The Multivalence of Ooh-La-La

Because I named my blog after the expression, I have been very attentive to how the French employ the term "ooh-la-la," and I thought that some of you might be entertained by a few of my observations.

In thinking about how the same expression can be used to express such a variety of opinions and emotions, I have frequently thought about a phrase much used in my own Kentuckian culture, "Bless your/her/his heart." For those of you not familiar with the phrase, here are a few definitions.

When the stress is on "heart," one is usually expressing empathy and concern for anything from slightly annoying occurrences to great hardships. For instance: "Bless your /heart/, getting stuck in the rain like that." Or: "Bless your /heart/, it must have been terrible to have been shipwrecked on a deserted island for three years, and not to have been able to get a movie deal out of it!"

You can also stress the owner of the heart in question, in which you are probably expressing gratitude, admiration, or appreciation. Example: "Bless /his/ heart, it was so sweet of him to bring me vegetables from his garden." Or: "Bless _your_ heart, you didn't have to do this!"

And because there's always the potential for sharp danger to be lurking in saccharine Southern sweetness, you should be aware that if you emphasize "Bless" in a certain way, with particular subtle eyebrow movements, as in "/Bless/ her heart, she really thought that was going to work," the phrase expresses scathing condescension and even disdain.

Now these rules are not strict, of course, and some of us are capable of expressing disdain even if we emphasize "heart," and to be quite sincerely blessing even when we emphasize the word "bless."

But I'm in France, and here, they say "Ooh-la-la." And they say it a lot. And the second "la" is generally longer than the first, as in "Ooh-la-laa."

And yes, it can be a reaction to something very or even vaguely scandalous:
Person A: "It is absolutely true! So-and-so is having an affair with So-and-so even though they pretend to dislike each other in public!"
Person B: "Ooh-la-la!"

Or just something fun (or naughty), as was mentioned in my first post:
Hypothetical Graduate Student: "I'm spending the summer in Paris!"
Hypothetical Francais: "Ooh-la-la, c'est magnifique!"

But it has many more mundane applications as well. For instance, it can be used to emphasize the unlikely nature of an event. Overheard conversation:

Cashier A: "Could you take my shift tomorrow morning and start work at 9? "
Cashier B: "Ooh-la-la, I won't even be awake by then!"

One can also use it in a disapproving way, or to respond to something that is bad. I've noticed that sometimes the second "la" is dropped in these cases. For example, I saw a well-heeled man scrape another car as he tried to pull into a parking space in my neighborhood, and he said "Ooh-laa" as he realized what was happening, and again as he got out of the car to investigate.

I have also learned that "Ooh-la-la, beaux jambes" can be employed as street harassment by French men who I am sure feel that they are being quite complimentary.

Somehow, none of this has been covered in any of my French language or literature classes.