It seems the "casse-croûte" went under because of the difficult economic conditions created by COVID-19. In French, they say "se casser la pipe" or "casser sa pipe", meaning to die or to disappear (breaking one's pipe).

[boojum]

That's kind of unfortunate that the little snack shop moved from breaking bread to breaking pipes. It is a micro-view of the nation, of the continent, of the world. You are fortunate to be under a national plan and have provincial healthcare plans. I remember the complaints from my time in Quebec but even a slightly flawed plan is better than none at all. "Peace, Order and Good Government" is not just a good idea, it is a good way to run a country.

Bon chance, bon courage

[RICHARD L.]

Thank you, my friend. Stay safe and au revoir.

Regards

P.S. Just under the door handle in the picture, I don't know if you noticed, is written "Tirez". In French, it can mean either "Pull" (to open the door) or "Shoot" (if you are an armed thief comitting a burglary) ... lol!

[Tonytee]

Very nice photograph. So sorry to hear that there are more innocent victims than those infected and dying. More people unemployed. The French also have another saying which I am quite fond

of: "If you love the work you do, you will never work a day in your life." I second that emotion. Hope and pray that things get better and soon.

Bon Chance, Bon Voyage. Adieu. tt

[RICHARD L.]

Thank you for your kind words ! Nobody knows when things will pick up again and small businesses sure bear the grunt of this pandemic. We see enterprises that had been in business for decades go under and people lose their jobs. Hard times, indeed !

Regards

[boojum]

Thank you, my friend. Stay safe and au revoir.

Regards

P.S. Just under the door handle in the picture, I don't know if you noticed, is written "Tirez". In French, it can mean either "Pull" (to open the door) or "Shoot" (if you are an armed thief comitting a burglary) ... lol!

I did not know the second meaning of "tirez." No doubt from pull the trigger. French has some amazing word games and expressions. Two of my faves are, "L'esprit de finesse" and "L'esprit d'escalier." Well do I know the second one. The Pennsylvania Dutch address this as, "Too soon old, too late smart." Not exactly the same but sorta. It's very hard to duplicate in another language what is so facilely said in French.

Par example, Stravinsky was lecturing a grad class in music at the University of Texas and got stuck groping for a word. He asked if anyone spoke Russian in the class. Someone did and after a short colloquy in Russian said, "Oh, you do not yet have the word in English. The word is connoisseur. We have a huge vocabulary in English but so many are borrowed words.

À la prochaine.

[RICHARD L.]

"CONNOISSEUR" comes from the French "connaisseur" ("connaître" means "to know"). More than half of English words originate from old French. After all, the "Normans" invaded Britain in 1066 and remained there for 400 years, so they had time to influence their speech ...

Regards



P.S.

On my cable T.V., I had a Russian language channel until a few months ago (Telekanal DOZHD, meaning "Rain T.V." ... Vazmi DOZHD s savoy : Regarder "Rain", c'est chouette). After they accused Putin of defrauding the Russian Treasury of 1 trillion rubles, they disappeared from the air. Russian too has many French words, notably "Péïzaj" from the word "Paysage", meaning "landscape".

Napoleon's soldiers were dying of hunger during the invasion of 1812 and asked things to eat from Russian peasants. They adressed them as "Mon ami", now in Russian "Monami" means "a**hole". Russian "Buistra" means "quick" and the word "bistro" now designates a restaurant where you can eat quickly in France ... lol! Strange how European languages influenced one another.

During one of my visits to Cuba, I was waiting in line to buy something from a State Store among a group of white people; they were Russians and had to pay with American currency (how ironic). I then learned the Russian word "Tierpéniay" meaning "Patience" ...

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Last edited by RICHARD L.; 07-31-2020 at 07:03 AM.