products.

Communicating can be like being in an alternative universe sometimes.

karen gimson said...

Communicating is a complicated thing. When my daughter was 4, a favourite game was pointing out all the trees we saw and naming them. One day I said, oh look it's a yew tree. She said in reply; "Really- it's a me tree!" I didn't have the heart to tell her. x

K Braithwaite said...

Shredded mouse in olive oil is good for thin hair.Chocolate mousse is not!

ZACL said...

Hello Kate,

Your recipe sounds unique. :)