Sming for Dance

[Balletdork]

Thank you, Balrina! i enjoyed speaking with all of the students afterwards- Merde!

[PencilQueen]

Thank you, Balrina! i enjoyed speaking with all of the students afterwards- Merde!

Um... the English translation of "merde"  is sh*t.  Just wondering, Balletdork, did you really mean that, or had you intended to type "merci", which translates into "thank you"?   

[Ryan Rollinson]

"Merde" is used in the same sense as "Break a leg" when one is dealing with dancers; when you would ordinarily (outside of the theatre and our insane superstitions) say "good luck," you'd instead say "merde" to wish dancers luck in their performance.

[Balletdork]

yup. We say Merde!

[PencilQueen]

"Merde" is used in the same sense as "Break a leg" when one is dealing with dancers; when you would ordinarily (outside of the theatre and our insane superstitions) say "good luck," you'd instead say "merde" to wish dancers luck in their performance.

Holy Cadiddlehopper, Batman, you're kidding!

I use "break a leg" all the time, but have *never* heard "merde" used that way.  Guess that shows how many dancing gigs I've done (or not!), eh? 

I'm gobsmacked.  Thanks for the education.

Ew.  Don't know that I could ever use it... 

[Balletdork]

Yippee for gobsmacked! Good on you!

[Balrina]

yeah, I just learned Merde, too. I guess it is kind of gross when you think about it literally.

[PSMKay]

It's also heard frequently in French settings.  Originally it was explained to me as shorthand for "kick the **** out of it," but that could be urban legend.

[BalletPSM]

I've heard another idea that "merde" comes from the old days when people took horse-drawn carriages to see ballets; a lot of "merde" in the streets would mean a lot of horses, which would mean a lot of people coming to the performance.

[fuzzy_7]

My operatic voice teacher told me that the term was first used at La Scala and that it would mean a full house, but that the street sweepers would have to pick up a lot of "merde" from outside of the opera house.