Correction of the Week

From the New York Times Dining & Wine section, Jan. 21, 2009:

An article last Wednesday about the French food critic François Simon misinterpreted the idiom “un étouffe-chrétien,” a diner’s criticism of macaroons that Mr. Simon prepared at a Paris restaurant. The diner was saying that they “could choke a Christian,” meaning they were hard to swallow; he was not calling them “stuffed Christians,” that is to say, too heavy.

If I recall my own French and Spanish studies correctly, "Christian" is sometimes used in Romance languages (and others?) in a generic, nonreligious sense as a synonym for "person."

Here's a bit of discussion of étouffe-chrétien.

And in other French news, here's my pick for headline of the week (from the Daily Mail, UK, not The Onion):

Former French President Chirac hospitalised

after mauling by his clinically depressed poodle

The article actually refers to the dog as a Maltese, which is a breed distinct from poodles; the photo would appear to corroborate that identification.

Comments

[Nick]

Isn't "hospitalised" supposed to be spelled with a z ?

[Nancy Friedman]

@Nick: Read the attribution: the story is from a British newspaper. In the UK all -ize verbs are spelled -ise.

[Nick]

@Nancy :Thank you. UK - those lucky bloggers!