There’s a word I hear quite often since I’ve moved to France: special. I hear it all the time, but not in the manner I’m used to such as, “he’s my special someone” or “we went out for a special dinner last night.” In this sense, it signifies something unique and I know in what sense the word is used.
In France, it’s vague and its connotation can swing in both directions. For example:
“How was your meeting?”
“It was… special.”
“Special? What do you mean by that?”
“It was special.”
“Is that good or bad?”
This is often met with a shrug and I’m left to interpret how the meeting went on my own. With a language as vast as the French one, I don’t understand why they can’t come up with a better word. The French use special when referring to just about anything: a place, a person, a moment, or more bizarrely a meal.
“Dinner at Sophie’s was special.”
Is the vagueness left intentionally so not to insult the hostess, or was the dinner a truly magically moment that transcends words? I don’t know unless I was invited and then I could tell you that Sophie can’t boil and egg and somehow messed up a can of ravioli. I’m direct; I don’t mix words and everyone knows what I’m talking about. The way I see it, if special is used all too often, the word just is, well, not special anymore.
