French Word of the Day January 2005

Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 10:35 AM

(un) aliment = food. Generally plural.

les aliments pour chien = dog food

Sent: Friday, January 28, 2005 6:44 AM

(un) tapis roulant = a moving walkway, a conveyor belt (literally: a rolling carpet)

Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 6:28 AM

Luke, singer-songwriter from Bretagne, who's second album La tête en arrière is getting noticed, thanks to its first single Soledad

http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0001M4DKA/qid=1106757312/ref=pd_ka_0/171-9563051-3793804

Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2005 11:11 AM

moyen / moyenne = (as an adjective) medium, intermediate, average

C'était comment les vacances ? Moyen = How was the vacation ? So-so

Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 8:30 AM

(la) créativité = creativity http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050118/od_afp/francespaincrimedrugs_050118191428

Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 6:28 AM

(une) tempête = a storm

Sent: Fri 1/21/2005 1:29 PM

(un) bouffon = originally, a jester. By extension, a clown, a joker. Mostly pejorative.

Espèce de bouffon! = You clown!

Sent: Thu 1/20/2005 12:04 PM

Answers to yesterday's quiz below, congrats to those who got the right answers.

une charlotte au chocolat = a cake with a base of "mousse au chocolat" (chocolate mousse) and "biscuits à la cuiller" (ladyfingers), typically served with "crème anglaise " (custard)

http://www.linternaute.com/femmes/cuisine/recette/164533/8277398944/282/charlotte_au_chocolat.shtml

and in English

http://www.meilleurduchef.com/cgi/mdc/l/en/recettes/charlotte_chocolat.html

Mmmmh

Sent: Wed 1/19/2005 11:01 AM

Can you guess which American movies were translated this way for their release in France ?

Les ex de mon mec (my boyfriend's ex): Little black book

Mon beau-père, mes parents et moi (my father-in-law, my parents and I): Meet the Fockers

Présentateur-vedette (literally, star presenter): Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Un crime dans la tête (a crime in the head): The Manchurian Candidate

Sent: Tue 1/18/2005 11:31 AM




super = popular adjective meaning great, amazing

C'était comment les vacances ? Super! = How was the vacation ? Great!

Sent: Monday, January 17, 2005 9:04 AM

(une) cicatrice = a scar

Sent: Fri 1/14/2005 12:58 PM

Sinsémilia (http://www.sinsemilia.com/) : French Reggae band from Grenoble, currently enjoying a bit of success thanks to their uplifting single "Tout le bonheur du monde" ("All the happiness in the world")

Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 6:12 PM

ahuri(e) = as an adjective: dazed, stunned.

E.g. ne prends pas cet air ahuri! = don't look so surprised!

As a noun: halfwit

Sent: Wed 1/12/2005 2:49 PM

(la) grippe = flu

Sent: Tue 1/11/2005 2:11 PM

primo, secondo (the 'c' is pronounced 'g'), tertio (the second 't' is pronounced 's') = firstly, secondly, thirdly.

Same meaning as premièrement, deuxièmement, troisièmement

Sent: Mon 1/10/2005 2:25 PM

voici / voilà = here (is) / there (is)

E.g. Voilà ce que je cherchais! = Here's what I was looking for! (I guess to be exact we should say Voici ce que je cherchais since it's supposed to be close, but voilà is definitely more popular)

Voili voilou! = colloquial way to say "voilà voilà!", typically written more than spoken, e.g. at the end of an informal letter/email.

Sent: Fri 1/7/2005 1:14 PM

And now we put the last two words together to get a bilingual joke.

Un homme veut prendre des cours d'Anglais. Il frappe a la porte d'une école, quelqu'un ouvre et l'homme demande:

- Ce n'est pas ici les cours d'Anglais ?

- If if! Between, between!

A man wants to take English lessons. He knocks on the door of a school, someone opens, and the man asks:

- This isn't the English school, is it ?

- If if! Between, between!

:-|

Sent: Thu 1/6/2005 11:21 AM

entre = between

E.g. nous serons entre 10 et 15 = we'll be between 10 and 15

Also forms of the verb entrer (to enter)

j'entre, il entre = I enter, he enters

Entre! = Get in!

Sent: Wed 1/5/2005 1:13 PM

si =

1/ if. E.g. si tu viens, je serai content = if you come, I'll be happy

2/ yes (marquing affirmation). E.g. - Tu ne crois pas ? - Si! = - Don't you think ? - Yes!

3/ in music, the note B

Sent: Tue 1/4/2005 2:26 PM

grosso modo = roughly

grosso modo, tout va bien = broadly speaking everything's fine

ça fait grosso modo 5 ans que je ne l'ai pas vu = it's been more or less 5 years since I saw him

Sent: Mon 1/3/2005 11:04 AM

ORL (stands for oto-rhino-laryngologiste) = Ear, Nose and Throat doctor.

...and Best Wishes to all for 2005!.