Thoughts of a Chicana Feminist

Monday, January 30, 2006

Practice Sangfroid

sang-froid \sang-FRWAH\, noun;
also sangfroid:
Freedom from agitation or excitement of mind; coolness in trying circumstances; calmness.

Both men were mightily impressed by the calmness of the Americans on board, particularly among the women. "I had, during my sojourn in America," Beaumont said later, "a thousand occasions to see the sang-froid of the American."
-- Michael Kammen, "Wrecked on the Fourth of July," New York Times, July 6, 1997