A recent news column was titled “je ne sais quio.” For those that do not know French, “je ne sais quio” is derived from the Latin, “Jenny being coy” and is pronounced “Jenny says coy.”
This phrase reminded me of my youth when books and magazines routinely included French phrases to illustrate a point. As a youngster, I found these inclusions irritating - like walking through a cobweb. Irritating because I had no idea what the phrase meant and no means to find out (this was BC – before (personal) computers).
Circa the 1970s, I asked my father about the French phrases and informed me that until recently French was the international language and “learned” people, even if they did not speak French, were familiar with these phrases and there meaning.
Now that English is the international language with get phrases like “WTF.” “Learned” people and normal people feel compelled to drop “WTF” into everyday life on book covers, in magazines, blogs, and any media outlet. This illustrates a “certain coarseness” that has invaded our lives.
Speaking of coarseness, my father would report to me every time he heard a women curse. This was shocking to him, and he marveled as if he had seen a double rainbow. In his world (WWII generation), only course women cussed.
Circa the 1990s, he noted a “young woman” walked up to him and gave him “a-finger.” Being a dutiful son, I asked him why a woman would do such a thing…?
According to my father, the young woman was driving slowly (my guess she was driving the speed limit) and my father was following behind (i.e. tailgating - a specialty of his). Infuriated (I assume) the young woman stopped in the middle of a suburban road.
My father (amused – I assume) “tapped” her bumper with his car. Infuriated (my father confirmed) the young woman jumped from her car and stomped to my father’s driver’s window and let loose a “string of curses” punctuated by “a finger.” My father, further amused, grinned at her. Out of ammunition, the young women stormed back to her car and drove off.
Being a dutiful son, I asked my father what the young women had said… My father let loose a string of curses that would make a dutiful son blush.
That evening a Policeman knocked on my father's front door. The policeman asked my father what had happened in his encounter with the women. Delighted my father launched into an animated dissertation including the “course language" the young woman had used.
When my father had completed his dissertation, the policeman simply shook his head and said, “Don’t tap people’s cars” and walked back to his cruiser.
I hate to think what would happen to my father if he “tapped” someone’s bumper today – such is the evolution of coarseness...
Back to Jenny. Not having any idea what je ne sais quoi meant, I consulted my friends Merriam and Webster. They define je me sais quoi as “something (such as an appealing quality) that cannot be adequately described or expressed.” Like Jenny being coy.
We need more Jennys. Forrest Gump had his Jenny and look how he turned out. Seek out people with an appealing quality ever if it cannot be described or expressed (or pronounced).
How about you? What quality do you find appealing? Share a story?
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