ça me *#$%!

In French, there seems to be an infinite amount of ways to express irritation and annoyance. Some are more vulgar than others--this is France--but I think it seems to be very telling about the culture. They are clearly an easily irritated people. Let me try to shoot some expressions off from the top of my head, just to give you a sense...

1. ça m'enerve 
2. ça m'embete
3. ça m'agasse
4. ça me saoule 
5. ça me gonfle
6. ça me gave
7. ça me gêne
8. ça me fait chier

Eight, that I can come up with right now. You'll notice that they are all some form of "it such-and-suchs me" like "it irritates me." As you move down the list, they become more and more colorful, like "it inflates me" or "it gets me drunk" (wtf right?) leading to my personal favorite--yes, it's so irritating that it makes me shit. Though if I stop to wonder why something that annoys you might necessarily lead to a bowel movement, I think it best not to dwell too long on the subject.

Maybe the reason that they have so many colorful ways of being annoyed is because they have so many reasons to be. If you've read any cluster of six words or more from one my blogs, you'll see that they are impatient, often rude, impossible to please and constantly arguing with each other. Dealing with each other, the amount of red tape, paperwork and taxes plus the unpredictable weather and all of that universal heath care the government is trying to force down our throats? They even want to help those making minimum wage pay their rent every month--like, c'mon! My apartment, my business! Not to mention all of the public holidays per year (nine, by my count), paid time off, two hour lunches, and mandatory maternity leave. Even the students have it rough, with a week off every two months or so. Don't even get me started on all that affordable and accessible public transportation they have everywhere--bus, metro AND tram? Living in France, I tell ya. It makes me shit.