French Word of the Day September 2004

Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2004 8:06 AM

buller = to lounge around

Arrête de buller et mets-toi au travail! = Stop lounging around and start working!

Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 8:57 AM

Rouler = to roll

Also slang to indicate something going ok:

Ça roule ? = Everything ok ?

Tout roule! = Everything's fine!

Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 9:20 AM

(une) jonquille = a daffodil

Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 11:31 AM

(une) bourde = a blunder. See also bévue, boulette, gaffe (all feminine, for some reason) and probably countless others.

Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 7:33 AM

Can you find which movie titles these French titles were translated from ?

Même pas mal! (child talk, literally "you didn't even hurt me!") [LM] Dodgeball

La mort dans la peau ("Death under the skin". Sequel to La mémoire dans la peau, "Memory under the skin") [LM] The Bourne Supremacy / The Bourne Identity

Père et flic ("Father and cop") [LM] City by the sea

And my favorite of the moment:

F.B.I. Fausses Blondes Infiltrées ("Fake Blondes Undercover") [LM] White Chicks

Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2004 8:25 AM

Subject: RE: French artist of the day

It's been a while since we had a French artist here. Today, a band whose name I can't type here without setting off a bunch of email filters:

http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0001ARXDQ/qid=1095894692

For those who like their hard rock…well, hard.

Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 8:19 AM

le minitel = the aging online service accessible through telephone lines, launched in France in the early 80's. In many ways, it was a precursor to the internet, where people could search phone directories, make online purchases, chat and, of course, access erotic sites (minitel rose = pink minitel). Millions of terminals were handed out for free to telephone subscribers, ensuring this clever device a long success. To this day, there are minitel sites that don't have a proper Web equivalent.

<<>>

Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 11:28 AM

l'allégresse (feminine) = joy. Less commonly used than la joie, the two have very similar meanings. I see allégresse as more light-hearted, but am interested in other opinions as I'm probably wrong (as usual). Interestingly, both words are used in the following expression:

dans la joie et l'allégresse = joyfully

Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2004 8:08 PM

(une) issue = an exit, an outcome

une issue de secours = an emergency exit

Sent: Friday, September 10, 2004 12:26 PM

(un) break = well, a break. As in: Laurent prend un break d'une semaine, pas de mot Français pendant ce temps-là

(Laurent takes a week-long break, no French word in the meanwhile)

Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2004 8:08 AM

curieux / curieuse = curious, inquisitive / strange (the 'x' is silent)

C'est pour faire parler les curieux! = It's meant to make curious people talk! (typical way to avoid answering a "what is this?" question)

C'est curieux, il n'y a personne = It's strange, there's nobody here

Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 2004 8:03 AM

(un) tour = well, many things, including "trick, ruse"

Eg. Je vais te faire un tour de magie = I'm going to do a magic trick for you

Il m'a joué un (insert adjective, usually 'mauvais' or 'vilain' here) tour = he played a (adjective) trick on me

Ça te jouera des tours = It's going to get you into trouble one of these days

Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2004 7:47 AM

(un) polar = a detective story (novel or movie)

(un) polard (in college slang) = a geek, a nerd. The 'd' is silent.

Sent: Saturday, September 04, 2004 12:46 PM

(un) forfait =

- a fixed rate, an all-inclusive package. E.g. le forfait comprend le voyage et l'hotel = the package include travel and hotel

- a pass. E.g. un forfait (de ski) = a ski pass

- a withdrawal. E.g. l'équipe a déclaré forfait = the team withdrew

- a crime. E.g. le meurtrier s'enfuit après avoir commis son forfait = the murderer fled the scene after his crime

Sent: Friday, September 03, 2004 1:17 AM

(le) beurre = butter

beurré / beurrée = drunk

Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 7:25 AM

nocif / nocive = harmful, noxious

E.g. C'est nocif pour la santé = it's noxious, it's bad for your health

Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2004 7:49 AM

(une) hache = an ax

enterrer la hache de guerre = to bury the hatchet