A few days in Boston

As I was visiting a famous museum this morning in Boston, I felt completely flabbergasted to see, considered as pieces of the collection the owner acquired little by little (or by pieces and drabs, I am not certain that expression is convenient here, it's a trial) THE WINDOWS OF THE SOISSONS CATHEDRAL.

How is that possible? Monney is so powerful. What a pity!!!!!!!

Moreover, I must say that, the day I saw that cathedral, in France, I didn't notice that it had lost its windows.
That idea infuriated me.

What do you think about it

Howdy Irène,

What a nice surprise: a message from America!!?? by Irène????!!!! Wow hurray
I'm so happy you posted this message from the States: thank you so much!

I'm obliged to look into my dictionary to have a chance to understand your sophisticated words.
- Okay for "flabbergasted": first time I come across this one :scratch:Now, I'll try to use it in sentences (I'll be flabbergasted often this week )
- as for "drabs", I found a meaning but prolly not the good one yet (not the expression): I need to investigate further and thoroughly.

I understand you could be upset to discover there things you didn't even notice in France (the windows may have been fixed after the painter came).

> What a pity!!!!!!!
Regarding the wealthy guy, why "what a pity"? There will ever be people richer than others. Fortunately this one put a part of his money in paintings that people can see; he might have purchased a few Lamborghinis or yatchs or islands or weapons...

Back to "flabbergasted": it's used in the US only (as said in my dictionary)
I knew several words on the subject but not that one.
What about stunned, astonished, staggered, astounded, dumbfounded? Sorry, that's my whole collection!

Yesterday in Eaubonne, there were 10 of us at the English table: Guy, Claude, Michel, Joëlle, etc. good discussions... I missed you!

Enjoy your staying in Boston, examine the life there and tell us about the American way of life and dreams!

Take care Irène! See you!

Hi Irène
I am very glad to meet you on the forum...Your view-point is very interesting when you speak about the power of money. Anyway, so long as you we admire what the guy has bought
Hope to meet you again    

G'day Irène,

Isn't flabbergasted a wonderful word ?
Although it is known and understood in Australian English, I would say it is not used a lot in everyday conversation, but only to make an emphatic statement.

Regarding "pieces and drabs" ...
I don't know this expression.
The common one for me is "dribs and drabs" (par petits groupes / par petits bouts)
If you want to use the word pieces, the expression is "bits and pieces"

Enjoy your vacation !

HELLO MY FRIENDS OF THE CAFE POLYGLOTTE

Thank you first for the explanation over " bits and pieces" and "dribs and drabs".
I came upon them one day as I was reading a book of which I don't even remember the title.
Actually, I mixed them.
Thank you for helping me.

This morning, as the children were at school, I was foot loose and fancy free.
I decided to walk all around the lake in Jamaica Plain, a place I know very well.
The weather was particularly gorgeous!!!! So sunny, but a little bit windy I must say.

Once more, I felt flabbergasted : the lake was still frozen nearly all over its surface and I can tell you I will never forget the beauty of the landscape .
Had I been there a few weeks before, I could have been a witness of a lively spectacle of people warmly wrapped up in their coat, skating easily with great pleasure.

I met three times a young lady who surprised me too for her efficiency : In the mean time, she was able to leash fer dog, to push a stroller to have her baby in the fresh air, to practise some sport as she was running fast , and to have a discussion with one of her colleague on the phone. My goodness!
This is America!!!!

Have a good night!

IRENE.

Howdy Irène,

> Monney is so powerful
You wrote this in your initial message.
There's a typo in monney; the true spelling is money (single n).
If it is a typo, no problem: it's not important and my words here are useless.
-1- with nn, the pronunciation wouldn't be the same: it would be the o of holly and not this sound close to a short "u" (approx French "a").
-2- here above, I wrote "the true spelling"
I guess you will be frowning as we formerly had a discussion about this adjective (true - in Eaubonne) and you found I was using true in way too many expressions.
You would prefer right spelling or correct spelling but don't like true spelling that much.
I'm sorry to confirm I keep "true spelling" as this adjective is very used as I do it (a bit pretentious and arrogant) and as I can read it on so many American forums and books.

> THANK YOU THE 3 OF YOU FOR YOUR ANSWER
I would say this sentence is grammatically weird: acceptable but not strictly correct.
Tho EMTs are not as strict as the French regarding the repetition of words in a sentence but when it's easy they prefer to avoid and rather say Thanks to the 3 of you.
"for your answer": the "repetition" of you(r) is not worrisome here but I'm frowning about the lack of "s" at the end of answer. Again, this is understandable but weird, the correct expression must be "for your answers".
As a wonderful French native speaker, you know that in French, there must not be a plural but in English there must mandatorily be a plural.

... wrapped up in their coat, skating easily with great pleasure.

I met three times a young lady who surprised me too for her efficiency : In the mean time, she was able to leash fer dog, to push a stroller to have her baby in the fresh air, to practise some sport as she was running fast , and to have a discussion with one of her colleague on the phone. My goodness!
This is America!!!!

I let you examine the reddish parts and tell me about them (if you understand, accept or disagree) and we can discuss this


Irène, my remarks are designed for helping you fix mistakes or improve your proficiency. Would you dislike them, please tell me and I would stop... my words want to help you, not to show off and to make you feel uneasy here on the forum. Feel free to discuss my texts and mistakes.

That said, let me tell you that your English is very good and that I appreciate your posts for oodles of reasons:
- I admire you as a kind and knowledgeable person
- I love your reports from the US
- I appreciate your sophisticated expressions
- I'm always looking forward to reading your words here on this forum: they are wise and very interesting.

Enjoy Boston. Don't forget you're in a special State rather close to Great Britain re language and ambiance. You're not exactly in true America

Thank you Irène for your post. I don't know Boston but Cape Cod when we visited Martha's vineyard island with our daughter Fannie on moped. I was fun !
Hope to read you again
Muriel

Gerard,

Here is a new version of what I wrote:

-wrapped up in their parka, anorak or skating suit?
- Three times, I met a young lady who surprised me for her efficiency : she was able at the same time to WALK ( not leash) her dog, to push a stroller to give her baby some fresh air, to practise execise as she was running rather fast and to have a discusion by phone with one of her colleagues.

Thank you so much for fixing, be sure I appreciate tolly(??????).

~~

Yesterday, my daughter drove us to Plymouth, a small harbour, famous enough in Massachusets ( THE SPIRIT OF A MERICA) because the first British pilgrims set foot there in 1620.
Little by little they were confronted to the Natives, the Wampanoag
We visited what is called the Plantation, a word refering to the planting of people in a new place.

I paid rapt attention to the exhibition because of its human side.

Muriel said she wanted to know more about the Wampanoas.

I will do my best, as soon as possible to please her.

See you soon. Irene.

Hello Irene
Thank you for teaching new words. I didn't know that a push-chair was a stroller in am English. I like the way you describe an energetic amererican young mother. American people are amazing !
Looking forward to hearing from you  

Hi Muriel, Irène, hi everyone,

Yes, there are many, and more and more differences in vocabulary, between British and American English.

Fr landau ou voiture d'enfant / Br pram / US baby carriage
Fr Poussette (bébé) / Br pushchair / US stroller (*)
Fr Poussette ou caddie (provisions) / Br shopping trolley / US (shopping) cart

(*)I think Krystyna says stroller or maclaren (which is a make).
buggy is another word which is rather confusing as it seems to be a pushchair (Fr poussette) in the UK and a baby carriage (Fr landau) in the US. Other research make me think a buggy is a "poussette-canne".


-1-

I know PRAM is a shortcut to a too long word... I thought it was something like pre-ambulator but I cannot find it out!!
Pls could anyone help me?

Edition - after my research, the response is: Pram stands for PeRAMbulator.

All I find is:

Parallel Random Access Machine (informatics)
Phase-Change Random Access Memory (non-volatile computer memory)
Parameter Random Access Memory (memory used in a Macintosh with a battery to retain system information)
Pipelined Random Access Memory (Distributed Shared Memory)
Perimeter Random Access Memory
Productivity, Reliability, Availability & Maintainability
Programmable Analog Module
Pipeline Risk Assessment Method
Probabilistic Risk Assessment Methodology
Psychiatric Residents Association of Manitoba
Propelled Rocket Assisted Mine
Perinatal Research, Audit and Monitoring
Preliminary Reports of Aircraft Mishaps
Passenger Reservation Army Management System
Pre-Recorded Announcements and Music (aviation)
Preliminary Reports of Aircraft Mishaps
Public Relations Advertising And Marketing
Pressure Recording Analytical Method

-2- My 2nd package of remarks is going to be written in American vs British English

I think a stroller is something witch helps to stroll.
It's true that the best known brand, even in F rance is MACLAREN.
Une trottinette is a scooter, I don't know why et un toboggan is a slide easy to understand why.
There are words my grand children say every day.
Very cold today, there are big heaps of snow here and there and yesterday it has been snowing all day.

Hi Irène, hi everyone,

Thanks for your messages.

I'm a bit behind and need to catch up with my responses.

gerardM a écrit:Howdy Irène,
...

... wrapped up in their coat, skating easily with great pleasure.

I met three times a young lady who surprised me too for her efficiency : In the mean time, she was able to leash fer dog, to push a stroller to have her baby in the fresh air, to practise some sport as she was running fast , and to have a discussion with one of her colleague on the phone. My goodness!
This is America!!!!

I let you examine the reddish parts and tell me about them (if you understand, accept or disagree) and we can discuss this
...

ireneO a écrit:Gerard,

Here is a new version of what I wrote:

-wrapped up in their parka, anorak or skating suit?
- Three times, I met a young lady who surprised me for her efficiency : she was able at the same time to WALK ( not leash) her dog, to push a stroller to give her baby some fresh air, to practise execise as she was running rather fast and to have a discusion by phone with one of her colleagues.

Thank you so much for fixing, be sure I appreciate tolly(??????)...

... wrapped up in their coat, skating easily with great pleasure...

ireneO a écrit:... wrapped up in their parka, anorak or skating suit?...

What I meant in fact is simply that we needed a plural: "wrapped up in their coats, skating easily with great pleasure."
In English, we don't have the same reasoning as in French: when several people (subject of the verb in the sentence) have got an object we're refering to (in the object complement), the object noun must be set at the plural form.
By the way, do you know that the English plural begins over 1 while the French plural begins from 2: one and a half hours / une heure et demie or 1,5 heure.

... I met three times a young lady who surprised me too for her efficiency : In the mean time, she was able to leash fer dog, to push a stroller to have her baby in the fresh air, to practise some sport as she was running fast , and to have a discussion with one of her colleague on the phone. My goodness!
This is America!!!!

ireneO a écrit:...  Three times, I met a young lady who surprised me for her efficiency : she was able at the same time to WALK ( not leash) her dog, to push a stroller to give her baby some fresh air, to practise execise as she was running rather fast and to have a discusion by phone with one of her colleagues...

Thanks for your response Irène. I do hope this boring exercice will help you improve your American English.

You are right for the first part of the sentence: the problem was in the order.
"Three times, I met a young lady who surprised me too at her efficiency".
We must never separate the verb and the direct object: never ever (unless you're a poet)!
The "frequency" complement usually goes after the direct object but here, there's a relative clause which cannot be separated from "lady" and the only solution is to move "three times" to the very beginning.
Regarding the reddened "for", the problem was that "for" is not the preposition used after "surprised": the correct preposition is not "by" nor "for" but "at": to be surprised at sth = "être étonné par qqc" / I'm surprised at him! = je ne m'attendais pas à cela de sa part !

You're clever and got rid of the word
What I didn't like was that meantime must be in one word: "In the meantime, she was able to leash her dog."
With the 2-word expression "mean time", the meaning is completely changed! "Mean" is a very frequent adjective with very different meanings as you can see below:

adjective
1 (average) [weight, temperature] moyen/-enne;
2 (ungenerous) [person] avare; [attitude, nature] mesquin; [examiner] sévère; to be mean with être avare sur [portion, quantity]; he's mean with his money il est avare;
3 [!](unkind) [person, action] méchant; [trick] sale (before n); to be mean to sb être méchant avec qn; to be mean about faire des remarques désobligeantes sur
[appearance, performance]; it is/was mean of you to do ce n'est pas chic de ta part de faire/d'avoir fait; to feel mean for ou about doing avoir un peu honte de faire;
4 (vicious) [animal, person, expression] méchant; that man/dog has got a mean streak cet homme/ce chien a la méchanceté en lui;
5 (tough) [city] implacable; [street] hostile; he's a mean character c'est un sale type[!];
6 [!](skilful) [exponent, shot] formidable, du tonnerre[!] (after n); she makes a mean margarita elle fait un margarita du tonnerre[!]; she plays a mean game of tennis/
chess elle touche sa bille[!] au tennis/aux échecs; you're no mean artist/poker player! tu es un sacré[!] artiste/joueur de poker!;
7 [!](small) to have no mean opinion of oneself avoir une haute opinion de soi-même; that's no mean feat! ce n'est pas un mince exploit!;
8 (lowly) literary [dwelling] misérable ; [birth] bas/basse; [origin] modeste;
9 [!]US (off colour) to feel mean ne pas être dans son assiette[!].

(extract from my Hachette-Oxford Dictionary)
As you can see, you've the choice! I checked with a native who told me she understood "méchant".

"and to have a discussion on the phone with one of her colleagues."
Like in French, the order of the complements is not random ;)and the English order is not exactly the same as in French.
"on the phone" had to come before "with...".
You missed the plural "with one of her colleagues."

HTH

Hi Irène,

> I paid rapt attention
Thanks for this expression I didn't know.

ireneO a écrit:
I think a stroller is something witch helps to stroll.
It's true that the best known brand, even in F rance is MACLAREN.
Une trottinette is a scooter, I don't know why et un toboggan is a slide easy to understand why.
There are words my grand children say every day.
Very cold today, there are big heaps of snow here and there and yesterday it has been snowing all day.

A stroller is also a "promeneur", a "flâneur"
Many words around stroll denote persons or stuff without urgency nor speed.
Scooter has several meanings around speed.
A toboggan is a "luge"

The weather was very sunny yoday and it will be so till next weekend.

Thanks for your messages.
Take advantage of Massachusets!