January 2, 2011

I Need a French Idiom...

Hatched by Dafydd

Friendly readers, I'm transcribing an interview, and the subject spoke a term I cannot understand or unpack. He is a Korean War vet, and he said that around the South Koreans, he and his fellow American paratroopers always had to be [unknown expression here], which he defined as "on the edge" or "at the ready"... meaning that you never knew whether a South Korean was on your side or secretly on the North's side.

The word or words he used were in French, he said; phonetically, they sound to me like "kay deeve."

Does any of you know enough idiomatic French (or Korean-War idioms) to hazard a guess as to what he actually said? He repeated it clearly several times at my prompting, but I still can't find the phrase on Babel Fish; sadly, he has since died, so I can't ask him what he said, at least not without the intervention of a Ouija Board.

Anybody have any idea what he was saying and how to spell it?

Thanks,

the Mgt.

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, January 2, 2011, at the time of 2:14 AM

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: Carol Christopher

Perhaps the phrase is "qui vive".

The above hissed in response by: Carol Christopher [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 2, 2011 3:35 AM

The following hissed in response by: Alasdair Burton

kh + e acute + dive (khedive with first e acute) is a french word already - but I have not yet tied it to idiomatic/slang french ... it got to french via Egypt and means the Viceroy for the Sultan ...

"on the 'qui vive'" - on the alert, watching out for ... this is an english language idiom that derives from Napoleonic times when the sentry challenge was "Qui vive ?" ...

I hope this helps ...

Alasdair

The above hissed in response by: Alasdair Burton [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 2, 2011 6:35 AM

The following hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh

Alastair, Carol Christopher:

Yes! Yes, it must be qui vive... or more properly, "on the qui vive," which the Free Online Dictionary defines as "On the alert; vigilant."

Thanks a million. Say, there might actually be something useful about this "internet" thing after all, you think?

Dafydd

The above hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 2, 2011 12:54 PM

The following hissed in response by: Bill Befort

Yeah, it's "on the qui vive," and -- hey, it didn't take 'em long after DADT repeal to make their example, did it?

The above hissed in response by: Bill Befort [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 4, 2011 7:42 PM

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