quote · Legacy record
On my fifth trip to France I limited myself to the words and phrases that people actually use. From the dog owners I learned "Lie down," "Shut up," and "Who shit on this carpet?" The couple across the road taught me to ask questions correctly, and the grocer taught me to count. Things began to come together, and I went from speaking like an evil baby to speaking like a hillbilly. "Is thems the thoughts of cows?" I'd ask the butcher, pointing to the calves' brains displayed in the front window. "I want me some lamb chop with handles on 'em.
On my fifth trip to France I limited myself to the words and phrases that people actually use. From the dog owners I learned "Lie down," "Shut up," and "Who shit on this carpet?" The couple across the road taught me to ask questions correctly, and the grocer taught me to count. Things began to come together, and I went from speaking like an evil baby to speaking like a hillbilly. "Is thems the thoughts of cows?" I'd ask the butcher, pointing to the calves' brains displayed in the front window. "I want me some lamb chop with handles on 'em.
Approximate author period: c. 1956 AD · modern
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- Author or tradition
- David Sedaris
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1956 AD · modern
Approximate author-period anchor from documented birth year 1956; activity date not established; Wikidata Q1176577, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1176577 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 238773; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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