In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The author mocks Parisians for failing to understand French when spoken to them.
- In plain terms
- Parisians couldn't understand French when spoken to them.
- What can you take from it?
- People often struggle to recognize their own language in practice.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How can locals fail to understand their own language?
- What frustrates you about communication abroad?
Another view
It relies on stereotypes about locals not knowing their own culture.
More from Mark Twain
Guides cannot master the subtleties of the American joke.
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