Frequently Used Phrases

There are a few phrases in Benin that seem to pop out of peoples mouths quite often. Like this one “Vous etes madame, ou bien mademoiselle?” “you are a mrs, or better a miss?” here are some others that I seem to here on a regular basis

“Il n'y pas la petite money” “There is no small change”
In Benin breaking large bills is a problem. The tinier your village is the less likely they are going to want to break you 10.000 FCFA bill. In small villages it is actually impossible to break these bills because the price of everything is below 1.000 FCFA. It's not even close to in the states when you give a cashier a $100 bill for a purchase of $5. In the states the cashier will probably look at you like you're obnoxious (because you are) but you can probably get the cashier to break it for you with a bit of pouting and apologizing. In the states there is no problem finding change. When I was a cashier sometimes we would run low on quarters or whatever, and then we would just put a sign out and eventually collect enough to where it wasn't a problem. But that is in the states, where the government has minted enough small change so that there is rarely a circulation problem. Here in Benin there really isn't enough small change. Even if you go to the bank they horde their coins. The bank is an annoying place to be anyway, every single I go into the bank the teller finds something wrong with my check. He in fact now rolls his eyes at me before I even hand him anything because the sight of my face frustrates him. In my own defense he always finds something different wrong with the check I hand him, and the biggest problem he has is with my signature which is not changing. I have only once been able to persuade this teller (there always seems to be only him who I deal with) to give me a roll of coins. I have a hard time finding change, even from the bank. So when I go into the store that sells expensive food items such as cookies, canned vegetables, oatmeal and wine and buy 3.450 FCFA and hand them a 10.000 FCFA bill they roll their eyes and say 'there is no small change.' but here is where it gets really annoying because you can see their little change bucket, and there is the small change in there. I have even pointed out that I can see the exact change in their bucket but they squirm under the pressure. About the time that I tell them that I'm going to leave without buying the items I've put on the counter do they relent and hand over my change. Other times that this is a problem is when I'm in the market, when I'm paying for bus or taxi fare and most of all with zems, these little tricksters never seem to have change even though they get paid in coins all day long.... grr...

“Je viens” “I'm coming”
Usually someone says this to you as they are walking away from you. You and someone will be in the middle of doing work/ talking/ on a verge of a breakthrough for the cure of AIDS and then this person will remember that they forgot to do something and they will get up and as they are walking away they will say 'I'm coming' clearly they are not coming, they are actually going. This person is recognizing that they are leaving you but they want you to know that they will be back, maybe not soon, but eventually if you just wait there long enough this person will come back.

“Douchement” “Gently”
This word can be used in many different types of situations. It can mean, 'I'm sorry' 'watch out' 'don't be stupid' or 'you're in the way' it's too bad that there is no English word because I would use it regularly. Sometimes this word is my favorite word like when you tell someone who is much taller than you to watch out for a low ceiling. Than other times someone has said this word to me and my immediate thought is that 'wow that's completely unhelpful'. Such as when a moto hit my bike while I was riding it. I was not hurt but my bike was totaled and I was sprawled out in the middle of the road. Someone stands over me and with a voice filled with concern says 'douchment'. Completely unhelpful. Another way people use this word is when they bump into you. But I tend of think they aren't really sorry and they really are saying that it was mostly your fault they bumped into you to which I respond to them 'to faire douchment' 'you watch out'.
“C'est comme ca en Afrique” “It's like that in Africa”
This is the biggest cop-out phrase I have ever heard. People use this when someone is doing something that is culturally appropriate but is still obnoxious. For example I watched as a mini bus overloaded with people already was trying to squeeze more people in through the windows. The driver of the mini buses response to my asking if that was necessary said to me 'it's like that in Africa.' or another example is when I was talking with a friend about students cheating on tests, 'it's like that in Africa' or how about when people show up for a meeting three hours late 'it's like that in Africa'. All of these examples are things that happen on a regular basis and what bugs me the most is that every single time someone has said to me 'it's like that in Africa' the response I want to give them is 'it doesn't have to be.' There is a solution to all the situations where this phrase has been used.

“Petite a petite” “Little by little'
There is a song here that my neighbors seem to like to play on repeat, after listening to the same song for an entire month I because I learn to tune it out. But the chorus is 'little by little the bird builds his nest' people use this phrase when you are learning something, little by little. It's actually one of the more encouraging phrases that I've heard here, that I don't have to learn it all at once, little by little is just fine. For example the task of learning french, little by little, it seems less daunting that way.

“Ou Bien” “Or good”
People put ou bien at the end of sentances and it's meant to add emphasis. Sort of similar to the state-side 'you know?' example: “I really like having a beer after a hard day, you know?” also you can say it as a response to something annoying. Example “I can't believe my dentist prescribed toothpaste for a cracked tooth” “ou bien” it doesn't actually mean that whatever you are talking about is good. It actually is used most often when talking about something that is bad.