Rester Bouche Bée Literally Flabbergasted

First of all, the  French expression  rester bouche bà ©e  has nothing to do with abeille, the French word for bee. Instead, its all about the French word  bouche,  which means mouth.    This phrase is one of a long list of French expressions that use  bouche, from  le bouche-à  -bouche  (mouth-to-mouth resuscitation) and Ta bouche!  (Shut up!) to faire la fine/petite bouche  (turn ones nose up) and  mettre un mot dans la bouche de quelquun (put words into someones mouth). The expression at hand is  rester bouche bà ©e, but it can also be used without rester. A third variation is regarder  bouche bà ©e. Meaning Without Rester: Open-Mouthedin a State of Stunned Surprise Picture someone who was just surprised—extremely surprised—and that persons jaw  drops open involuntarily; bouche bà ©e describes that physical reaction. Bouche bà ©e  means you are so surprised your mouth is agape; you are astonished, flabbergasted, open-mouthed.   Quand je lui ai annoncà © quon divorà §ait, elle à ©tait bouche bà ©e.When I announced to her that we were divorcing, her jaw dropped open/she was stunned. If someone is stunned by something good, all or part of mouth agape in a state of wonderment might be the best  English version of  bouche bà ©e  since the word agape derives from the Greek word love. If its something not so good, the best English equivalents  of  bouche bà ©e  might be astonished, flabbergasted or dumbfounded, the latter possibly  being best  since it carries a sense of worry. Meaning With Rester:Remain Speechlessin Stunned Surprise When you use bouche bà ©e with the verb rester, it involves a longer period of time. The cause of the astonishment might be something a little more serious as well. So the meaning switches a bit to remaining speechless. But the image is the same: mouth agape. Elle est restà ©e bouche bà ©e pendant quelques secondes, et puis elle a à ©clatà © en sanglots.She stayed there, mouth agape,  for a while, then she burst  into tears. Il en est restà ©Ã‚  bouche  bà ©e, mais na jamais oublià © la grà ¢ce de cette dame.He was left speechless and never forgot the ladys graciousness. Regarder Bouche Be: Gape at Tous les gens dans la rue le regardait  bouche  bà ©e.All the people in the street gaped speechlessly at him. Origins of the Term Bouche Be It comes from the very old, no longer used verb bà ©er, which means to be wide open. You may have read la porte à ©tait bà ©ante, which means  the door was wide open.   Pronunciation of Rester Bouche Be It sounds a bit like boosh bay. Note that bà ©e takes the acute e sound of French, not the long e sound in bee.The verb rester, like many  French infinitives, ends in er, which sounds, again, like the acute e in French.   Synonyms for Bouche Be Être abasourdi, à ©bahi, sidà ©rà ©, extrà ªmement à ©tonnà ©, choquà ©, frappà © de stupeur