Posted on 02/22/2003 5:46:31 PM PST by GeneD
PARIS — Did President Jacques Chirac of France actually tell half of Europe to shut up last week? Was he scolding a bunch of unruly children?
Not exactly. Translating the nuances of the "language of diplomacy," as French was once known, can be très difficile.
Although France and Germany have stood at the forefront of European resistance to the Bush administration's position on Iraq, 13 East European countries have expressed support for the United States. They include Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, already accepted by the European Union as future members, and 10 others, most of them candidates for membership.
Mr. Chirac said that these countries "ont manqué une bonne occasion de se taire," rendered in part of the American and British press as "missed a good opportunity to shut up."
But Mr. Chirac's words were a significant notch above that level of discourse. To be sure, he could have been quite formal and said "ont manqué une bonne occasion de s'absentir de tout commentaire" ("refrain from making any comment"), or "garder le silence" or "se garder de s'exprimer" ("keep silent" or "say nothing"). And of course, he also could have taken a much lower road and said "ont manqué une bonne occasion de fermer leur gueule" or "de la fermer"), which would indeed mean "to shut up." The verb Mr. Chirac chose, "se taire," was neither elegant nor rude, simply neutral.
That's not to say that he wasn't upset. France and Germany have long been the pillars of the European Union, and Eastern Europe, for all its politeness in seeking admission to the club, almost certainly appeared to Mr. Chirac to be taking undue license.
"Their behavior is rather irresponsible and not very polite," Mr. Chirac went on to say. In French, that's "Ce n'est pas un comportement bien responsable. Ce n'est pas très bien élevé."
"Bien élevé" means "well brought up," and when used in the negative, as Mr. Chirac used it, it typically describes a misbehaving child. But "ce n'est pas très bien élevé" is definitely not as strong as "c'est mal élevé" would have been.
That would have simply meant "it's rude."
You can put lipstick on a pig but it is still a pig.
He tried to boss other countries around. Telling someone to be quiet is the same as telling them to shut up. And that is not neutral in any language. That is just plain rude. Which is exactly how it was meant
se taire means nothing but to silence one's self (shut up). Even high school students are taught that taisez-vous means SHUT UP!.
Wow. I never cease to be amazed.
He was just pretending to be John McCain.
Regardless, the insulting part was what Chirac meant, and the hypocrisy of it all.
I'm glad some else notices that. And yes, it was the intent, not the words.
Not only is the NY Times defending Chirac, but the NY Times is contradicting what it said a few days ago.
This article seems to be saying that Chirac didn't intend his comments to be a severe "put down" of Eastern Europe. But, on February 18th the NY Times said: Chirac Scolding Angers Nations That Back U.S
The French president, in an unusually emotional outburst in Brussels after the European Union meeting on Monday about Iraq, derided the Central and Eastern European countries that have signed letters expressing their support for the American policy on Iraq for being "badly brought up," and having missed "an opportunity to keep quiet."I'd guess that some East European leaders understand French well enough to know what Chirac said.
Chirac has a PR problem on his hands, and the NY Times is trying to rescue him.
Ees all in zee nuance
Damned frogs.
XEHRpa
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