Not-So-Thruways

We live on a long, straight-run residential street, with the option to exit at either end to access the outside world.  Close by, a cluster of our neighbors live on a short, stubby lane, where you won’t get very far before having to turn around and go back the way you came.  A sign posted at their street’s entrance declares, “Not A Through Street”.  It’s what the French – and we Americans – call a cul-de-sac.

In a rather desperate effort to come up with something Halloween-related this week, I landed weakly on “dead-end streets”.  Of course, these tiny avenues are often very much alive.  Cul-de-sac’s host a quaint gathering of houses, with a few on the straight run and even fewer around the end circle.  The setup allows these neighbors to get to know each other easier.  And with so little traffic, the end circle encourages kids to do what their parents normally nix: play in the street.

But maybe I shouldn’t paint/assume such a rosy picture (especially with Halloween right around the corner).  What if your neighbor living right next door on that little end circle is someone you’d sooner see in a horror movie?  Or what if the statistics are true: even more people are struck by cars on a cul-de-sac because of the assumed safety of a quiet street?  Finally, consider the double-hyphenated phrase staring you right in the face.  Cul-de-sac – French translation – “bottom of bag”.  Suddenly your house feels like one of those throwaway candies you find deep down in your trick-or-treat sack.

I didn’t know “cul-de-sac” had such a negative connotation.  I found it rather quaint because it’s double-hyphenated (and French).  Curious, I went in search of other double-hyphenated words to see if I could find something more positive.  Know-it-all.  Word-of-mouth (which is often gossip).  Son-in-law.  Okay, that last one has potential.  I mean, he’s only been married to my daughter for year now, so…

Here’s a really nasty double-hyphenated for you.  Fer-de-lance.  It means “head of spear”, which isn’t so nasty until you realize it’s the name of a snake; an extremely poisonous viper who lives in the tropics.  The fer-de-lance was the killer (literally) in a 1974 movie by the same name.  A movie I never should’ve watched at the fairly innocent age of twelve.  Fer-De-Lance was the original Snakes on a Plane, only the plane was a submarine carrying a crate full of deadly creepy-crawlies.  How’s that for Halloween-scary?

Like Fer-De-Lance, Cul-De-Sac was also a movie (1966), about “a hermit living with his wife in a large dank castle on an island… terrorized by two escaped prisoners.”  Not exactly a romantic comedy, and no explanation of the film’s title, other than maybe this couple finding themselves at their ultimate dead-end.

Let’s circle back to the suburban version of the cul-de-sac (please!)  Two addresses ago we actually lived on one.  There were two houses on each side of the straight-run and four houses on the end-circle.  We lived on the circle.  Were we tight with our neighbors?  No!  Each of our driveways were long and steep so our houses were actually pretty far apart.  I still remember how we’d greet our neighbors faithfully only one day out of the year.  What day?  Halloween, when we’d accompany our kids to their front doors.

We need to end this more-Halloween-than-I thought post on a positive note, so I don’t have you thinking about poisonous snakes and escaped prisoners.  Cul-de-Sac is a locale on the beautiful Caribbean island of Saint Martin.  It was also the name of a 1990s alternative rock band.  And Cul-de-Sac was the title of “a light-hearted comic strip centered around a four-year-old and her suburban life experiences.”  Okay, now we’re talking.

Some advice before I close.  If you live on a cul-de-sac, I suggest you double-stock the candy this Halloween.  After all, trick-or-treaters who make it to your dead-end street may find themselves going round and round the end circle without realizing what they’re doing.  Keep an eye out for repeat customers.

Some content sourced from Wikipedia, “the free encyclopedia”.

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Author: Dave

Five hundred posts would suggest I have something to say… This blog was born from a desire to elevate the English language, highlighting eloquent words from days gone by. The stories I share are snippets of life itself, and each comes with a bonus: a dusted-off word I hope you’ll go on to use more often. Read “Deutschland-ish Improvements” to learn about my backyard European wish list. Try “Slush Fun” for the throwback years of the 7-Eleven convenience store. Or drink in "Iced Coffee" to discover the plight of the rural French cafe. On the lighter side, read "Late Night Racquet Sports" for my adventures with our latest moth invasion. As Walt Whitman said, “That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” Here then, my verse. Welcome to Life In A Word.

27 thoughts on “Not-So-Thruways”

  1. Another interesting linguistic thing about Cul-de-sacs. My wife and I live on a cul-de-sac which uses the suffix, “court,” but my wife, who grew up in England, always refers to our neighbors, “On the close.” Or sometimes, “the crescent”. Apparently in England they don’t use the French “Cul-de-sac.” Something to do with England and France being at war with each other for several hundred years. Sometimes I do think that our neighbors are a bit “close” to us and the layout of our court, cul-de-sace, close, crescent, does tend to make it a common turn around point for trucks and people who are general just lost.

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    1. Webster defines a court as “a wide alley with only one opening onto a street”. My impression of a “court” is nothing like an alley. “On the close”; love that. And “crescent” brings a whole different layout to mind, a broadly curving street with elegant row houses, with a park or open space on the opposite side. The final scene of the movie “Oliver” – which still comes to mind after all these years – is on one of those big crescents in London.

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    1. We live in an “equestrian” community, Neil, with large properties, barns, and riding arenas. The spacing of the houses (and the age of the occupants) is not conducive to trick-or-treating, which is too bad. I’d love to see a few little costumed ones at my front door.

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  3. We lived on a cul-de-sac once. It was on a list of “must haves” that we presented to our Realtor when we moved years ago. Funny though, that house would be near the bottom of the list if I were to put our homes in most-liked order. (We moved often before retirement due to my husband’s job.)

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    1. I guess it’s luck of the draw with neighbors on a cul-de-sac. If they were the right kind of people I’d probably never want to leave.

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  4. We live on a dead end street, though each property is 4 acres, so there is considerable distance between each. I never thought it would be possible to have the ‘neighbours from hell’ move in next door because how bothersome could a neighbour be when there is that much distance between our homes? Turns out they and their dog and dirt bikes, etc etc can be very bothersome!

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    1. We have a similarly annoying neighbor, Margie, but for different reasons. She likes to intrude (literally climbing over the fence to knock on our front door). He likes to burn leaves (which is against the covenants of our community). Maybe not “from hell”, but how about “deliberately disrespectful”?

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      1. I can see how that would be bothersome!
        When your neighbour starts yelling at you for something you didn’t do and ends by yelling “I’m going to get you!” then you can be sure that my neighbour has moved to your community…

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  7. Jon’s parents live in a cul-de-sac and back up to the woods…spooky! I saw the comments, your neighbors sound dreadful! Our apartment is pretty quiet but I can hear the people above through my bathroom vent. Sounds like the have two little girls and lots of tantrums.

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    1. Next-door neighbors seem like good subject matter for recent mystery novels and horror movies. We’ve seen cul-de-sac’s with four or five beautiful homes in a circle, but instead of being envious maybe we should wonder who lives there and whether they all get along. I suppose it’s the chance you take no matter where you choose to live 🙂

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  8. French words always seem to add a flair to the ordinary don’t they Dave? I loved studying French, though I couldn’t trill my Rs, so I never sounded authentic. As for neighbors being cozy and chatty with one another, my NY friend’s backyard is on the fringe of a wooded area, with deer stopping by to drink from her birdbath and tip the birdfeeders over to lap up the seeds then laze around her backyard in the shade which sounds a bit idyllic. The plow dumps the snow from her cul-de-sac smack dab in the middle of of the road – she complains about it mightily every Winter. Why don’t they know what to do with the snow is anyone’s guess? She said the same as you – the neighbors’ long driveways really prohibit them from chatting while getting in/out of the car and high privacy fences don’t encourage backyard chats. When our family moved here in 1966, everyone knew everyone else – 13 houses on each side of the block. If someone passed away, money was collected for a sympathy card and flowers to be sent on behalf of the neighbors, food offerings were made to the bereaved family … it’s a whole different world now as I only know the names of the neighbors on either side.

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    1. Spanish was the more practical language to take in CA but if I had it to do all over again I’d take French. It’s a beautiful language and contributes to what I consider a classy culture. It’s strange America has adopted certain French words for everyday speak. You’d think we could come up with something more creative than “dead end” 🙂

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      1. In Canada we started learning French in kindergarten or Grade One. Teacher had a poster of a sceene, we had the same picture in 8 1/2 X 11 size and had to memorize everything in the picture (farm scene, countryside, restaurant) – it was a fun way to learn a new language and it was/is mandatory to learn French in Canada. I agree Dave – use your imagination more for a dead end street. As to French words and phrases, what better way is there to describe something exquisite than crème de la crème?

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  9. I knew that “cul-de-sac” can have a negative connotation. From personal experience. We lived on one once upon a time and it was delightful, very neighborly, BUT snobby people we met while volunteering for non-profits and in business and through church made a point of mentioning how little they approved of cul-de-sacs, streets that go “nowhere.” 😏

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    1. Street envy, maybe? I think cul-de-sac’s belong in urban plans, if only to break up the monotony of the grid. A few row-house crescents would be nice too.

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  10. We enjoyed a positive experience with pleasant neighbors, our three years on a cul-de-sac. The property on the end of the street was narrow and vacant; someone put up a basketball hoop in the grass, close to the street. Neighbor-dads got together for a game of hoops quite frequently. Of course, the kids took their turn too. Never did see any moms out there!!

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    1. Ah, I knew I’d get a positive story about living on a cul-de-sac! Ours was perfectly fine as well honestly; we just didn’t have the social scene you did.

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  12. I have never lived on a dead end street (which some call a cul-de-sac). I don’t know why the French phrase irritates me – maybe because it is most often snobs who use French phrases. Present company excepted, of course. I am also slightly offended by pie-shaped plots of real estate. Perhaps I am the problem.

    It seems that fewer and fewer neighborhoods are platted with through streets and rectangular lots.

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    1. I’d take a pie-shaped lot over a flag lot. There’s something annoying to me about having to navigate a driveway-wide piece of land just to bget to your front door. Admittedly I’d also struggle with a property that wasn’t a rectangle. How would you mow your lawn to make perfect stripes? 😁

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