Last week I was walking behind an American woman who was holding hands with her young daughter and talking to two young French girls. She was asking them about France and how to say certain words in French.
As I got closer I heard:
“So, how do ya’ll say ‘Camden‘ in French?”
There was a pause as the two girls looked at each other bemused, and then turned slowly back to the woman.
One of them replied:
“Er, Camden eez ze name of a market in London, no?”
Woman “Uh huh” said the woman, not getting it; “So how do y’all say it in French?”
There was another pause as the French girl tried to decipher if there was something she missed, or a meaning she hadn’t considered…or if it was simply a stupid fucking question.
Finally she looked back at the woman and gave the only answer she possibly could.
“Camden”
The French have another word that’s the same as English.