Wicked French/for the Traveler

Any French language guide can teach you a simple phrase like J'ai faim! ("I'm starving!") But only Wicked French will give you the edge on a snooty Parisian waiter: Garcon! N'avez-vous pas de glacons pour le vin? ("Boy! Don't you have any ice cubes for the wine?" While humiliated tourists mispronounce "This wine is good" (Ce vin est bon), you'll handle the French impressively with expressions like "The Haut-Medoc tries to tickle but pinches instead." (Ce Haut-MSdoc essaye de chatouiller mais il pince.) Make new friends by knowing the only compliment a Frenchman wants to hear: Vous etes les gens les plus intelligents du monde. (You are the most intelligent people on earth.") With quick-to-find practical tips throughout, Wicked French gives even the first-time visitor the confidence to keep his nose held high. Over 312,000 copies in print.

WELCOME TO FRANCE French people believe that they invented Western civilization. In fact, many of them doubt that cultural refinement has ever spread beyond the borders of the beau pays. They may be right, but that's no reason to be intimidated by everyone and everything French. We do not have to feel inferior to French toddlers, French pig farmers, or French cats and dogs, for example. Granted, they all may be able to tell a Burgundy from a Bordeaux. They may have a firm grasp of the subjective tense. They may know Jacques Cousteau personally. But we play better basketball. Our mountains are bigger than theirs. And we saved them from the Germans. This book is intended to help transform readers into complete travelers, capable of subtle understanding, intelligent discourse, and effective verbal assault. Bonne chance.

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Excerpted from Wicked French: For the Irish Traveler by Howard Tomb
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.