Rocket French Community

Would you really call the waiter, garçon?

Because what you are really saying is "boy" and unless you are being served by an 10 year old male this sounds insulting.

Well i dont know much about this but i saw a french movie and infact they do call the waiter "garçon" but remember you can't translate phrases from a language to another a language has it's unique way of grammar and phrasing.

Hi there,

calling a waiter "garçon" while snipping your finger is not considered very polite, however the waiter might not mind. I would recommend to ask the waiter himself if he wants to be called "garçon" or not. Younger waiters might be fine with it, however it pays to check. The most acceptable way of attracting a waiters attention would be to say "s’il vous plaît".

I hope that helps.

Salut Everyone

In May I was at a cafe with a French girl and she told me to catch the attention of the waiter by saying 'garcon'. I couldn't say this word because I personally felt it was condescending. After a series of hand signals I simply started to attract his attention by saying 'monsieur' and he was delighted.

In several years holidaying and now living in France I have never heard a waiter referred to as 'garcon', people usually say monsieur (mademoiselle or madame for a waitress depending on age).