Customer Reviews

Merde Encore!: More of the Real French You Were Never Taught at School

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Ooh-la-la. This is a delightful gift for the friend who has a decent elementary grasp on the French language and a rolicking sense of humour. Written with great lingusitic dexterity, both in French aan in English, it will be treasured for years to come.

Excerpt: <<So you think that suffixes are just another boring little grammatical item? Not in French, where some are invested with great power. The French, with their superiority complex, make much use of suffixes to express contempt and belittlement. Here are the basic ones, with a few examples of each... (EXAMPLES FOLLOW)>>

In "Merde Encore!," author Geneviève recommends that one should have looked over her previous book, "Merde!," because she "shall at times . . . assume knowledge acquired in the first." Thus, she says, "What I offer here is further exploration of colloquial vocabulary and idioms and, through them, deeper insights into the French psyche." So, while the layout of "Merde Encore!" is similar to "Merde!," there is a difference in tone between the two books. "Merde!" presents a colloquial and idiomatic French glossary, and "Merde Encore!" attempts to offer an outsider's view on the French psyche (in particular, on the Frenchman's psyche) in a rather sarcastic commentary interspersed with additional vocabulary. Here, Geneviève extends her thesis from "Merde!" (see the chapter on "Xenophobia and Racism") on the "innate French feeling of superiority" by indulging in lots of name-calling and stereotyping. In the interests of free speech, a glossary, dictionary, or phrasebook may offer "politically incorrect" terminology and usage. However, it is up to the reader to decide if a line has been crossed when an author chooses to perpetuate xenophobic stereotypes by using the words "Frog," "Froggie," and "Frog Pathology," and by offering undocumented commentary on the hygiene of the French, for example. Sometimes it is difficult to determine what is humour and what is not. (The foregoing remarks are offered by this reviewer as a disclaimer.)

"Merde Encore!" has thirteen short chapters: "Verbs" (i.e., the "moi-je" syndrome); "Suffixes" ("instruments of belittlement and contempt"); "Les Beaux Gestes" (with cartoons of French gestures, illustrated by Michael Heath); "Guillotined French" ("shortened" French words, like "cap" for "capable"); "Counting in French" (including "The Frog Clock"); "Sound Effects"; "The Most Popular Ingredients of French Idioms" (food and animals); "Anatomy of a Frog"; "Appee Beurzdé Tooh Yooh" ("Franglais"); "Allons Enfants" ("kiddie talk"); "The Cocorico Syndrome" (i.e., "Frogs on Wheels"); "Geography à la Française" (i.e., "the Parisians and the rest"); and "Your PH.D. Exam."

This book has quite a bit of useful idiomatic vocabulary and phrasing; it is also quite humourous. As to an insight into the French psyche or national character, I think not. For a more perceptive, witty, and insightful read on an outsider's view of the (Parisian) French, I highly recommend "French Toast," by Harriet Welty Rochefort. The irony of Geneviève's books (particularly the second one) is that they would be most appealing to an age group who should not be reading them!

This book assumes you have at least a full year of French behind you. It is not for beginners, even given the fact that most learners of a second language usually go for the "cinq lettres" words first. It was absolutely a must read for me when I visited Paris, and a bit of a help when I eventually visited Quebec. Lots of cultural nuances about the French (even body language is discussed), funny illustrations, and plenty of good intentioned advice... if a bit R-rated.

I bought this book for my husband, as I am french I thought he could learn some expression. And I laugh for some of the things it says, but I also found it full of cliches, and somewhat insulting sometimes. There as some useful expressions in it though, but i can't say that my husband has been learning them or using them, yet.

This book teaches you things that only a good friend who is French could tell you. Not covered in the usual French text, it is for real world French.

I got it for my teen, and it was a huge hit. LOTS of R rated phrases and words. Be warned! Still it was good for fun and some of it might be useful to know.