New-York tribune., 1884-02-16
THE FOREIGN MAIL.
frNNY sroRIEs or ENGLIsH rRENcH.
Erom 1ne s..t,rdaa Rerielr.

From The NfffffNUH hfftfr.
There is an ancient and musty merry jest about 2
City madam who spoke only the French habitnay
used in young ladies' schools. and who rendered
into English the familiar RS de reGH n fndncere
as " a smile of the little COW in the manner OF the
female fnancicI." But this Is not more startling
than many other things to be discovered by those
who search the cook books diligently. We remem-
ber bill OF fare in a far Western hotel m the INIT
ed States in which all fhe familiar dishes were
translated into unfamiliar French the q maX beng
rached wien giugar-snaps the sole dessert APP
peaTed irahsmOgrifed rs gaifaT dc Gtagcm6P
Perhaps h IN revenge ior fepeatea
insults like this that tie Parsians now
advertise on the windows OF the
Gales on thc bGuevards that BOissOns ARef1cdpfs
are sold within. the only American drink psrticu-
laTi2ed being certain Sbery GObbler.' war
Tsnted to warm tho heart of all vagrant American
humoristS who may chance To visit Paris while
alive and IN the hrSh In essence sh0y g0bbIe is but
httle more comic than TOsbI or than bifieck. which
are Recognized French forms of the roast beef OF old
England 3nd of the beefsteak which plsys second
to IT. Both yosbif and bfeck are accepted by Lttre
who hnds for he latter sponsor early and ~
eminent as NoltaiIc. And shey g0bbter IS not as
coniic as cutleteh and "tartlete,' which we de
iected tav after day on the bill Of fare of Cunard
steamer crossing from Liverpool to New-YOrk a few
months ago. When we drew the attention OF TEL
w-travelleT ~ the constant recurrence of the
perfuOus at the end of outlet and taTtlet, the
active and intelligent steward who anticipated our
slightest wants, leant forward with a benignant
smile, and bcneyoently explained the mystery.
rs the French. sir he said; "cutlete and tart
lete is French sTw
Ot the many amusing stories In circulation ana
turning on an English misuse of French, the most
popular Is perhaps the anecdOte IN which one of
two gentlemen occupying apartment IN Paris
leaves word with the oORcogefhai ne does not wish
his fire 10 go ont he unfortunately expresses
his desire In the phrase ne lsseZ pas SOrtir le fO
much Inconvenience results to the other gentleman,
who is detained IN the apartment dangerous
lunatic. This pleasant tale has in its time been
tathered on many famous Englishmen. And like
unto il is another which Americans are wont to
place to the credit of a cockney while the English
are sure that its true hero was iankee-both
parties acting on the old principle of putting the
Frenchman up the chimney when they
tell tho story in England" The story
goes that certain Ango-Saxon-tor thus
we may avoid International complication
entered into Partisan restaurant with intent to
eat drink, and be merry. Wishing to inform the
waiter of his hunger he said - al une femmew to
which the polite but astonished waiter naturally
responded, "J sspere que madame Sc porte ben'' y
Whorerpon the Anglo-SaxOn makes second at
tempt at the French for hunger and asserts, " Je
suis fameux - to winch the waters obvious reply
is Je suis bien aise de lie sayoir. MONSIEUR Then
the Anglo-Saxon girded up his loius and made
final effort, and declared. Je suis femme " TO which
the waiter could answer only, Al0rs madame
shabille dune facOu tresetrauge.' After which
The Anglo-Sax0n fled. and seen no more