French Word of the Day April 2003

Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 8:35 AM

(un) bric-à-brac = a disorganized set of things, a mess

(une) rubrique = a (newspaper/magazine) section

Rubrique-à-brac: title of a bande dessinée series by Gotlib, first published in the weekly comic magazine from the late 70's "Pilote". As the play on words implies, subjects range from detective stories to wildlife reports, fairy tales and unlikely explanations as to how Isaac Newton formulated his gravitational law. Deliciously insane.

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Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2003 8:32 AM

(une) gaffe = blooper / blunder

Faire gaffe : slang for "to be careful"

Gaston Lagaffe is a popular comic book character by Franquin. He's a clumsy, lazy office boy, sweet dreamer, pet lover and crazy inventor, working at the editorial office of the weekly comic magazine "Spirou".

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Sent: Monday, April 28, 2003 8:47 AM

(une) bande = a strip / a gang of people

dessiner = to draw

Une bande dessinée = a comic strip

Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2003 9:56 AM

(un) éventail ("hey - ven -tay") = a fan (the hand-held kind, as opposed to the electric fan: (un) ventilateur)

(un) orteil = a toe ("or - teye"). Also called "doigt de pied" ("foot finger" :-|

E.g. avoir les doigts de pied en éventail = to laze around

Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2003 8:44 AM

SVP = S'il Vous Plaît = Please

RSVP = Répondez S'il Vous Plaît = Please reply (and, well, it also stands for Resource reSerVation Protocol but er….)

Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2003 8:32 AM

(un) chat = cat

(une) souris = mouse

E.g. quand le chat n'est pas là, les souris dansent = when the cat's away, the mice will play (the mice dance, literally)

Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2003 8:30 AM

(une) équipe = a team

E.g. Le Paris Saint-Germain est une équipe de football = PSG is a soccer team (although some would disagree with that statement)

"L'Equipe" is also the #1 sports newspaper in France. Actually, possibly the #1 newspaper period.. http://www.lequipe.fr/

Sent: Monday, April 21, 2003 9:15 AM

(un) parfum = perfume / fragrance / scent

(une) couleur = color

(un) son = sound

"Les parfums, les couleurs et les sons se répondent" = The perfumes, the colors and the sounds respond

Baudelaire - Correspondances - Les fleurs du mal (poem famous for giving its name to the stylistic figure, otherwise called synesthésie, where senses mix with each other)

Sent: Friday, April 18, 2003 8:56 AM

(une) larve = a larva. Also, popular term to designate a lazy person, which spawned the verb "larver"

E.g. Il fait sa larve / C'est une larve / Il larve = he's being lazy

Although increasing in popularity, "faire son Mandorla" is not yet accepted as a synonym to "faire sa larve"

Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2003 8:39 AM

un bonhomme (pronounced "bonnom"), plural bonshommes ("bonzom") = affectionate term for a person (fellow, buddy, etc) / little man

E.g. ça va bonhomme ? = How are you buddy ?

Un bonhomme de neige = a snowman

Le bonhomme Michelin = the Michelin Bibendum http://www.michelin.com/corporate/en/bibendum/birth_of_myth.jsp

Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 8:48 AM

Nier = to deny

E.g. Il nie en bloc = he denies everything

Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2003 8:57 AM

(la) faim = hunger (pronounced "fin")

Avoir faim = to be hungry

Mourir de faim = to be starving

Rester sur sa faim = to be disappointed by something, that didn't live up to expectations

Laisser (quelqu'un) sur sa faim = to disappoint (someone)

E.g.: je meurs de faim = I'm starving

Ce spectacle m'a laissé sur ma faim = I was expecting more from this show

Sent: Monday, April 14, 2003 9:13 AM

Louche = shady, fishy

E.g. ça m'a l'air louche = it sounds fishy to me

Also used a lot in its "verlan" form "chelou" e.g. "c'est trop chelou!"

Sent: Friday, April 11, 2003 9:54 AM

(une) allitération = alliteration

(une) assonance = assonance

Examples:

"Pour qui sont ces serpents qui sifflent sur nos têtes" (Racine - Andromaque) Allitération

"Tout m'afflige et me nuit et conspire à me nuire." (Racine - Phèdre) Assonance

Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2003 8:53 AM

(un) dada = baby talk for "horse". Also means hobby.

E.g. faire du dada = to go horseback riding

C'est mon dada = it's my hobby

Dadaisme = Dadaism

Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2003 8:33 AM

"A noir, E blanc, I rouge, U vert, O bleu : voyelles" (Arthur Rimbaud - Voyelles)

(une) voyelle = a vowel

(une) consonne = a consonant

Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2003 9:15 AM

(une) giboulée = a (rain) shower. Mostly used in the expression "les giboulées de Mars", when sun and rain alternate randomly before Spring shows up for good...

Sent: Monday, April 07, 2003 9:14 AM

Se lover = to curl up

E.g. Le chat était lové dans le sofa = the cat was curled up on the sofa

Se lover dans les bras de quelqu'un = to curl up in someone's arms

Sent: Friday, April 04, 2003 9:01 AM

Cracher = to spit

E.g. cracher dans la soupe = to spit in the soup, meaning to bite the hand that feeds you

Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2003 9:14 AM

(le) ciel = sky

(la) Terre = Earth

E.g. remuer ciel et terre (pour faire quelquechose) = to move heaven and earth (to do something)

Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2003 8:06 AM

A little bit late:

Un poisson d'Avril = an April fool's joke

Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2003 9:01 AM

(un) rêve = a dream

(un) cauchemar = a nightmare