My French Valentine

Last evening when the man who loves me arrived at my place, he came bearing groceries, as he often does.
"Brussels sprouts? Would you like some brussels sprouts for dinner?" he asked. I laughed and asked him if that was a Valentine's Day thing because earlier I'd noticed that my chic neighborhood market had displayed brussels sprouts prominently and that there were people in line with wine and fancy cakes....and brussels sprouts.
"No," he said. "It's a Korean thing."
But still, it left me wondering. And remembering that, in France, "mon petit chou," is a term of endearment.
It translates to "my little cabbage." And isn't that what brussels sprouts are? Little cabbages?
If they're not a Valentine's tradition, perhaps they should become one, mon petit chou.

An Ange Passe

The other day while having lunch with some French speakers (in a fancy Chinese/California cusine-y place,) there was a sudden silence as the dozen or so of us stopped chattering. "Ah! Un ange passe," said the facilitator from the Alliance Francaise. The expression was new to me. I can't think of an American equivalent.

I love figures of speech and colloquial expressions. The way one culture sometimes chooses to express something so differently from another. I seldom get to hear or speak French these days.