Our two-week excursion around the prominent places of Turkey is imminent. To bid a temporary farewell to the city we know and love so much, we hosted a grand soirée on our terrace this evening. Fruits, nuts, cheeses, and... well... a whole lot more fruits were the centerpiece.
At one point I was talking with a rather bemused Hande (our redoubtable Turkish teacher) after she'd been accosted by Edward and had some high-fiving strategy explained to her. Clearly clueless as to what had just happened, she turned to me and said "Fransiz kaldim."
Now, not speaking Turkish I had zero idea what this meant. "Fransiz kaldim yourself," I replied. "I'm glad you think so?"
She explained that the phrase translated as 'I was French' and was used colloquially to mean that you were being slow and weren't getting the point of a discussion. I laughed and commented that that expression said a lot about Franco-Turk relations, with which Hande agreed.
Considering 150 years ago the Turks were building Dolmabahce to be like the French, and 75 years ago Ataturk was trying to drag Turkey towards French Europeanism kicking and screaming, colloquial expressions that equate Frenchness with stupidity seem like something rather new. Or, if not new, perhaps hearkening back to an earlier era when the Ottomans regarded the Europeans as a bunch of unwashed barbarians hitting each other with sticks.
At one point I was talking with a rather bemused Hande (our redoubtable Turkish teacher) after she'd been accosted by Edward and had some high-fiving strategy explained to her. Clearly clueless as to what had just happened, she turned to me and said "Fransiz kaldim."
Now, not speaking Turkish I had zero idea what this meant. "Fransiz kaldim yourself," I replied. "I'm glad you think so?"
She explained that the phrase translated as 'I was French' and was used colloquially to mean that you were being slow and weren't getting the point of a discussion. I laughed and commented that that expression said a lot about Franco-Turk relations, with which Hande agreed.
Considering 150 years ago the Turks were building Dolmabahce to be like the French, and 75 years ago Ataturk was trying to drag Turkey towards French Europeanism kicking and screaming, colloquial expressions that equate Frenchness with stupidity seem like something rather new. Or, if not new, perhaps hearkening back to an earlier era when the Ottomans regarded the Europeans as a bunch of unwashed barbarians hitting each other with sticks.
1 comment:
What a great chance you've had to get some deeper understandings of the country. Keep explaining it to me! Looking forward to the hundreds (thousands?) of pictures!
love,
Mom
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