Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Word Of The Week

grève

Anyone who has traveled in France knows this word. Strike! It means the trains aren't running, the planes aren't flying, or the garbage isn't being picked up.

This past weekend there was une grève of Air France flight attendants, wanting better pay and better working conditions. Last month we saw une grève of SNCF and RATP employees, making train travel a little bit painful. And they're threatening to do it again in November. Nicolas Sarkozy better be paying attention. All is not well in Camelot. He should be so lucky.

Anyway, there is another meaning of la grève. From the popular Latin, grava, it means sandbank, or beach. Like graviers, or gravel. Who knew?

Image from : http://www.m6info.fr

5 comments:

  1. Paris workers used to hold their demonstrations down on the grève along the Seine, so faire la grève became the expression for "go on strike."

    Nice picture.

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  2. Well, ceci explique cela.

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  3. wcs, back to pumpkins, I have just posted a soup recipe that uses them up and www.msadventuresinitaly.blogspot.com has just posted a savoury tart, we also use them on pizza here in Oz, you are in luck because of halloween almost every blogger is using pumpkins in the recipes. Vida x

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  4. J'en ai marre des grèves!

    And to think I was a former union leader in the USA...not here, though.

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  5. vida, thanks, they look quite interesting.

    betty, ah, the former lives we have led...

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