Today I learned the word flâneur, which is something I have been for a couple of years now. But don't tell my countrymen, because I'll be accused of elitism. And Francophilia. (Come to think of it, since becoming a flâneur, I have slept with women with unshaven armpits, consumed lots of wine, seen "De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté," and capitulated to Germans. Coincidence? I think not).
The flâneur is one who strolls -- specifically, someone who walks around the urban landscape drinking in its sights, sounds, smells, and complexities. A gawker at the carnival of city life.
I would like to find a way to work "flâneur" into the conversation, but that would mean having a conversation with people who used words like flâneur, and I don't think I'm up for that.
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1 comment:
Here's a word for you: ecdysiast . Honest, I only know this word from reading it in Carl Sagan's novel _Contact_.
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