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DFW

(60,461 posts)
Wed Nov 24, 2021, 04:57 PM Nov 2021

The best column ever about Thanksgving was written the year I was born by a friend of my dad's

His name was Art Buchwald, and he had been a correspondent in France after World War II.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/le-grande-thanksgiving/2011/11/18/gIQA2nerYN_story.html

Art probably would have been furious at the headline, "Le Grande Thanksgiving," as any word modified by "Le" would have been followed by "Grand" without the "e." His whole column assumed that the reader understood French, which was by far the number one foreign language taught in American schools in those days.

But if you DO understand any French, this version of his attempt to explain Thanksgiving to the French is one of the funniest columns to ever appear by an American journalist.

Any column in which the town of Plymouth is translated as "an American car" and the name Mile Standish is translated for the French as "Kilomètres Deboutish" deserves the status of classic that it has indeed enjoyed for almost 70 years.

Snips:
Le Jour de Merci Donnant was first started by a group of Pilgrims (Pèlerins) who fled from l’Angleterre before the McCarran Act to found a colony in the New World (le Nouveau Monde) where they could shoot Indians (les Peaux-Rouges) and eat turkey (dinde) to their hearts’ content.

They landed at a place called Plymouth (now a famous voiture Américaine ) in a wooden sailing ship called the Mayflower (or Fleur de Mai ) in 1620. But while the Pèlerins were killing the dindes, the Peaux-Rouges were killing the Pelerins, and there were several hard winters ahead for both of them. The only way the Peaux-Rouges helped the Pèlerins was when they taught them to grow corn (mais). The reason they did this was because they liked corn with their Pèlerins.
----------------------------------
And so, on the fourth Thursday in November, American families sit down at a large table brimming with tasty dishes and, for the only time during the year, eat better than the French do.

No one can deny that le Jour de Merci Donnant is a grande fête, and no matter how well fed American families are, they never forget to give thanks to Kilomètres Deboutish, who made this great day possible.


7 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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The best column ever about Thanksgving was written the year I was born by a friend of my dad's (Original Post) DFW Nov 2021 OP
The WONDERFUL Art Buchwald!!! elleng Nov 2021 #1
I knew him, too, of course. He WAS wonderful! DFW Nov 2021 #2
C'est si BON!!! elleng Nov 2021 #4
Art Buchwald was wonderful, and also d_r Nov 2021 #3
Merci beaucoup ! Dave in VA Nov 2021 #5
I never took French in high school (was told to take Latin) but Art Buchwald's lovely story has been Hekate Nov 2021 #6
Clemenceau had a great phrase DFW Nov 2021 #7

DFW

(60,461 posts)
2. I knew him, too, of course. He WAS wonderful!
Wed Nov 24, 2021, 05:04 PM
Nov 2021

His column in the Post used to be called "Capitol Punishment"

Kilomètres Deboutish!!!!

d_r

(6,908 posts)
3. Art Buchwald was wonderful, and also
Wed Nov 24, 2021, 05:11 PM
Nov 2021

the tale of Kilometres Deboutish made me want to hear this for some reason



Hekate

(100,133 posts)
6. I never took French in high school (was told to take Latin) but Art Buchwald's lovely story has been
Thu Nov 25, 2021, 03:01 AM
Nov 2021

… reprinted so many times over the years that even I figured out what it means.

Thanks for dusting it off once again. Art Buchwald was a treasure, and he is missed.

DFW

(60,461 posts)
7. Clemenceau had a great phrase
Thu Nov 25, 2021, 12:36 PM
Nov 2021

Les cimetières sont pleins de gens irremplaçables, qui ont tous été remplacés.

The cemeteries are full of irreplaceable people, all of whom have been replaced.

Well, with the exception of Art Buchwald.

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