Today I had lunch with an old friend in a cute little cafe above a bakery. At the table behind Polly were eight people having a business lunch. One of them was very tall. He sat down directly behind Polly and his chair bumped hers. He didn't seem to notice and left the chairs touching. Polly inched her chair forward and I pulled the table towards me so she would have more room. The man pushed his chair back till it was touching hers again.
This happened several more times during the course of the meal, and finally Polly turned around and glared.
The tall man's neighbor leaned over to him, indicated Polly and said, "Attention, vous coincez la dame!" ["You have boxed in the lady"; in chess, it also means "you've cornered the Queen."]
The tall man got up and jovially said in English, "Oh, excuse me, Madame. Have I coincéd you? Ha ha ha," he laughed [which the French spell "Ah ah ah"-- of course], "Mesdames, vous êtes coincées?" [which also means "Are you uptight"?]
Around here it can mean constipated, too.
From Sedulia: That's one I didn't know!
Posted by: Doc | 20 January 2007 at 14:52
Sooooooooo typical! I lived in Chile for two years and traveled all over Latin America. When I would ride on busses, I would pull my leg in so it wouldn't be touching the leg of the man next to me. What would he do? Spread his legs even wider! How nice of me to give him more space! Those American women are *so* accomodating! I finally got to the point where I would sharply tell him to quit touching me, at which point he would act wounded and surprised.
Posted by: class-factotum | 20 January 2007 at 21:51
Your post reminds me of why I miss (my native) France so much. The tall man was oblivious to your friend at first (probably because he didn't notice) but then he laughed it off with a flirting double entendre -- "coincée" meaning uptight...but also cornered (which as a Frenchwoman I would take as a compliment if said with the right tact.)
Posted by: LA Frog | 21 January 2007 at 03:11
He did say it in a laughing way but only after he had annoyed her throughout the entire meal without turning around.
I know what you mean, though. Americans are afraid to flirt.
Posted by: Sedulia | 21 January 2007 at 13:22