French word of the day - the first post

It's been over 2 and a half years since I started my daily routine of sending French words to a few people who had no idea what they were getting into. Looking back at previous words has always been an interesting experience, because the one I pick always has some connection to my state of mind at the time. Remembering that connection (especially for someone who's been killing brain cells at a steady rate for quite some time) can be challenging.

For the very first official FWotD though, this exercise proved fairly easy. At the time, I was working on a project where the workload was... let's say... pretty light (how do you think this all started ? I had to keep myself busy). While touring the office one day to give away PIMs cookies (more on that another day), I realized that the only thing I had missed about working in France (i.e., not working), I finally had. I didn't have any more reasons to be jealous of my friends back home, who could go on strike at any time to protest the lack of massage chairs in the break room or the color of the new office carpet. And here it was, the first official French Word of the Day...

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 8:23 AM

Subject: French word of the day


(today, the Frenchiest word of all)

grève = strike

faire la grève = to go on strike


E.g. "In France, when you don't feel like working, you go on strike"

"En France, quand tu n'as pas envie de travailler, tu fais la grève"