You have been waiting in line for ten minutes. Someone cuts the line in front of you.
Vous faites la queue depuis dix minutes. Quelqu'un vous passe devant.
Ask them to go to the end of the queue.
Ask them why they cut the line.
I gently remind them that there is a line.
I might roll my eyes, but I wouldn't say anything.
I would get a bit mad but would not confront them.
I would get very angry and tell them not to be disrespectful
I would point out that there is a line
I would politely point out that there's a line, hoping that this would encourage them to move to the back.
I would politely tell the person that the line begins further back behind me.
I would say "Excuse me.... I was here" but not in a rude way because they might get offended and to not cause a scene.
I would tell him that I was here before him, and I have been waiting for a few minutes.
I would think them to be very rude and would calmly but firmly ask them to leave the line and join in the proper way.
Make it obvious that I was there, but not say anything unless they do
Not a problem. I don't mind lines.
tell them to please go to the back
That guy is an arrogant bastard.
J'étais là avant vous donc vous allez faire la queue comme tout le monde.
J'essaie de le tuer en le regardant avec un des yeux pleins de haine.
Je demande à cette personne pour qui elle se prend.
Je l'insulte
je l'interpelle
Je l'interpelle, lui souris et lui indique le début de la file d'attente.
Je lui dis de faire la queue. Il me l'aurait demandé, j'y aurais réfléchi, tant pis pour lui.
Je lui dis gentiment d'aller attendre comme tout le monde.
je lui fais comprendre qu'il s'est sans doute perdu.
Je lui fais remarquer que j'attendais avant. Je m'excuse si il avait une raison valable de me passer devant.
Je lui montre la fin de la queue et lui demande de s'y rendre.
Je lui rappelle que l'on vit dans une société.
Je lui signale poliment qu'elle est derrière moi.
Je lui signale que je faisais la queue.
Je ne fais jamais la queue, c'est moi qui double tout le monde.
Je repasse devant lui
Si il rejoint des personnes qu'il connait devant lui, je ne dis rien, sinon, je lui fais poliment remarquer qu'il y a une queue.
Discussion
Many of the responses in this category seemed to be similar. The consensus seemed to politely ask the person who cut in line to move to the back of the queue. There were a couple of different/ interesting responses such as "essaie de le tuer".
Question though-- the verb 'interpeller' was used a couple of times and I looked it up. It seems to be to call or to call out. I was just wondering if it was like English in that 'calling someone out' is usually more forceful and not as polite.
Oui, "interpeller" est plus autoritaire que poli. C'est de manière générale une façon assez brusque/brutale d'arrêter la personne et de lui signaler que la situation n'est pas normale.
On utilise d'ailleurs le même mot pour la police. Par exemple, "Le principal suspect a été interpellé par la police cet après-midi"
Thanks for the explanation and clarification. I found it interesting that it is the same word used in context with the police, too.
The French students definitely assume a more aggressive stance in this matter than the passive-aggressive Americans. I feel like a lot of responses on our side ("I wouldn't say anything," "I would not confront them") stem from the same social inihbitions found in the list describing the smiling stranger. For some reason, we feel the need to have minimal interaction with people we don't know. (A major exception would be campus social events, but these provide security in controlling the backgrounds of the people you meet, i.e. they will all be MIT students.) In a large city, activing aggressively in public may provoke any number of responses from the variety of different people around at any given moment. What if the person who cut the line loves to pick fights in this manner? Furthermore, busy people aren't willing to waste too much time and attention on such paltry occurences.
While socially inexcusable in both countries, I feel that cutting the line would be especially provocative in France because there is a greater realization of equality amongst peers. The American mindset may be geared to not exasperating the situation in the first place. Would you agree?
"activing aggressively in public may provoke any number of responses from the variety of different people around at any given moment. What if the person who cut the line loves to pick fights in this manner?"
On peut interpeller quelqu'un (voire le remettre à sa place) sans être aggressif, et donc sans justifier un problème quelconque. Si la personne réagit de manière aggressive à notre réaction, je pense que la plus part des gens laisseront tomber.
"Furthermore, busy people aren't willing to waste too much time and attention on such paltry occurences."
C'est vrai, mais une accumulation de petites choses comme celle là ont vite fait d'énerver quelqu'un, occupé ou non.
"While socially inexcusable in both countries, I feel that cutting the line would be especially provocative in France because there is a greater realization of equality amongst peers."
Je suis plutôt d'accord avec ça.
Ca n'a rien à voir avec le sujet mais je remarque que les réponses américaines utilisent beaucoup I would, le modal conditionnel alors que les réponses françaises sont pour la plupart énoncées au présent de l'indicatif.
Je pense que cela dénote un "état d'esprit latent" différent entre nos deux cultures : les américains se projettent plus dans l'avenir, tandis que nous restons ancrés dans le présent quand on nous demande d'imaginer une situation.