# I just heard a French tourist say Ooh la la **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 16, 2007, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-heard-a-french-tourist-say-ooh-la-la/396138 "2007-03-16T02:56:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-heard-a-french-tourist-say-ooh-la-la/396138/1 "2007-03-16T02:56:41Z")
…as she was walking in front of me and caught sight of Sydney Tower. I thought that French people only said that in bad parodies. That’s what _les professeurs_ kept on telling us at the Alliance Française. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-heard-a-french-tourist-say-ooh-la-la/396138/2 "2007-03-16T03:40:27Z")
I wonder if she picked it up by _watching_ a bad French parody? Wouldn’t _that_ be ironic? ---
**Author:** ![some\_white\_dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@some\_white\_dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/some_white_dude)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-heard-a-french-tourist-say-ooh-la-la/396138/3 "2007-03-16T05:50:06Z")
Did she, by any chance, also wish aloud that she knew what she knows now when she was younger? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-heard-a-french-tourist-say-ooh-la-la/396138/4 "2007-03-16T08:05:02Z")
The bad parodies picked it up someplace. What makes those parodies bad is that people don’t say “ooh la la” once every ten years or so: they say it every other sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-heard-a-french-tourist-say-ooh-la-la/396138/5 "2007-03-16T11:22:49Z")
Yep, my french stepmother and her endless visiting relations toss that out at every impressive surprise. You break through you’re cliche-o-meter fairly quickly, I find. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-heard-a-french-tourist-say-ooh-la-la/396138/6 "2007-03-16T12:14:50Z")
An ethnically Indian friend of mine, London born and bred, and as English as anything, said she was in an Indian grocery shop one time, and a customer actually said, “O GOODNESS GRACIOUS ME!” She said she had to leave. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-heard-a-french-tourist-say-ooh-la-la/396138/7 "2007-03-16T16:35:52Z")
I have an Italian (Florentine) cousin by marriage. He says “ooh la la” all the time. It’s so natural for him I don’t really think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Secret\_Volcano\_Lair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Secret\_Volcano\_Lair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Secret_Volcano_Lair)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-heard-a-french-tourist-say-ooh-la-la/396138/8 "2007-03-16T16:42:17Z")
French motorsport commentators exclaim “Ooh la la!” all the time when there are crashes or close calls. ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-heard-a-french-tourist-say-ooh-la-la/396138/9 "2007-03-16T16:50:55Z")
I love Ooh La La by Goldfrapp. Susan ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-heard-a-french-tourist-say-ooh-la-la/396138/10 "2007-03-16T16:55:52Z")
I had much the same reaction when I visited Scotland and discovered that even quite young people referred to things and people as “wee” whatevers. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-heard-a-french-tourist-say-ooh-la-la/396138/11 "2007-03-16T17:03:28Z")
When I heard it spoken, it seemed to me it was used more as an expression of surprise/dismay, rather than surprise/pleasure. As in: “We’re very late!” “Oh, la la la la la!” “Oh, la la, did you see that? That moblyette almost hit me!” ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-heard-a-french-tourist-say-ooh-la-la/396138/12 "2007-03-16T17:11:02Z")
[QUOTE=cher3] I had much the same reaction when I visited Scotland and discovered that even quite young people referred to things and people as “wee” whatevers. [/QUOTE] That is pretty much standard here. “Aye” for “yes” as well. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-heard-a-french-tourist-say-ooh-la-la/396138/13 "2007-03-16T17:29:38Z")
I almost choked on my food when a waitress in England called me “ducky” once. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-heard-a-french-tourist-say-ooh-la-la/396138/14 "2007-03-16T17:41:31Z")
I heard a child at the beach (in St. Martin) exclaim ooh la la, le poisson (sp?) when he spotted some fish in the shallows. I assumed it was just a statement of suprise/anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-heard-a-french-tourist-say-ooh-la-la/396138/15 "2007-03-16T17:51:13Z")
A German applicant at my office had an honet-to-God Hitler mustache. Same hairstyle, too although his face was different. I almost lost it when he said in a heavy German accent that their proposed project might have to acquire more land to assure enough “Living Space” for the tenants. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-heard-a-french-tourist-say-ooh-la-la/396138/16 "2007-03-16T18:29:59Z")
[QUOTE=teela brown] When I heard it spoken, it seemed to me it was used more as an expression of surprise/dismay, rather than surprise/pleasure. As in: “We’re very late!” “Oh, la la la la la!” “Oh, la la, did you see that? That moblyette almost hit me!” [/QUOTE] Yes, I was taught it’s “Oh la la”, not “Oo la la” as in the parodies.