Tuesday, February 22, 2005

French Word of the Day February 2005

Sent: Monday, February 28, 2005 12:12 AM



Back to swear words - it's been a while

(une) couille = a ball. As in testicle :-|

although there are, as you can imagine, numerous colorful expressions using couilles, I'd like to start with this one:

un/une casse-couilles = someone who's a pain in the ass (literally a ballbreaker), can also be an adjective:

c'est casse-couilles! = it's a pain in the ass!



Sent: Fri 2/25/2005 8:02 AM




(un) ajout = an addition

A little clarification about yesterday's word: though it can be affectionate, don't surprise your French girlfriend by calling her that. I wouldn't be held responsible for the consequences. Now, you can call me that any day.


Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2005 7:11 AM



(une) catin = a prostitute

Somehow, this can (in some cases) be safely used in an affectionate way. Not with strangers though, and with extreme care. As in "ça va catin ?"


Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2005 6:16 AM



(la) mer = sea

ce n'est pas la mer à boire = it's not that difficult (literally: it's not like having to drink the sea)


Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 4:46 PM



musarder = to wander around. Not really that popular but I find it funny


Sent: Monday, February 21, 2005 8:54 PM



(une) bourde = a blunder

For those who hadn't noticed, the French Word of the Day experienced some technical difficulties in the past few weeks. After a long investigation, the root cause of the problem has been identified - in technical terms, it's called the "Mandorla effect". Everything should be back to normal, but I am also investigating alternatives. To be continued...


Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 7:10 AM



béni-oui-oui = yes-man


Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2005 6:47 AM



(une) nana = a girl, a chick (colloquial)


Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2005 10:01 AM



(la) pluie = rain

je ne suis pas né de la dernière pluie = I wasn't born yesterday (literally: I wasn't born last time it rained)


Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 3:32 PM



(un) ronron = purr / purring

faire ronron = to purr

le ronron de la vie quotidienne = the humdrum routine of daily life


Sent: Monday, February 14, 2005 8:57 AM



(un) croc (pronounced "kro") = a fang avoir les crocs = to be starving (slang)


Sent: Friday, February 11, 2005 7:03 AM



grailler = slang for manger (to eat) On va grailler ? = Wanna go eat ?


Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2005 7:09 AM



(le) sang = blood (the 'g' is silent)


Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 11:11 AM



(une/la) vue = sight / view. à vue de nez = roughly (nez = nose) à vue d'œil = before someone's eyes (œil = eye) en mettre plein la vue = to impress E.g. il m'en a mis plein la vue! = he really impressed me!


Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2005 1:05 AM



(une) sucette = a lollipop And an interesting expression: partir en sucette = to go awry E.g. Depuis qu'il a arrêté ses études a l'université, il est complètement parti en sucette = he started losing it after he dropped out of college


Sent: Monday, February 07, 2005 8:09 PM



court-vêtu(e) = adjective referring to someone wearing short clothes. Applies mostly to women, obviously. E.g. une femme court-vêtue = a woman in a short skirt.


Sent: Friday, February 04, 2005 7:25 AM



(un) RU = abbreviation for Restaurant Universitaire (University Cafeteria), pronounced as is (not spelled)


Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2005 7:05 AM



déchu(e) = fallen, deposed

un ange déchu = a fallen angel



Sent: Wed 2/2/2005 7:13 AM




les actualités = news



Sent: Tue 2/1/2005 6:57 AM




(un) sapajou = a capuchin monkey. One of Tintin's captain Haddock's favorite insults

http://www.angelfire.com/super2/animorphs/insult.html

Monday, February 21, 2005

French word of the day - the first post

It's been over 2 and a half years since I started my daily routine of sending French words to a few people who had no idea what they were getting into. Looking back at previous words has always been an interesting experience, because the one I pick always has some connection to my state of mind at the time. Remembering that connection (especially for someone who's been killing brain cells at a steady rate for quite some time) can be challenging.

For the very first official FWotD though, this exercise proved fairly easy. At the time, I was working on a project where the workload was... let's say... pretty light (how do you think this all started ? I had to keep myself busy). While touring the office one day to give away PIMs cookies (more on that another day), I realized that the only thing I had missed about working in France (i.e., not working), I finally had. I didn't have any more reasons to be jealous of my friends back home, who could go on strike at any time to protest the lack of massage chairs in the break room or the color of the new office carpet. And here it was, the first official French Word of the Day...


-----Original Message-----

Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2002 8:23 AM

Subject: French word of the day


(today, the Frenchiest word of all)

grève = strike

faire la grève = to go on strike


E.g. "In France, when you don't feel like working, you go on strike"

"En France, quand tu n'as pas envie de travailler, tu fais la grève"