kawh

Paris, Rouen, now Bayeux...trip report on return.

But must know now ... when we order espresso after dinner, waiters at respectable bistros have repeated back "ex-presso" very clearly. I have been quietly bugged when our homies pronounce it this way....but wonder if the French have adopted it??

sparkchaser

Espresso. Always and forever. He was mocking you/Americans as any good French waiter will.

Loacker

Expresso is the French word for Espresso (café express). In France, it's not considered a misspelling of Espresso.

Source: larousse.fr

sparkchaser

>_>

sparkchaser

Ugh. Now I am going to have to quiz my coworkers tomorrow.

kerouac

Parisian waiters almost always call it 'un express' when they are telling the bar what to make.

StCirq

All you have to do is ask for un café. You don't need to tell them how to make it. Listen to the diners around you. They aren't asking for espresso or expresso, just un café.

Whathello

Expresso. or yes, express.

Espresso in Italy.

I'm frenchspeaking btw.



But I don't like coffee ;-) ;-)

bilboburgler

as St Cirq says, it's "un café" and yes if you felt you were being mocked then you were.

The joke would be that he felt you were using a foreign word and not even getting it right, a light mocking and it passes the day in a waiter's life.

And yes my wife regularly corrects me from the "Expresso" of my youth in France (where it was not used but we Brits had to have a word to describe it to each other) to the new British norm of Espresso (from the italian) all of which is very funny as I either drink a caffe' lungho or an Americano (just because I loved the film) when on "the Continent" (which is what we Brits call that bit of Europe that is not an island).

As a final point, I seldom wander into a Coffee bar in the UK, but when I do, why are they so b@@@@y slow behind the bar?

Hope that all makes sense.

sparkchaser

But I don't like coffee

madness

fuzzbucket

Many people just say "un petit cafe, s'il vous plait." Gets them an express or espresso every time. "Espresso" is Italian, "express" is the corrupted French form of the same word.

Ackislander

Is the newspaper "L'Express" a " corruption" of the Italian? Are the "Express" lanes on I-95 a corruption of the Italian?

This is what you get when you order a petite cafe; next time, order a "grand express" to dispel the brain fog.

fuzzbucket

"Express" has many different meanings in French.
When used in reference to coffee, it is a shortened, somewhat slang-y form of the Italian.

"Express" also means "fast", "expedited","to the point", "to make something clear" and "to express your opinion".

If you attempted to order "a grand express" - a French waiter wouldn't know what you were talking about.
On the other hand - if that's what you wanted - you should order
"un double express".

Takes care of brain fog, illico.

Whathello

(which is what we Brits call that bit of Europe that is not an island)

that's why I like Brits.

For Fuzz, a dwarf getting out of the toilet is also called an Expresso : because he is 'un petit qu'a fait'.

Please don't ask me to translate, that is a joke from when I was 12, we call it the 'anal' stade in children development, just before sex takes over. §if it ever does).

Rubicund

bilbo, "why are they so b@@@@y slow behind the bar?" it's to justify the silly price you pay for a cup of coffee. If you wait longer, the price seems OK. Maybe it's to let us know that servers are now called Baristas and they need to impress us with how well they can make a cup of coffee.

I barista one every morning for me and the DW and she usually says, "nice cup of coffee"! Impressed? We're supposed to be.

kerouac

The person behind the counter in France is a "barman" except at Starbucks.

kawh

Thanks all. Love "petit cafe". Haven't used just "un cafe" because, as an American, it sometimes leads to more carification. Did think I was maybe being mocked the first time, but knew it was more than that as it happened over time. But...Any way I can brighten a hard working waiter's day!!

Christina

They've always used that word as long as I've been going to France, which is decades (express). It's just a letter, it can't be "wrong" for one country to refer to something one way versus a different country, it's just custom. Besides, I think expresso is more accurate in terms of the Latin origin of that word, isn't it? (ex + premo). It's just that in Italy they say espresso because they don't use x in their language much.

NO one was being "mocked" but French waiters like to correct pronunciation a lot, I've noticed. It's a French trait to like to correct others, I think, even when they understand perfectly well. Depends on the tone, could just have been informative.

annhig

if you want an "espresso"in Italy, you also ask just for "un cafe". the waiter will probably ask "un espresso?" because they are so used to tourists asking for "un cafe" when they actually want a long american style coffee ["un americano" ] rather than un espresso. if you want a cappuccino [preferably at breakfast though obtainable at any time of day if you're prepared to endure the staff's derision] then you should ask for that.

What they do when brits ask for a "latte" [a milky coffee which is very popular in the UK but in Italian just means "milk"] I have no idea.

kerouac

Another term for "un express" is "un petit noir."