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- Bastille Day Commentary: "Mercy Buckets"
- From
- Diana Epstein
This piece is a commentary on what it was like growing up half french and how I resisted learning the language like saying "Mercy Buckets" instead of "Merci beaucoup." My mother called child specialists asking them why I refused to speak French. It explores how I eventually came around to love French and accept the culture and language.
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Piece Description
This piece is a commentary on what it was like growing up half french and how I resisted learning the language like saying "Mercy Buckets" instead of "Merci beaucoup." My mother called child specialists asking them why I refused to speak French. It explores how I eventually came around to love French and accept the culture and language.
Broadcast History
WTBU, WBUR: May 20th
Transcript
Merci buckets. That?s how I would respond to my French mother to thank her. No, not merci beaucoup, but merci buckets. She would say ?BOF ENFANTS! Why you not speaking French properly? Eh?? I remember sitting at the kitchen table listening to her teach me how to say kitchen utensils in French. Cureillure, koutau, forchette. My Parisian mother would mispronounce English words, add an s to make something plural when it didn?t need to be, like saying cereals instead of cereal. And, my favorite, she would make up English words by using a French word giving it an English pronunciation when she thought she could get away with it. ?Why you reapproach me when I tell you to be home for dinner?? is an example. This used to drive me crazy. I was so embarrassed by her. I grew up hearing French and I understood everything she would say to me but I refused to speak the language. The resistance machin...
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Timing and Cues
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Lisa Ho
Posted on June 25, 2007 at 07:43 AM | Permalink
Review of Bastille Day Commentary: "Mercy Buckets"
"Mercy Buckets" is a humorous story about a girl who refuses to speak her native language. Growing up half French, she found the culture and language embarrassing. She refused to speak French and acknowledge her heritage. Her mother pokes, prods and even goes so far as to take her to a child specialist to figure out why. A unique, sweet story on self identity.