3 ways to spot a sick French person

By "sick" I mean ill or poorly by the way, my English has become very international since living in France and teaching English here! "Sick" is easier to pronounce and remember than the other 2 words! When a French person says "Hi'm hill", it's quite difficult to understand!

Anyway, it's easy to spot a French person with a cold or a bug, you just have to know the signs.

1. The scarf - now you may have assumed the French person with a scarf was just a fashion statement, you're wrong. The scarf is used to protect the throat from all that cold air! Literally!

A sick French person, will wear their scarf indoors all day, this is a sure sign they have a cold or a sore throat. Doesn't matter if it's boiling inside already, or if their scarf is huge, they'll wear it. You'll even see suited Businessmen in meetings sporting their smart scarf, yep, they have a cold!


2. The Kleenex - you won't see a Frenchman with a handkerchief (I guess it is very British), they will have a packet of tissues. But the French don't use the word "mouchoirs" for tissues, they call them "Kleenex"! Other brands are available.



3. The weird "I don't want to kiss you" dance - this one took me a bit longer to work out. When you're on kissing terms with someone, they will "faire la bise" with you every day. Depending on your region, the number of kisses can vary. Here it's two, one on each cheek.
Sometimes, you might mistakenly think you've offended one of these friends, as suddenly one day they will refuse to kiss you, they'll jump back if you go in for it, and then they do this weird kind of dance with mimes, gesturing around their throat or face! Don't worry, they don't hate you or want to cut your throat, they are actually protecting you from their germs! They have a cold and refuse to kiss anyone so they can't transfer it. You should really have spotted the scarf and the Kleenex already!!
When they are better, you'll get your kisses again. I respected this social rule this week as I have a sore throat, and every French person nodded and understood immediately. I feel like one of them!