Oh là là!

There is a little expression in French that every frog uses hundreds of times daily. An expression that has no real translation to English. "On là là!" I guess in theory it could be positive or negative, but in my experience it's usually negative and I dread it. It can have the connotation of "Oh my gawd!" "Oh wow!" "This is unbelievable" to "Damn it!" "Get out of here!" "No way" or maybe even "you're just too weird and i don't like this situation here with you here and now!" Case in point, when you took a month to put together one of those 20 document, 100 signature files for a governmental organization and the burocrat ushering you into his-her office looks at the clock and says "oh là là" or else opens up the file taking out every document then shakes his head saying "oh là là", you're in for it! This means there's something terribly wrong and he considers you a problème. When you go into a bakery shop to buy a croissant, give a 10 euro bill and expect change. The boulangère steps back, takes a deep breath and lets it rip "Oh là là!" You can just feel the contempt. Ask anyone in the street for simple directions and you'll probably get it too. Reading it can be tricky though (You moron, you don't where the préfecture is! or maybe "Get out of my face" or "you are sooo.. weird" or "my time is precious" but I suppose it could also be "how the hell am I going to explain this!) Recently, I show up at a meeting to discuss the garbage problem in the neighborhood, and after being introduced to someone in my building, it happens, no nothing to do with the dumpsters which would have been more logical but because he found out I was American. "Oh là là là là". With all the meanings I just gave you, what do you think it could have meant, dear reader? Well, I'm just saying, avoiding the gd "Oh là là" in Frane is like the plague. I can even predict it nowdays. The person steps back, the eyes open wide, they take in air to say all those là's, the lips start to round, the head swings back, and in the worst situations the shoulders rise and a puff of air or a sigh preceeds it, and of course their hands grip something with all their might (hopefully you're far away) lest that exploding OHHH take them down. The only defense, beat them at their game!!!!!! When the train strike kept me (partly) from going into work, I called up the boss and the first words out of my mouth were "Oh là là" I can't come in today. No way to get there. "Oh là là!" With all that exploding pagentry she had no time to say the inevitable "Oh là là. You" Well, sometimes I just look at France, shake my head and say "Oh là là"
Rontay