Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Tofu Pays Off

Tofu pays off

Growing up bilingual has its advantages, plenty of them. Growing up bilingual also has some hilarious moments when one word comes out like another. 

Our children, have heard two languages since the day they were born. French Husband spoke French to them, and I spoke English (with a few Portuguese words in there to confuse things.)

We also are vegetarians (though we eat dairy and fish).

Tofu pays off… not with speaking in tongues… but with muscles.

Sacha who is into body building at the moment grew into a man while we were away in Mexico! 

 

Sacha

Sacha was talking a mile a minute

about his new found passion for body building

when he proudly announced,

"I want to be a shorts-nigger!"

 

My mouth dropped, my eyebrows hit the ceiling, I wrinkled my nose, and said, "What are you talking about?"

He repeated with a look of total innocence, "Like shorts-nigger?!"

 

Shopping

 

"SACHA!" I shook my head in disbelief, "I don't understand?! What does a short person of color have to do with body building?" Seeing that I was clueless and getting upset, he said, "Mom, you know who I am talking about, don't you? The ex Governor of California, Shortanigger?"

"Schwarzenegger!" I laughed and laughed and laughed, while Sacha rolled his eyes not understanding that I had thought he said Short s Nigger.

 

Sacha

Baby Sacha eight months old.

P.S.

Sacha has informed me he does not eat tofu while away at school…

———————–

 

 

Books, Blogs and Barbells in Chocolate:

Mr. Universe 

Vintage 200 years of Body Building.

Laurel's Kitchen

Barbells in Chocolate the only kind I want to lift.

Build an Outfit of Style Pilot

 

Comments

21 responses to “Tofu Pays Off”

  1. jend’isère

    Power to Vegetables!Sacha along with Popeye beat the vegetarian stereotype! Off to a sushi bar lunch today.

    Reply
  2. Paulita

    It’s good to have a passion, but the bodybuilding one does get obsessive to those teenage boys. Here’s My Boy at 17. It has only gotten more intense in the year and a half since then.

    Reply
  3. Paulita

    Ok, so the link doesn’t work on your blog. You’ll have to take my word for it, or look at my blog from Oct. 28, 2010.

    Reply
  4. The Pliers

    Sacha might like:
    Stay Hungry
    http://youtu.be/eKiJ7E-xbrA
    and
    Pumping Iron
    http://youtu.be/SdE1C6NaT5Q
    I can totally relate to having Arnold as a role model for basic bodybuilding. And I’m so pleased that the mystery concerning the short person of color was quickly solved! What a riot!

    Reply
  5. Jackie

    C,
    While in France recently I showed my girlfriend (travelling with me) your blog. She (at 56 years old) drooled over your son’s pictures, likening him to Michelagelos David. I hesitate to show her this post. On the other hand, does he like antiques, lol?
    Similarly, when my son, Jack, first came to America from China he told me he wanted to go to “Black Bastard.” Of course I was appalled and nervous about what he meant (kids at school had been telling him to say and do things that were blatantly inappropriate-like “waving your middle finger at the police is a way to say hello!” It took some time to figure out he meant “Block Buster,” which was, at that time, the place to rent videos and movies. Ahh, the bilingual world.

    Reply
  6. Zosia

    Do I hear modelling agencies ringing your doorbell? 🙂

    Reply
  7. Beachy

    My eyes popped as did yours… then I burst into laughter! And my oh my is your boy becoming such a handsome young man! When they were younger, my hubby and BIL were very much into body-building around the same age as your Sacha… they had so much weight-lifting equipment at my MIL’s house, it was in every room of the house except the loo! 😉

    Reply
  8. Chris Wittmann

    Well there are some parts of the US where had Sacha made that bilingual faux pas he might’ve needed his muscles to get out of a sticky situation! I’ve been absent these days getting the gardens sorted out but am glad you made it safely home and that you had such a wonderful visit with your family. Your post yesterday was beautiful and I can relate to it so well having lost my dad 35 years ago. 35 years!! They go by very fast Corey, you will not believe how fast. And though time heals you never forget the loved ones you lost. The good news is that with each passing year you recall more and more of the good times and closeness that loved one brought, and you realize their spirit is ever present at your side.

    Reply
  9. Cheryl ~ Casual Cottage Chic

    Even for those of us living in California, Arnold’s last name is hard to pronounce…and he could never pronounce California. He would say Callyfornia! So does Sacha want to become a famous actor AND a famous politican or just look totally buff?

    Reply
  10. Irina

    So funny! Corey, we have same here … gym 6 days a week … constantly looking at his muscles in front of the big mirror 🙂

    Reply
  11. Sharon Penney-Morrison

    I have grandson’s who are into this body building routine…and of course Arnold is one they talk about.
    I laughed at his “accent” regarding the Gov.

    Reply
  12. Rhonda P.

    That is hilarious. I remember my nephew getting Arnie’s name wrong and we laughed and laughed.

    Reply
  13. Shelley Noble

    It’s become such a hot button word since you lived here, Corey. The word you thought equated with person of color. The word originally meant to describe an ignorant person. But has, over time, become the very worst possible racial insult.

    Reply
  14. Marie Amaro

    hahahahaha!

    Reply
  15. Anna Boyd

    Sasha is such a handsome young man and so generous with his time and good company. Got it from you!

    Reply
  16. sarah

    hahalarious

    Reply
  17. Jenna

    I would have been surprised myself, lol. His body building is paying off, I am sure the girls at his school are taking notice.

    Reply
  18. Marie-Noëlle

    Our son has been practicing “la musculation” for 2-3 years now and had to face the same problem, especially with tops.
    Last summer, he wanted to buy a suit to go to a wedding and I went shopping with him.
    In the shop, the salesman didn’t ask for his size and brought him 3 suits.
    Our son tried the first suit on : the trousers were fine but he could not put the jacket on.
    Second suit : two buttons went.
    I felt embarrassed.
    Third suit : the seams of the armholes went.
    There I was really confused !!!

    Reply
  19. Tongue in Cheek

    How funny is that! When my son Ryan was in high school, he was also inspired by Arnold. He would work out daily and yes, over the course of a summer, grew into a man. Wow, the muscles on that boy (man) ~ yikes!! That was my son?
    When Ryan was involved in a car accident (Senior Year) and in the hospital in Sacramento, I wrote to Arnold everywhere I could imagine to get him to come visit Ryan. Ryan was left in a coma and I just knew if Arnold spoke to him, Ryan would respond. Even Ryan’s friends from high school rallied a petition to get the Gover’nr to visit. Although Arnold didn’t visit in person, he sent autographed pictures and T-shirts to Ryan. He autographed the pictures with “To Ryan, You’ll be back” on one, and “To Ryan, Keep Pumping” on the other. Ryan was buried with the shirts.
    I have kept the pictures ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger is very near and dear to my heart!
    Peggy Stacy (Sent by email, an honor to post)

    Reply
  20. Cathy

    Corey, usually I’m not hyper-sensitive to the things people say, but maybe because I’m a Black woman, I don’t see the humor in this. Perhaps you had to be there and hear it spoken, but in print it looks horrible. I’m sure you didn’t mean any harm, but I didn’t like this take on what Sasha said. 🙁

    Reply
  21. Tongue in Cheek

    Hi Cathy,
    I am sorry I offended you or anyone else.
    I understand that the N word is slanderous and distasteful, and was horrified when my son said it. I thought a long time about writing it or not. As my blog is a personal journal, I decided (after asking Sacha) to write it.
    Though in his defense I wrote it to show how being bilingual, or more often, someone like me, who is not bilingual but speaks another language can make mistakes that can be very upsetting.
    Sacha was not saying SN to be funny, he thought that was how Schwarzenegger was pronounce. Sacha would never say the N word! And didn’t even hear it like that, he thought he was saying it correctly.
    I thought he was saying SN — which he was because he mispronounced it.
    Big misunderstanding.
    The French word for “When” mispronounced can sound like the “F” word. I have said it badly in the worse situation many of times. Even now twenty three years later I rarely say it at all in fear I will mispronounce it. I once told a priest after mass that his sermon was F-ing good. Because I had used a word I heard on the street and thought it meant “truly good”.
    That is the thing when speaking another language one often makes mistakes. And more often, when making those mistakes one thinks they are not. Pronunciation is tricky when speaking another language, Sacha thought he was saying Schwarzenegger, he too was horrified that I thought he was saying SN instead. He couldn’t hear the difference. nEg and nIg… very close but miles away in this case.
    Sacha is not the kind of boy to make jokes about another. He is a sensitive soul.
    Again, I am sorry that I offended you, or anyone else. It was not my intention. I will pull this post down if you want me to.
    Thank you for writing me, for sharing your feelings and for doing so in a gentle way.
    Corey

    Reply

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