PeteSpencer wrote:Interesting that the French call a 'French letter' a 'capote anglaise'.....
This story may be apocryphal, but I hope it isn't.
An Englishman, who lived in France, walked into
un magasin. He spoke to a sales assistant and made the elementary error of confusing 'chapeau' with 'capote'.
'Je voudrais acheter une capote noire'.
The sales assistant raised his eyebrows in surprise: 'Une capote noire, M'sieu? Pourquoi une capote noire'?
The Englishman's face saddened: 'C'est a cause de ma femme...' He moved close to the sales assistant and spoke in confidential low tones: '...tristement, elle est morte'.
The sales assistant's eyes widened in understanding: Ah M'sieu. D'accord. Je comprends. Quelle delicatesse'.