the black beast
Mar. 29th, 2007 03:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sergebroomA couple of weeks ago, I was going thru Asimov's April/May 2007 issue when I came across a story by a critically acclaimed writer I've met a few times in person. I enjoyed her story so I sent her an email (*) about it. She responded almost right away, and thanked me. She then went on to ask me a question about the French expression bête noire. She wasn't sure it meant what she thought it meant. I was able to tell her that, while its literal translation is black beast, it usually refers to an ennemy, one of the tormenting, hounding kind. For example, Senator William Proxmire was the bête noire of any SETI-related funding.
Thus, should you come across a short story where that expression appears, it might be because of me. My knowledge of Things isn't as diversified as that of some of my buddettes and buddies who contribute to the Making Light blog, but this was something I could help with.
Yay!
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(*) Such addresses are easy to find when your significant other is also a member of the SFWA.
