{"id":33918,"date":"2021-07-27T05:30:10","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T03:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=33918"},"modified":"2021-07-26T01:40:12","modified_gmt":"2021-07-25T23:40:12","slug":"and-theyre-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/and-theyre-off\/","title":{"rendered":"And they’re off …"},"content":{"rendered":"

It took a year, but the latest edition of the Jeux Olympiques<\/strong> (les JO<\/a> as they’re more commonly known in France) have finally begun in Tokyo. The 2020 games – taking place in 2021! – may just be getting started, but France has already made their mark.<\/p>\n

\"\"

And they’re off … Photo from Pixabay<\/a> [CC0]<\/p><\/div>\n

And they’re off …<\/h3>\n

Team France won their premi\u00e8re m\u00e9daille<\/strong>1<\/a><\/sup>first medal<\/em><\/span> le samedi 24 juillet<\/strong>2<\/a><\/sup>Saturday, July 24<\/em><\/span>, when Luka Mkheidze took bronze in Judo<\/a>. On Sunday, l\u2019\u00e9quipe<\/b>3<\/a><\/sup>the team<\/em><\/span> added une m\u00e9daille d’argent et une m\u00e9daille d’or<\/b><\/a>4<\/a><\/sup>a silver and a gold medal<\/em><\/span> in Judo (m\u00e9daille d’argent<\/strong> for Amandine Buchard) and Fencing (m\u00e9daille d’or en \u00e9p\u00e9e<\/strong> for Romain Cannone).<\/p>\n

For a kid (me!) who grew up not-all-that-far from where the sport of basketball was invented<\/a>, it was a bit of a surprise to also see on Sunday, the French basketball team beating the American team<\/a> in the opening rounds of the basketball competition!<\/p>\n

And off course, Paris will host the next summer games (2024). It may still be three years away, but – assuming all goes as planned – we should get a first taste of what’s to come when France takes their first official bow during the closing ceremonies in Tokyo.<\/p>\n

Saying bonjour bis \u2026<\/h3>\n

A few weeks back Bridgette<\/a> reacquainted us with the customary rules for saying bonjour <\/em>and bonsoir<\/em>. It got me thinking of two things.<\/p>\n

First, when entering a shop where there are other clients already there, it’s customary to say “Bonjour<\/strong> (or bonsoir<\/strong>) messieurs-dames<\/strong>“.\u00a0Messieurs-dames<\/em><\/a> (a combination of the words messieurs<\/i>5<\/a><\/sup>The plural of monsieur<\/em> \/ sir<\/em>; can be translated as gentlemen<\/em><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0mesdames<\/em>6<\/a><\/sup>the plural of madame<\/em>\/madam<\/em> or ma’am<\/em>; can be translated as ladies<\/em><\/span>) is a convenient way to address mixed groups of both men and women.<\/p>\n

Second, also as Bridgette pointed out, it is customary for people in familiar situations\/settings (like at school, or even in many offices today) to accompany their\u00a0bonjour’s<\/em> with\u00a0la bise<\/em> … or at least it was before Covid. But now in a post-Covid world, it seems it’s possible that the\u00a0bise<\/em> might be on its way out.<\/p>\n

“[S]elon un sondage Ifop […] 78% de personnes envisagent de ne plus [faire la bise] a des inconnu […] et 50% eviteront d’embrasser proches et collegues a l’avenir<\/a>“<\/strong>7<\/a><\/sup>According to an Ifop survey 78% of those surveyed don’t plan to kiss strangers and 50% will avoid it with acquaintances and colleagues in the future<\/em><\/span>\u00a0preferring to replace it with\u00a0le check<\/em>8<\/a><\/sup>fist bump<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

A little random ending \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the ways I’ve been killing time during the Covid lock downs (thankfully over now where I live) is brushing up my math skills in French! I learned a neat little trick this week concerning les pourcentages et la multiplication<\/strong>9<\/a><\/sup>percentages and multiplication<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n

As outlined in this video<\/a>, percentage calculations are basically multiplications (36% de 50 is the same thing as 36% x 50<\/em>) and because multiplication is a reciprocal function (2 x 3 is the same thing as 3 x 2<\/em>) you can simplify percent calculations but reversing things.<\/p>\n

So while it might be hard to figure out what 36% of 50 is, it’s much easier to figure out that 50% (half) of 36 is 18!<\/div>\n

Paris 2024!<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n