This is actually a holdover from yesterday, but I only got to thinking about it today: On the road near Marigot, on the French side, we passed a store named Bebe 'n Kids.
'n Kids?
That doesn't sound French to me. And I recently heard on the radio that Russians have adopted the word "okay." And while we were in the airport here in SXM I overheard someone talking on a cell phone in what I think was Italian constantly interspersed with "okay."
Okay?
And is it just me, or is it true that French people, who always greet you with a friendly bonjour, also always answer the telephone with "ehllo?" (That's not a typo: They drop the "h" and pronounce the "e" like "eh.")
I think America is out to take over the world... one word at a time.
More on the subject of the invasion of American slang into world culture: This evening as we sat in our lounge chairs at sunset, a couple of girls in bikinis raced past, and one who was especially overweight (what else can you tell at dusk?) was chattering in Spanish into her cell phone, which she suddenly broke off with, "Okay, bye."
Text and images © Copyright Gregory Smith or Judith Fulks 2004