Irish Hellos And French Exits
One joy of travel is picking up new phrases and slang from different countries. I remember drinking a pint with a couple from Britain after the Queen died. The woman didn’t use the words “sad,” or, “heartbreaking.” She said, “It’s a bit grim innit? I’ll admit, I’m quite mardy ‘bout it all.” The French, who can pump drama into anything, have philosophical phrases for even the most ordinary situations. Sitting outside a bar with my Parisian friend, Fleix, eating dry hotdogs at 3 am, he said, “La faim est le meilleur vinaigrette,” which means: Hunger is the best dressing.
Not all expressions you learn overseas translate from one language to the next. The French phrase, “avoir le cul bordé de nouilles,” means “to have incredible luck.” Translated word for word in English, however, and you get, “have your ass rimmed with noodles.” I still jump at the opportunity to use this phrase when possible, as it doesn’t sound, unlucky.
One night in Colombia, I explained to a friend’s girlfriend the American phrase, “Weird flex, but ok...” This is used when you see or hear someone brag about something awkward or strange, or be “extra” at an odd moment. It took a few times for her to get it right. She’d throw the phrase out after someone ordered a second martini or an extra appetizer for the table. “Close, but not quite,” I’d tell her. It was when we saw a street performer juggling bottles of fire on a unicycle at a crosswalk that she found its proper place.
One of my favorite expressions to explain (and put to practice) is, “The Irish Goodbye.” This is when you leave a party without saying goodbye to anyone, either because you’re too drunk, or saying goodbye would take forever. “He drank too much, so I got us a taxi and we Irished Goodbyed.”
The Germans call this a “French Exit” but use it when someone sneaks away without paying their tab. I don’t know the origin, but I assume a french couple dined and dashed at a German restaurant at some point and the phrase stuck.
During a scan of Urban Dictionary, I came across the term, “Italian Goodbye,” which is when someone gets angry and storms out of a party without warning, probably with an Aperol Spritz in hand. “Ba da bing, ba da boom, I’m done with you!” Of course, before I read the definition, I figured an “Italian Goodbye” would be when you leave a party early so you can grab a piece of pizza.
What sent me to Urban Dictionary in the first place was to find a phrase to describe the opposite of an Irish Goodbye: Showing up without saying hello. To saunter into a dinner party for the first time without saying anything, as if you’d been there for hours.
It turns out this is just called an Irish Hello. Although, when I asked an Irish friend to confirm, he said, “No, no. An Irish Hello is when a girl flashes you on Saint Paddy’s day.” Either way, an Irish Hello is what I’m attempting here in this email. I don’t want to draw attention to my lack of publishing regular newsletters. It would be great if we could all pretend like I’ve been here all along. I know, “weird flex, but ok…”
The Temperature is one, long, weird-flex man… 🔥