Calico cat in a window
Louper
(loo pay)
verb
to miss (a class…)
After his hearty lunch of poulet rôti, spicy eggplant ratatouille, and rosemary potatoes (and seconds of all three!), I suspect that my son is brimming with health and not at all as sick as he claimed to be when the alarm clock rang this morning. ("Aïe! J'ai mal au ventre!" he complained. Feeling sympathetic, I let him stay home from school for the morning.)
"Well, well, Max, you certainly seem to be feeling better! Maybe I could take you to school now and you won't miss your afternoon classes?"
"Mommy," Max pleads, "I need a whole day off!"
"Well then, you'll have a lot of classwork to catch up on, so don't come crying to me!"
Max offers me a disarming smile before asking what's for dessert. I bring out a bowl of aromatic garriguettes—strawberries so sweet you'd swear they were sugar cubes blushing in disguise. I pass Max the can of whipped cream, figuring that he might as well enjoy his sick day even if he is guilty.
As he eats, he reviews which classes he has missed:
J'ai loupé les maths…
J'ai loupé la musique…
J'ai loupé la téchno…
Listening to my son's losses, I try to balance the debit. Though Max missed math, music, and technology, he didn't miss doing the dishes (this, without my asking), he didn't miss making me a surprise cup of tea ("C'est bien chaud!" he announced, his shining eyes carefully steadied on the steamy surface of the tea lest it spill as he walked), and he didn't miss collecting a handful of roses (after he slipped out to the garden, scissors in hand). Finally, he didn't miss selecting a vase (our best coffee cup in the cupboard) and arranging the flowers into an attractive bouquet before delivering them to my desk. "For you, Mommy," he offered.
"J'ai loupé un peu d'histoire." I missed a bit of history, too, my son admits as I poke my nose deep into a pink blossom. Learning about another "louped" class, I feel slightly annoyed. Then I get to thinking about Max's history book and all the "important stuff" that is recorded inside for students to study and recall. Why shouldn't this moment, too, be memorized? How unworthy of note one boy's stolen day may seem to historians, who will never document the sweetness of this tea, or record the gift of a tender heart.
***
French Vocabulary
le poulet rôti = rotisserie chicken
Aïe! J'ai mal au ventre! = Ow! I have a stomach ache
j'ai loupé les maths = I missed math
j'ai loupé la musique = I missed music
j'ai loupé la téchno (technologie) = I missed technology
c'est bien chaud = it's very hot
J'ai loupé un peu d'histoire = I missed a little bit of history
:: Audio File ::
Listen to me pronounce the word "louper" before my daughter reads the following quote:
Download MP3 or Download Wav
Il ne faut pas louper le coche,* mes amis!
We musn't miss our chance, my friends! –Henriette Chardak
*coach, barge; rater le coche = to miss the boat
.
Terms & Expressions:
louper son cours = to miss one's class
louper son bus/train = to miss one's bus/train
louper le coche = to miss an opportunity, to miss one's chance
louper son coup = to miss one's chance
A ne pas louper! = Not to be missed! (program, event…)
Verb conjugation:
je loupe, tu loupes, il/elle loupe, nous loupons, vous loupez, ils/elles loupent => past participle: loupé
***
A Day in a Dog's Life…
For the next 10 days Smokey and Braise will be vacationing at a chambre de chien, a doggy equivalent of une chambre d'hôte. We'll be dropping them off a the B&B (Bed & Bark?) in Rochegude, on our way to Serre Chevalier. Smokey, pictured left, doesn't look very happy about this… (you should see Gramma K's face, which is even longer!) but there will be no room for dogs in the little Alpine chambre that we will be renting. While we're away, French Word-A-Day will continue, with selections from the archives. (There will be no posts on the 9 and the 12th.)
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Leslie, my deepest condolences to you and your family on the loss of your most talented husband. His work has touched many and provided important reminders on the power of possibility and the need to Never Forget. We watched “Paperclips” not long ago and I was so moved by this story and appreciative that it was made into a documentary. I live in Roanoke, Va, near Bedford and look forward to seeing his Bedford documentary. Many thanks for sharing with us, Pat Cargill
For a moving memorial to World War II history, specifically D-Day, see:
http://www.dday.org/
located in Bedford, Virginia.
“Paper Clips” – of course.
Marianne Rankin: I love hearing that you offer your son a day off in memory of his father…sweet. Wish I had had more time to talk w/you in D.C., but at least we shared the memorable wine tasting dinner together. Best to you and yours, Pat
Thank you, Pat 🙂
j’ai aimé ce blog ! j’ai dû le lire ma classe française dans highschool aujourd’hui ! de wichita Kansas
To Pat Cargill – yes, too bad we didn’t have more time to chat. Roanoke is a long way from here, but if you get to the area again, you can look me up. I’m in the phone book – or you can send a message via the blog!
To Leslie H. – I will look for the Bedford DVD. I heard that per capita, Bedford lost more men in WWII than any other city/town in the whole USA. Since I don’t know much else about the situation, viewing the DVD should be informative.
I’ll keep you and your son in my prayers.
Kristin- Loved reading this again. This is definitely a keeper for the book. As a retired teacher, I do support the missed day- so worth it for the spirit(s) (yours and his!).
A quick note about the misplaced modifier in your opening sentence unless it is you who had the hearty meal!
Jackie
I agree that someday you might tackle louper, manquer, and rater.
J’ai raté le train, j’ai loupé ma classe, mais tu me manques ma chèrie!
Thank you, Jackie! I hope his fixes the problem:
After his hearty lunch of poulet rôti, spicy eggplant ratatouille, and rosemary herbed potatoes (and seconds of all three!), I suspect that my son
What a sweet son!
A couple of copy-editing notes:
2nd paragraph: ‘when lunchtime comes around, I noticed’ – I would change ‘noticed’ to ‘notice’, since you tell this story in the present tense.
Also, there should always be a space before ‘…’ (end of the same sentence, and in ‘J’ai loupé les maths …’, etc).
Thank you, Linda! Ive updated the line to the present tense. Re the elipses (sp?), I see your point. However, Id better leave as is… following all the other elipses in the book (too many to change).
I don’t know that I agree with Linda on having a space before the ellipsis. I consulted my “College Handbook of Composition” and “Handbook for Writers”, neither of which shows a space before the ellipsis, but then these books were published back in the late 50s and early 60s. I’ll consult with my book publishing son-in-law.
Hi Kristin,
Your description of the strawberries was, ummm, delicious!
Perhaps Max meant to plead: “I need a whole day off.”
Best wishes…
Kristin,
Do you want to center the title etc., as you have for other vingettes?
Consider leaving another blank line between these two:
“even if he is guilty.
As he eats, he reviews which classes he has missed:”
Blessings Kristin
Love this one! What mom has not caved in to an “ailing” child just for the treasure of a “stolen” day with him or her? BTW, elipses do have spaces on either side as well as between each period according to the Chicago Manual of Style.
Your story brought back a flood of memories of when my own children (now 29 and 26 years old) were in school and also occasionally needed a “day off”. How quickly the years fly.
I have a copy-editing question: Should you add a period inside the parentheses in the first paragraph making it (“Aïe! J’ai mal au ventre!” he had complained. Feeling sympathetic, I let him stay home from school for the morning.)
Thanks for letting us be a part of your publishing. ;>)
I suspect that my son is (was) brimming with health and not at all as sick as he claimed to be when the alarm clock rang this morning. (changed the present tense verb to past)
Only, when lunchtime came around, I noticed my son’s healthy appetite… (changed verbs to past tense to be consistant)
“Well, well, Max, you certainly have the peach!” I declared, as the French do when pointing out how good they feel. (past tense for declare)
Max flashed me a disarming smile before asking what was for dessert. I brought out a bowl of aromatic garriguettes—strawberries so sweet you’d swear they were sugar cubes blushing in disguise. I passed Max the can of whipping cream, figuring that he might as well enjoy his sick day even if he was guilty.
As he ate, he reviewed which classes he had missed:
(just put all verbs in past tense)
Listening to my son’s losses, I tried to balance the debit. (added past tense)
“J’ai loupé un peu d’histoire.” I missed a bit of history, too, my son admited as I poked my nose deep into a pink blossom. Learning about another “louped” class I felt slightly annoyed. Then I got to thinking about Max’s history book and all the “important stuff” that is recorded inside for students to study and recall. (changed to past tense).
I do love this story, Kristi.
Bonjour,
This story was sweet. Your son seems a lot like you : Very warm, kind, with humor.
I have a Master’s degree — but I honestly don’t see a lot of errors. I am too interested in the stories.
I have read all of the stories, please don’t labor too long on these somewhat small corrections.
Thanks for these latest edits. Most of them are in!
Sandy, I can now see my mistake; unraveling it will be a little tedious! But I have an idea: I believe it is the second paragraph that is throwing the present/past off. I think if I remove the paragraph it will solve the problem (I can then leave everything in the present), without taking away from the meaning.
Im a little fuddle-minded at the moment. Can anyone verify that taking out the second paragraph would work.
Thanks! I look forward to transferring this story over to the manuscript template!
Another keeper! Suggestions:
1. “Feeling sympathetic, I let him stay home from school for the morning)” seems to be missing a period at the end.
2. “I need whole a day off.” needs rearranging a bit.
3. In “Learning about another “louped” class I feel slightly annoyed.” I would consider adding a comma after “class”.
I don’t see that the second paragraph (“Only, when lunchtime comes around,…”) is causing a problem, but I think you could do without it.
You have 3 verb phrases that occur at the same point in time in the past (before the healthy lunch}: “as he claimed to be”, “he had complained.”, “I let him stay home…”. I would put them all in the same tense, and the simplest way would be to drop “had” from the second one. Then they would all be simple past tense; I don’t think that the pluperfect is needed since your main story is in present tense.
Hope this didn’t muddy the water further!
1. Suggest just a period, not ellipses after “appetite.” (It closes the topic of the previous paragraph.)
2. Give the French for “have the peach”? That’s not an English-language expression, so it sounds weird.
3. The can of whipped cream? (It’s already whipped, right?)
4. Never document… or record (not “nor”)
Recently discovered your blog (you’ll never guess how) and it’s wonderful… thanks for the invitation to help edit.
I don’t do grammar, but I see that many of your readers do, so I’ll steer clear of this personal minefield. I love the story. I think that you should give the French for “have the peach” rather than the English, which is not part of our usual lexicon.
Another good one!
Rosemary herbed potatoes. I don’t think you need “herbed”. Sandra
“I need a whole a day off.” now has an extra “a” before “day”.
Also, I agree that including the French for “have the peach” would be more clear, and it’s a good expression to teach the reader.
Thank you very much for this latest round of edits!
EL, Id love to know how you found this blog.
Charles, Thanks for catching that! I had looked for the a the last time, but couldnt see it.
Minor point: it is whipping cream when it is liquid in the carton; it is whipped cream in the can. I just checked the label of the can in the refrigerator. Hugs for healing.
I came to the edit late in the day but I think that with the suggested nips and tucks that the story reads well. “Loper” is lovely and I think that the only reason all the editors-in-waiting and English and French majors make suggested changes is that once in print, little miscues do stand out. So keep up your writing, take a deep breath during the editing phase and relish the moment when the printing is done. Bonne Chance, Priscilla
Should have had my editor standing over my shoulder … should have read louper. Hate it when I miss a U.
Priscilla
Hey, Kristin –
You seem to have solved the present/past problem perfectly.
In the first sentence, you use a serial comma (the one between “ratatouille” and “and.” While I prefer serial commas, you haven’t used them in any of the stories I’ve checked thus far (e.g., “which were taut, tanned and untamed by nylons ”) from the previous vignette.
“Ratatouille” isn’t in the vocab list, and it does exist in English as well, so maybe it shouldn’t be italicized.
Somehow, “Max shows me a disarming smile” makes it sound as if the smile were intended for someone else. How about “flashes me” or “shoots me”?
In the last paragraph, do you mean “memorized” or “memorialized”? (Sample usage from Merriam-Webster: an exciting period in history that has been memorialized in many popular books and movies)
What a sweet little piece this is.
(Hey! How’s that for tersity?)
1. My suggestions for 1st paragraph: After his hearty meal of blah, blah, MY SON SEEMS TO BE brimming …
2. Delete the one-sentence 2nd paragraph, which is unnecessary and confusing, time-wise.
3. If you delete 1. and 2., then you’ll probably need to add an “I say” speaker attribution in the 3rd paragraph.
This way, you are not BLATANTLY telling the reader that Max is faking, but readers are getting the idea from the tone and circumstances and from their own experience.
Cap. for Mommy in “For you, Mommy.”
I love the sentence “strawberries so sweet you’d swear they were sugar cubes blushing in disguise.” 🙂
Does Max call you “Mommy” (or “Mom” now that he is older)? 🙂 Very exotic in France! That would be his mother’s influence!!
“How unworthy of note one boy’s stolen day…”
Maybe a little less awkward way might be:
“How un-noteworthy one boy’s stolen day…”
Precious times definitely worth noting! Last week my 19-yr. old son (youngest of 4) & I had one of those ‘noteworthy times’ as well and it’s safely stored away in this mom’s ‘scrapbook of the heart’ 🙂
I would capitalize “Mommy” in the sentence, “For you, mommy.”
This sentence seems a bit awkward:
How unworthy of note one boy’s stolen day may seem to historians who’ll never document the sweetness of this tea, or record the gift of a tender heart.
The correction above in the previous post would work. Here’s another suggestion:
One boy’s stolen day may not seem noteworthy to historians who’ll never document the sweetness of this tea, or record the gift of a tender heart.
Thank you for your edits and suggestions 🙂 I see what you mean about the awkward wording in the last sentence. Id better leave as-is for now…