July 20, 2011

There are some inside jokes that when you try to explain them, they just fall flat. I feel that may be the case here. You see, Frédérique, Laurent, Romain, Melinda, Chloe and I went out for a sushi dinner tonight. It was a long-standing idea, Melinda & me introducing Frédérique and Laurent to sushi. Deep into the dinner, Romain made a comment that cracked up all the native French speakers at the table. I mean Laurent, Romain and Frédérique (especially) were nearly besides themselves with laughter. Romain’s comment? “Pas de souci.”

Chloe seemed to catch on first, then Melinda. To a certain extent, I’m still trying to figure it all out. Here’s what I’ve got. “Souci” sounds a lot like “sushi,” part of what makes this funny. Literally translated, “souci” means worry. So the expression “pas de souci” means “no worries” or “no problem.” Suddenly, anything anyone at the table said got a “no problem” (“pas de souci”) response. It has gone down as the expression of the day. In fact, I think it’s one I might remember.

Okay, maybe you just had to be there (and, as in my case, there is no guarantee that you would catch on too quickly).

Say, it’s my mom’s birthday today. I talked to her earlier and promised we’d toast her birthday at dinner tonight. Chloe took the picture (and I’m back manipulating pictures, as you can see). And sorry, mom – we chose beer over red wine to go with the sushi.

A year ago today I celebrated my mom’s birthday by sending her a picture of a sign…
Day 20 (20 July 2010) – Happy Birthday, Carib!