Comments on: driving in Paris: a survival guide

By: Sigmund Carl and Alfred

Sigmund Carl and Alfred — Fri, 28 Jan 2005 02:09:03 +0000

I’ve tried to be sympathetic.

However, after driving in Athens (and thus, rekindling my relationship with my Deity), I would classify Paris as stroll in the park.

By: zeraw07

zeraw07 — Thu, 27 Jan 2005 22:46:51 +0000

“cut out and keep swearing vocab in French:

connard! – assehole!
enculÃ©! – asshole!
fils de pute! – sonofabitch! ”

lol!
Je suis FranÃ§ais et j’aime pas les Parisiens, c’est un pays Ã part je crois…. enfin bon j’habite dans une ville “banlieue” de Paris et Ã§a devient un peu pareil!

By: stressqueen

stressqueen — Thu, 27 Jan 2005 13:47:34 +0000

I dislike driving in London but it’s a picnic compared with Paris, and I’ll never forget an Italian driving ‘holiday’ that the boyf and I once took. Driving through the centre of Milan was a nerve wracking experience. It was so hard to tell where the road ended and the tram lines began. Rome wasn’t too bad, but what about those minuscule alleyways that you can actually drive through?

By: Chninkel

Chninkel — Thu, 27 Jan 2005 13:43:57 +0000

Définitely when I want to say “enculé”, I say “w*nker”!

By: petite

petite — Thu, 27 Jan 2005 13:14:23 +0000

Jim – If you note the IP address thoughtfully provided on the side of the speed camera, there is apparently a way to hack in and blur the numberplate on the photo.

You didn’t hear it here first.

By: Jim in Rennes

Jim in Rennes — Thu, 27 Jan 2005 13:01:51 +0000

April 1st 1984. The day when roundabouts changed from giving priority to those joining to those already on -in Brittany, anyway. I was shifting camping stores on that day around Quimper and saw countless accidents – none serious. And the eye contact thing is essential if trying to get someone else to slow down (i.e. octogenarians in “spoutniks”, for whom the roundabout system change never happened). Using pedestrian crossings: As mentioned above, stride purposefully (and apparently obliviously) out and hear those brakes squeal! NB – be prepared to perform an instant and humiliating leap backwards for the “encule” who calls your bluff. In my professional opinion (rarely called upon for such niceties of vocabulary, sadly) I agree that asshole is about as close as you’ll get for “encule” in yer actual highway-use situations. Fucker is simply too aggressive and as already mentioned, doesn’t include the passive connotation. The endless flexibility of the word “con” has always impressed me too.
As a warning – following 22 years of blemish-free driving (officially speaking) – I have been flashed for speeding twice since Jan 1st. Makes me sound like a conscience-free child killer, but I promise it’s not the case, just witness to the demise of discretionary policing. Still, at least you can pay your fine from the comfort of your PC these days…

By: Jean

Jean — Thu, 27 Jan 2005 11:40:43 +0000

Can’t believe I’m sitting here thinking of translations for encule (can’t do accent in comments)! Fucker is the right level of insulting, but, ahem, doesn’t have the right connotations of passivity, loser… This idiot has his head up his arse?

By: Zinnia Cyclamen

Zinnia Cyclamen — Thu, 27 Jan 2005 10:18:00 +0000

Love this post, it’s all so true. And what about the peripherique? Isn’t it also true that to get there, you go through a gateway into a parallel universe where you are IN that driving game kids play on their TVs, but not on the level one stage you tried once when you managed to get halfway round the bend on the empty road before crashing into the barriers, oh no, on the peripherique you’re on level TWELVE with nowhere to hide and nowhere to run and cars coming at you from every side and the only thing you can do is clutch the steering wheel and pray?

By: kim

kim — Thu, 27 Jan 2005 09:30:34 +0000

I would probably translate enculé as “fucker”… asshole seems a bit lighter than enculé to me.

but then again, I get the feeling that naughty words in english are far more shocking than they are in french. I remember a time we went to visit David’s grandparents for tea, and he said “putain…” about something when we were there and I was just shocked, because I couldn’t imagine myself dropping such a bomb in front of my grandparents. I mean, my grandmother has been known to whip out with “sassafras!” when she’s annoyed with something!

By: Ria

Ria — Thu, 27 Jan 2005 08:45:44 +0000

Check out Bozzetto's flash animation for a hilarious look at driving in Italy. I testify it is ALL TRUE. I'm inured to driving in Rome now, although when I started, I would be shamed by my two-year-old in the back seat copying my outbursts, " 'sole! 'sole!"