What’s a beauf? According to a book that was left in our apartment, Stuff Parisians Like, to someone in France, “a beauf (pronounced boh-f) is someone who drinks beer, watches soccer all the time, and vacations in a trailer. (I don't know if a female is une beauf, or if, because the term is masculine, it is un beauf for both?)
However, in Paris a beauf is anyone whom someone doesn’t
know and would like to put down. While in most of France (at least as I understand
it), a beauf might be more of a hick,
Parisians get their kicks from calling even upper-class people beaufs.
(“Did he really spend the weekend in Deauville? Quel beauf!”)
When I found out it was obviously beauf to wear white socks, I pushed them
to the back of my drawer. But I suspect all Americans are beaufs, by definition. So I was especially pleased when one day, I had
two separate men approach me and ask me for directions in French. Of course, my pleasure was
short-lived. As soon as I began to
apologize for speaking so little of the language, they immediately
smiled and walked on.
I decided they stopped to ask me
because:
- I was wearing black. (Now that it’s getting warmer, we’re seeing women in brighter colors, but early in our stay, they were all wearing black.)
- I had on flat shoes. (Parisian women rarely wear heels. Ballerina flats are quite popular, as are ankle boots.)
- I was wearing a scarf. (A Parisian must!)
However, the real reason they approached me may be much simpler than that. They were probably from someplace like Corsica or Calais. They were beaufs—just like me!
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