I am much more comfortable writing about my garde-manger than politics. (story of my pantry in the next edition of France Today…)
Corrigez-moi si j'ai tort
On this, the day we are to find out who will be the next president of the United States… I'm tempted to call in sick from work (or casually "forget" to post this week) because I am afraid to comment on world news, even if I sometimes do.
Recently I daydreamed about beginning a new column titled Correct Me If I am Wrong. For once, I could write freely about current affairs without hiding my ignorance…. Après tout, I don't know a lot about history or politics and only recently learned the spelling of Connecticut (I never heard the second c…and so omitted it), but this has not stopped me from pursuing the career of my dreams: writing.
While writing publicly is a sure way to expose one's lack of worldly knowledge (worse, one's unconscious biases and prejudices) we reveal a lot about our minds via the interactions we have with others. I still remember the doctor who told me I was an intellectual plouc–a simpleton–all because I told him I had faith. I took his words seriously and wondered whether he was correct? I mean, he could be….
I often think about faith and ignorance and it always brings me back to the bottom line: nobody knows for sure what to believe when it comes to how we all got here in the first place. Not my ex-doctor, not me, not the sum total of humanity. Personne le sait!
Meantime, plouc or not, if I am comfortable enough writing this blog it is because I also have faith in my readers who are my teachers. Spelling can be fixed, what is vital is to remain in a teachable spirit. Corrigez-moi si j'ai tort.
Amicalement,
Kristi
FRENCH VOCABULARY
le garde-manger = pantry
après tout = after all
le plouc = simple minded person
personne le sait = nobody knows
corrigez-moi si j'ai tort = correct me if I am wrong
amicalement = yours
A peaceful image from here in La Ciotat. Take care and see you next week.
Discover more from French Word-A-Day
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Hi Kristi,
I love the photo and the name of the boat. Mireille was our sweet Belgian neighbor’s name.
Still waiting for election results. Could be the end of the week before we know since the majority of people voted by mail in ballots!
Have a lovely Wednesday!
Eileen
You are certainly no plouc! People of faith every where often get this label. Your doctor should read – Finding God at Harvard.
And I would like to add that respect is due to those who voted by mail and all their votes should be honored and counted!
You’re certainly no plouc Kristi. I looked it up, as it was a new word to me, though the translations were disappointing – yokel etc. but I think it’s a wonderfully vibrant word which just says what it means without translating! It sort of goes splat, if you know what I mean! Anyway, rest assured, you are ultra intelligent and knowledgeable, and above all curious and questioning. You do not fear well-meant feedback. You are always learning – and teaching. That’s why we read and love you! You’re very human, you’ve known sadness as well as joy, and you share and comfort us. Chapeau! as they say … I bet that doctor was a miserable old git, if that’s not too bad a word for this blog ….
C’est ’plouc’ ou moins correct!
I am so freaked out I am still hiding in my bed. Might spend tomorrow and the foreseeable future in my pantry. At least till my food runs out. 😟
SIMPLE questions for the smart doctor …..
Where does his breath come from?
Who breathes in him?
Apparently, he has not examined himself!
I like the looks of the contents of your garde manger! A good friend sent us a bag of rice and tiger eye beans grown locally in New Jersey to celebrate Election Day. I put them into our garde manger but I have a feeling they won’t stay there long.
I wish I had the corriger-ing of that doctor. He sure had plenty of tort. Pretty mal élevé guy, not to mention ignorant et dogmatique.
Kristin,
Soyez rassuree que vous n’etes certainement pas une plouc !!!!!!!!
Nice entry, Kristin. I have a new word to say under my breath or out in the open when I meet a plouc, or hear one speak nonsense. Nice to have a word that won’t offend, unless the target speaks French that is! I had to look up the pronunciation.
Best regards, stay safe, stay well, and be happy you are in France not the US just now.
If my doctor told me my faith made me a simpleton I would find a new doctor. That’s just rude and he should not be exposing his bias that way.
Hi Kristin:
It wasn’t until my thirties that spell-checking functions became more widely available in word-processing programs and every day was a revelation. For example, I routinely misspelled words with double letters in the middle such as roommate and bookkeeper, believing they had only one “m” or “k.” This, I’m ashamed to say, was after a decade in journalism and journalism studies and who knows how many readers judging I was a plouc.
Stay well.
Paul
“what is vital is to remain in a teachable spirit” – this is a helpful thought to hold on to this morning when I feel sunk in despair. Maybe there is still a path forward?
thanks for the post Kristi. May we ask the doctor to submit his writings please?? Your effort and generosity with this blog has given great joy and inspiration to many. Keep rolling girl…xxx pamela singer
Arrogant doctor. So glad he is your EX-doctor. Go enjoy a beautiful day and we should all be grateful for every sunrise we get. Gratitude is a marvelous thing.
Bonjour, Kristin,
Having worked in insurance for some time, I am familiar
with physicians’ occasional super rude remarks. I once had
to pay for a seriously injured person to be transported to another
hospital when his surgeon ‘joked’, “Now I’ve got you where I want you!” The patient was coming out of anesthesia and disoriented. He freaked upon hearing that comment and had to
be removed to another hospital. The doc was a plouc! Thanks
for that word today. It’s a gift!
And, when we are corrected, that is when we learn. Of course it helps if the correction is done with kindness.
Dear Kristi
Your humility… your grace is priceless.
As for being a simpleton, I think it is a wonderful compliment for all the masters of this world certainly knew the value of simplicity. In fact, only intellectual egos or people who like to be superior would ever call someone else a simpleton and mean it negatively.
Blessings to you… your writing… your family… your Self.
Love, Kristina
Very well said.
Merci beaucoup pour votre blog. Tout le monde purrait etre un plouc!!!
Certainement le docteur!!
Our dear Kristi,
Your beautiful words today absolutely reaffirm the certainty that, especially through these last few months,we indeed walk by faith and not by sight.
That you for this strong but gentle reminder.
Love
Natalia xo
Being open to facts, that is the gift that matters, in my mind. Faith is a different part of the human mind, I think. The complex human mind.
Politics and politicians have to deal with facts of life, and sometimes they do. Other times, politicians get overly focused on power for its own sake, and on loyalty for its own sake.
That is different from how my brain works. Love is more important to me than blind loyalty, and my engineer’s brain likes empirical facts.
You, Kristin, show so much focus on understanding how others feel at any given moment, which I might call emotional facts. That is a gift or a talent that is so important, picking up on feelings or asking about them. It keeps people connected. You are open to facts, at least from what I learn about you from your writing. Challenging facts, that made you deal with hard realities.
Hey Kristi community–you all need to watch Emily in Paris on Netflix! It’s wonderful!
The word Plouc–is a fun part of the first few episodes
À moins que, Dieu nous en préserve, vous soutenez Trump, vous n’avez probablement pas tort.
I wish you had told the doctor: « Nevertheless, doc, I will pray for you. »
And to your Divine Self, Kristina …
I watched a few episodes of Emily in Paris and I do not like it. It does not portray French People in a very kind manner. And I was quite offended by the episode where they refer to Brigitte Macron. I have not watched it again.
There are much better films about France, e.g.” Amelie.”
On the elections, in Australia voting is compulsory. Your name has to be crossed off the electoral role. There are fines if you don’t vote. You may make a ‘donkey vote’, ie not put anything on the ballot paper, but you still have to have made the effort of having your name marked off. All the votes are counted. Polling places are made available all over the world. Postal voting is available.
On a lighter note we in Victoria are just coming out of the most severe confinement and after Sunday evening we shall be able to travel throughout our State, though not to other parts of Australia. Masks will still need to be worn, although we have just celebrated our 6th day of zero cases and zero deaths. Mazzie
Oh, YES! J’aime Emily in Paris! It’s adorable! I can’t wait for next season!!! I thought about Kristi every time I watched it. Thank you for mentioning it, Stephen!
You’re right, Marilyn. They don’t treat some of the French characters in the story very well. It’s just a fun show.
Loved this entry! Clearly in the trivia department: one of the ways you can remember the spelling of Connecticut is this: the Connecticut River connects Vermont to New Hampshire (is the border of the two), and cuts Massachusetts and Connecticut (right through the middle of both). Really named for an American Indian word meaning tidal river, but that won’t help you remember it!
So true, Kristine. What each of us believes or does not believe is no one’s business but our own. Just as what others thin of you is none of your business, a wise woman once said to me, worrying about “what others think”…
Right now, we are lucky if we can think at all, haha! If I were in a spelling bee now, I would probably be out on the word “stress”…now does that have two “s”es or five? I just hope it all gets better when…..can’ t even write the name, much less grace it with my voice, if you get my drift.
PS Your site keeps asking me for a valid url even when I have put one in three times.
We all have strengths and weaknesses. I also believe that we all have a purpose. If we were all the same, it would be terribly boring. Hence we need people with different talents and perspectives to grow, to inspire, to do.
Hi, Suzanne. Thanks for the info about the url. Have you tried refreshing your browser? First save your text somewhere else, so you could eventually paste it back in the next time. Sorry for the hassle!
Plouc? Jamais! <3
I learned to spell Connecticut as: Connect, I cut…
Kristi,
Reading this entry and the comments reminds me of 1 Corinthians 1:25: For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. I’m quite happy to follow God even if it means being a plouc to some! I really enjoyed everyone’s comments.
Kristin, you are not a “plouc”! Is the word usable in polite company? It would be convenient to say (not particularly to their face) “Quel plouc!” if someone appears uncooperatively dense. And is “plouc” used for both males and females?
I agree that the doctor was rude. But in regard to faith, it has a “why” focus in addition to facts. Folks might not agree on all the “whys,” (for example, for theists, why God created the universe and everything in it). I think real faith is not afraid to face facts; it can be reasonable. One doesn’t have to believe “blindly.”
With regard to voting in Australia, I had heard that it was required, as it is in a few other countries. I have mixed feelings about that, as it seems to take away an element of choice (to vote or not to vote). On the other hand, the turnout out in the USA is shamefully low. This year it set records, but even so, the rate was around 70%. I believe voting is both a privilege and a responsibility, and I wish more poeple would participate.
As far as spelling goes, be aware that Spell Check doesn’t catch everything. For example, if a word is spelled correctly but not used correctly (there/their/they’re), it won’t indicate the mistake. When in doubt, consult a dictionary, or even more than one. These days they are online, so easy to use.
And I agree that, re spelling or anything else, being corrected is a way to learn.
We will alert you, Kristi, to mistakes. But we love the blog anyway.