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TODAY'S WORD: la salière
:salt shaker, salt cellar
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE
Les Bonnes Manières à Table
It's never too late to learn French etiquette. Yesterday while having lunch at une paillote on the beach, I learned how to pass the salt for the first time since coming to France.
Seated with two of Jean-Marc's college buddies and their families, I was admiring the drinks of the younger generation (have you ever had la boisson indien?–Orangina soda with a splash of grenadine syrup!) when the only other woman at the table asked me to pass the salt.
I reached for the shaker and handed it to Carole, who smiled and said: Aha! Voici quelque chose pour ton blog…and went on to explain that there was a rule about passing the salt in France, une règle validated by Femmes Débordées :
You are never to hand over the salt directly (into the hand of the other). You set it down on the table and let your neighbor pick it up herself. Voilà The French Salt Rule. Did you know it? Have you ever broken the rule? Let me know in the comments (link at the end of this post).
FRENCH VOCABULARY
une paillote = beach café or beach restaurant
les bonnes manières à table= good table manners
voici quelque chose pour ton blog= here's something for your blog
une règle= rule
femmes débordées = overwhelmed women
IL NE FAUT PAS Passer le sel de la main à la main. Si votre voisin vous demande le sel, il faut lui poser la salière à côté de lui.
You must not pass the salt from hand to hand. If your neighbor asks for the salt, you must set it beside him (or her).
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According to Miss Manners, when you are asked for the salt you pass both salt and pepper NOT hand to hand but by placing them on the table within their reach. Looks like we have always been doing it “the French Way”! C’est la vie.
Kristin,
Just got around to reading this post. I’m not sure if I’ve ever past the salt that way but the next time I’m lunch with my ‘French friends’ I will have to make a point of asking for the salt and see what they do!. Thanks for sharing.
KRisti,
I learned this rule as a child in the south, old wife’s tale as it were. If you pass the salt hand to hand, you will no longer be friends.
Xoxo
Virginia
I also know of the bad luck omen of setting the shakers down near the person who requested it/them rather than hand it/them to them. An old superstitious belief much like not walking under a ladder, a black cat crossing one’s path , op Ning an umbrella inside a building. So really it’s not a French thing as it is within traditions of many nationalities.