Essential French for a Visitor to our Centralville World in the 40s and the 50s
If you had been a door-to-door salesman (there were very few ladies with this career category at the time), in the 1940s and 1950s, successful sales were dependent on you’re fitting in with the mindset of your customers. Being able to freely exchange banter and gossip in the news proved to be an excellent starting point in breaking the ice with a potential customer. For the salesperson with a multicultural background, speaking colloquially with targeted husbands or wives in the neighborhood seemed to invite a friendly verbal response and then possibly lead to a sale. However, since Lowell’s population consisted of agrarian immigrants from Greece, French-Canada, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Lithuania, Russia, Sweden, and other far-off places, the congenial sales person with extraordinary language skills had a fascinating challenge in fitting in everywhere.
Given below, for the amusement of the reader, is a set of typical verbal exchanges that an outsider might encounter in first entering the world of French-Canadians, les canadiens-français, in the locales that were familiar to all my relatives, friends, customers, and Catholic churchgoers, etc. These fine folks could be found in Pawtucketville, Lower Centalville, Little Canada, Dracut, Tewksbury, Tyngsburo, etc. Note that our salesperson would have had to also manage these mundane conversations using the native language of every other ethnic ghetto within the city. This selling business, certainly, was not a job for the shy, home-bound introvert. Only, the brave and intrepid would dare enter these linguistic and cultural denizens that were often filled with a touch of financial poverty and marvelous stories/beliefs dating back to Western Europe before and during the religious wars of the Reformation.
Typical phrases heard in French-Canadian neighborhoods in the 40s and the 50s
Cette vache dort dans la cour. That cow is sleeping in the yard.
Le cheval noir ronfle dans le foin. The black horse snores in the hay.
La voiture de Claude est en panne. Claude’s car is broken.
Le char (Q) gris marche bien. The gray car works well.
Ce camion appartient à Louis. This truck belongs to Louis.
L’homme grec vent ses légumes. The Greek man sells his vegetables. Notre clôture blanche est brisée. Our white fence is broken.
Le tuyau d’eau sort de la cave. The water pipe exits the cellar.
Ce toit est couvert de tuiles. That roof is covered with tiles.
Notre galerie fait face à la Dana. Our porch faces Dana.
L’aiguille du cordonnier perce le cuire. A cobbler’s needle pierces leather.
Les ciseaux du maçon sont rouillées. The mason’s scissors are rusty.
Ce chêne semble être très vieux. This oak tree seems to be very old.
Le porte-feuilles de maman est vide. Mom’s pocketbook is empty.
L’arbre du voisin, c’est un érable. The neighbor’s tree is a maple.
La maison au coin, c’est les Breaults. The corner house is the Breaults.
Cette rue étroite, c’est la Jacques. That narrow street, it is Jacques.
Un soleil brillant fait pousser les roses. A bright sun makes the roses grow.
La lune d’hiver intrique le loup. The winter moon intrigues the wolf.
La très belle fille chante seule. The very beautiful girl sings alone.
More to know for the visitor wishing to exchange meaningful content
Le grand garçon mange son ris. The big boy eats his rice.
Un gars méchant crache par terre. A bad guy spits on the ground.
Le garde-fou du pont protège les fous. A bridge railing protects fools.
Un fil électrique a mis feu à la chaise. An electric wire set fire to the chair.
Il pleut dans le champs vert. It is raining in the green field.
Le vélo de mon cousin est en panne. My cousin’s bicycle is broken.
Gérard, le laitier, chante tout seul. Gerry, the milkman, sings alone.
Ma vieille tante, Florence, va mourir. My old aunt, Florence, will die.
Le hibou nous fait peur. The owl scares us.
L’hirondelle vole pour nous. The sparrow flies for us.
Le loyer nous coûte cher. The rent costs us a lot.
Pas de bruit, les gars! Merci! No noise, guys! Thanks!
Le stylo de ma blonde est sur le bureau. My girlfriend‘s pen is on the desk.
Un verre de lait de vache nous ranime. A glass of cow’s milk enervates us.
L’horloge dans ma chambre est brisée. The clock in my room is broken.
Il porte le veston de mon frère, Bob. He wears my brother Bob’s jacket.
Des œufs brouillés et saucisses. Scramble eggs and sausage.
Son père porte une cravate. His father wears a tie.
Sa mère porte une robe bleue. His mother is wearing a blue dress.
La cuisine sent du pain frais. The kitchen smells of fresh bread.
Le traîneau est dans la neige. The sled is in the snow.
Son pneu de bicycle est plat. His bicycle tire is flat.
La glacière est vide sauf la glace. The icebox is empty except for ice.
Le ragoût de maman est prêt. Mom’s stew is ready.
Notre journal, c’est le Sun. Our newspaper is the Sun.
Maman va faire ses courses. Mom is off doing her shopping.
Mon père travaille très dure. My father works very hard.
Donald Bergeron est un ami. Donald Bergeron is a friend.
Léonie, c’est une amie de maman. Leonie is a friend of mom’s.
Paul aime bien ses classes. Paul enjoys his classes.
La Dana, c’est une de nos rues. Dana is one of our streets.
La “montagne” est prêt de nous. The “mountain” is close to us.
On va à la messe les dimanches. We go to Mass on Sundays.
Ce bouillon contient une belle sauce. This broth contains a fine sauce.
Le curé de la paroisse semble sérieux. The parish rector appears serious.
Vites! Viens ici! Quick! Comme here!
Nos sœurs d’école sont nos enseignantes. Our school nuns are our teachers.
Qui est Jacqui? Elle se cache souvent. Who is Jacqui? She often hides.
Qui est la sœur de Jean, la belle? Who is John’s sister, the beauty?
Attention aux guêpes et aux bibites. Beware of the wasps and the bugs.
Regardes! Une sauterelle! Look! A grasshopper!
C’est un poisson d’avril. He’s an April fool.
En France, ce sont des moustiques. In France, they are mosquitos.
Ici, elles s’appellent les maringouins. Here, they are called mosquitos.
Fermes vite le robinet! Quickly, close the faucet!
Ici, chantepleure et en France, robinet. Here, faucet and in France, faucet.
Une chantepleure vaut un robinet. A faucet is worth a faucet.
Il porte le veston de mon frère, Bob. He is wearing my brother Bob’s jacket.
So in closing, the reader will hopefully see that fitting into the spirit and zest of our neighborhood that a visitor needed only to feel comfortable with phrases like these presented above. We usually enjoyed visitors from the Great Elsewhere where everything was different.