French Word of the Day

L'avion

2008-05-19T08:28:00.000-04:00

Un avion = a plane (pronounced ah-vee-on)

L'avion is also the name of the new (or maybe not-so-new anymore by now) low-fare business class connecting Newark to Paris' lesser-known airport Orly, the larger airport being known as either Charles de Gaulle or Roissy (from the name of the town where it's located)

un cliché

2008-05-15T22:45:00.000-04:00

un cliché = a print (for pictures) or a cliché.

All this just to introduce today's article from the UK on clichés about France.

Vive le foot

2008-05-12T22:20:00.000-04:00

le championnat = championship, which in France (as in most of Europe) can only mean one thing: football! (a.k.a proper football, a.k.a. soccer).

The word is (quite obviously) derived from un champion (pronounced sh-an-pee-on) / une championne which means (quite obviously again) a champion.

If you're not following France's championship, I don't blame you, it can be both boring (Lyon coming first seven years in a row?) and exciting - like this year, with next week-end's games deciding both the 1st place (between Lyon and Bordeaux) and the last team falling to second division (between Lens, Toulouse and Paris-Saint Germain).

Fou rire

2008-05-09T11:27:00.000-04:00

fou (feminine folle) is an adjective that means crazy, wild, erratic
le rire = laughter

Un fou rire is uncontrollable laughter, or giggles.

May 8

2008-05-08T11:26:00.000-04:00

Today, le 8 Mai, marks a couple of important anniversaries, in France and beyond:

It marks WWII V-day
Less famously, on May 8, 1790, the French National Assembly decided to introduce the metric system.

May 8th is one of the many holidays in May in France, and as it falls on a Thursday is it the perfect setup to allow people to "faire le pont" (literally make the bridge), i.e. turn this into a 4-day week-end. Just like last week with May 1st (Labor Day).

Re: Séries télé

2008-04-03T10:01:00.000-04:00

Answer's to the séries télé quiz are below. Typically, when importing TV series, we tend to either:

Keep the original title (more and more - see Heroes, Weeds... even How I met your mother)
Keep the original title but make it more self-explanatory ("24 heures chrono", "The Closer : L.A. Enquêtes prioritaires"...)
Completely change it, and ideally make sure it has nothing to do with the original title, in order to increase confusion... like below

1. La Croisière s'amuse = E. The Love boat
2. Alerte à Malibu = I. Baywatch
3. Arnold et Willy = K. Diff'rent Strokes
4. Newport Beach = G. The O.C. (I guess O.C. is
5. La quatrième dimension = A. The Twilight Zone
6. L'Agence tous risques = D. The A Team
7. Les Experts = H. CSI
8. Enquêteur malgré lui = J. Psych
9. Larry et son nombril = F. Curb your enthusiasm (Larry and his navel!)
10. Sur écoute = C. The Wire
11. Mon oncle Charlie = B. Two and a Half Men

Séries télé

2008-04-01T16:27:00.000-04:00

Une série télé = a TV series

Can you match the French TV series below with their original titles?

1. La Croisière s'amuse	A. The Twilight Zone
2. Alerte à Malibu	B. Two and a Half Men
3. Arnold et Willy	C. The Wire
4. Newport Beach	D. The A Team
5. La quatrième dimension	E. The Love boat
6. L'Agence tous risques	F. Curb your enthusiasm
7. Les Experts	G. The O.C.
8. Enquêteur malgré lui	H. CSI
9. Larry et son nombril	I. Baywatch
10. Sur écoute	J. Psych
11. Mon oncle Charlie	K. Diff'rent Strokes

Fruits de mer

2008-03-27T16:05:00.000-04:00

un fruit (pronounced fru - ee) = a fruit
la mer = the sea

fruits de mer is, now that I think about it, a quite interesting way of referring to seafood (literally, sea fruit)

Joyeuses Pâques!

2008-03-24T12:39:00.000-04:00

Pâques = Easter (pronounced pak)

Soupçon

2008-03-19T08:35:00.000-04:00

un soupçon = a suspicion; a little bit, a trace of (pronounced soop - son)

E.g.
J'ai des soupçons = I have suspicions
Veux-tu un soupçon de vin ? = Would you like a drop of wine?

soupçonner quelqu'un de quelquechose = to suspect someone of something
Je le soupçonne de fumer en cachette = I suspect he secretely smokes

Guili

2008-03-18T10:22:00.000-04:00

guili guili (pronounced guee-lee guee-lee) is what you say when tickling someone!

Pareil

2008-03-14T14:28:00.000-04:00

pareil = the same (pronounced pah - raye)
E.g. c'est pareil = it's the same
see also même:
e.g. J'ai le même T-shirt = I have the same T-shirt
C'est du pareil au même = It makes no difference (same as "C'est kif-kif")

And my favorite:
C'est blanc bonnet et bonnet blanc = It's all the same. Literally it's white hat and hat white

Bavoir

2008-03-10T09:17:00.000-04:00

un bavoir = a bib

Un(e)

2008-03-06T08:49:00.000-05:00

un / une = one. Some expressions with un/une:

s'en jeter un (derrière la cravate) = to knock back a drink (literally to throw a drink behind one's tie :-)
être comme pas un/une = to be extremely / to be the greatest + adjective. E.g. Il est menteur comme pas un = he's the greatest liar, elle est fière comme pas une = she's extremely proud
un pour tous et tous pour un = all for one and one for all

Les aléas du métier

2008-03-03T08:50:00.000-05:00

(un) aléa = a hazard
e.g. les aléas du métier = occupational hazards

(un) métier = a job, profession

La tête

2008-02-28T09:27:00.000-05:00

For some reason, we hae a lot of synonyms for la tête (head) or le visage (face), including:

(la) bille
(la) binette
(la) bobine
(la) bouille
(la) caboche
(la) figure
(la) frimousse
(la) gueule
(la) tronche
(la) trogne
(la) trombine
and probably others I can't remember right now.

E.g. se casser la figure
or se casser la binette
or se casser la margoulette (I've never heard anyone say this, but give it a shot)
or se casser la gueule (slang) = to fall

MIam!

2008-02-25T08:27:00.000-05:00

miam is the equivalent of "mmmh", an expression to signal that one is enjoying food... but mostly in anticipation of eating it (try saying miam miam! while actually chewing food).

It is pronounced mee-am

Nouveau-né

2008-02-22T09:08:00.000-05:00

un nouveau-né or un nourrisson = a newborn

Coming from, respectively:

nouveau (feminine nouvelle) = new
né / née = born
nourrir = to feed

As someone who can never remember when consonants are doubled, I sometimes need help with nourrir (two 'r's) and mourir (to die - only one 'r'). A well-known trick is to use a single 'r' for the verb related to something you do only once, and two 'r's for the one you do more than one time. Works for me everytime.

La dent

2008-02-20T08:47:00.000-05:00

(une) dent = a tooth

avoir une dent contre quelqu'un = to hold a grudge against someone

La petite souris = the tooth fairy (literally the little mouth)

Tête et queue

2008-02-18T07:58:00.000-05:00

la tête = head
la queue = tail

a couple of expressions that incorporate both:
ça n'a ni queue ni tête = it doesn't make sense (literally it has neither head nor tails)
faire un tête-à-queue = to slew around

La Blanquette

2008-02-11T08:39:00.000-05:00

la blanquette is a French dish, whose name is derived from blanc ('c' is silent, feminine blanche) which means white. It is a delicious veal stew with lots of aromatic herbs, served in a thick creamy sauce. It's not even that hard to make if you have time on your hands (and a bouquet garni)

La mouche

2008-02-08T22:12:00.000-05:00

une mouche (pronounced moosh) = a fly, bull's eye (when referring to a target) or a fake beauty spot.

Lots of interesting expressions with mouche:

il ne ferait pas de mal à une mouche = he wouldn't hurt a fly
on entendrait une mouche voler = you could hear a pin drop (literally a fly buzz)
quelle mouche les a piqués? = what's gotten into them? (literally what fly bit them)
regarder voler les mouches = to stare into space (literally to watch flies)
prendre la mouche = to get upset, to take something personally
tomber comme des mouches = to drop like flies.

Cadeau

2008-02-06T09:51:00.000-05:00

un cadeau (promounced kah-doh) = a present, a gift

faire or donner un cadeau (à quelqu'un) = to give (someone) a present

Back to basics

2008-02-04T10:01:00.000-05:00

oui = yes (pronounced wee)
non = no
peut-être = maybe (literally could be, pronounced puh't-aytr)

An example, in the spirit of this week-end's presidential wedding:
Sarkozy et Bruni ont dit "oui" = Sarkozy and Bruni said "yes"

Un bouquet

2008-01-31T12:13:00.000-05:00

un bouquet = a bouquet (duh!)

Also worth noting:
un bouquet garni (literally garnished bouquet) is a bundle of aromatic herbs used in stews and soups
le bouquet final (literally final bouquet) is either

in construction, the "topping out", ie addition of a branch/ribbon/bouquet on top of a new construction to celebrate its completion
the last few shots of a fireworks display

Vacarme

2008-01-28T10:04:00.000-05:00

un vacarme = noise, racket

Other synonyms:
le bruit (literally noise) (silent 't')
le tapage
le chahut (silent 't')
le boucan

C'est pas bientôt fini ce vacarme? = Can you stop this racket?

Camisole

2008-01-25T07:56:00.000-05:00

une camisole = a camisole (pronounced kah - mee - zol). Mental note: do not google-image-search a translation for camisole from the office next time.

More interestingly:
une camisole de force = a straightjacket

Idée fixe

2008-01-23T08:48:00.000-05:00

une idée (pronouced ee-day) = an idea

fixe = well... fixed

une idée fixe = an obsession, an idea that dominate's one mind

Idéfix is the name of Astérix's pet dog in the comic Astérix et Obélix, where most character names are puns

It's also the title of a song on Nadj's debut self-titled album, for those of you who enjoy French rock.

Poilu

2008-01-21T13:30:00.000-05:00

un poil (pronounced pwal) = a hair. An expression to know:
à poil = naked (i.e. down to wearing nothing but hair)

poilu / poilu(e) = hairy

Poilu was the nickname of WWI infantrymen, who often wore mustache or beard. In related news, we mourn the death of the penultimate (avant-dernier in French) and oldest surviving poilu, Louis de Cazenave, who passed away at 110 last week-end.

So....

2008-01-19T09:17:00.000-05:00

Today, a few homonyms... all are pronounced so:
un seau = a bucket
un saut = a jump
un sceau = a seal
sot (feminine sotte) = silly, stupid

Examples:
un seau d'eau (pronounced so - doh) = a bucket of water
le saut en longueur = long jump
le sceau royal = the royal seal
il n'y a pas de sot métier (saying) = there's no such thing as a stupid job

La voix

2008-01-17T08:38:00.000-05:00

une voix (pronounced voo-ah) = a voice. It also means (very appropriately) a vote or ballot.

For example:

ça m'a laissé sans voix = it left me speechless
il a gagné avec 60% des voix = he won with 60% of the votes
casser la voix = to break/lose one's voice, as in Patrick Bruel's famous song from the late 80's. If you're not familiar with the carreer of this actor/singer and (yes) World Champion of Poker in 1998, start here.

Canular

2008-01-10T21:11:00.000-05:00

un canular (ka - nuh - lahr) = a hoax, a prank

I couldn't resist this one, after catching up on the fascinating story of the Frenchman who became a superstar in France for being elected President of Facebook. Of course, it took the media a little while, but they finally realized it was indeed a canular, although maybe an involuntary one...

Biscornu

2008-01-09T09:56:00.000-05:00

biscornu = oddly shaped, twisted, and by extension weird (it's pronounced bee-ss-corn-uh)

bis means twice, and cornu "with horns" or that resembles a horn.

un raisonnement biscornu = twisted logic

Advenir

2008-01-08T08:15:00.000-05:00

advenir = to happen. It conjugates like "venir" (to come), but is only used in 3rd person, and most of the time singular, as in:

quoi qu'il advienne,... = whatever happens,...
advienne que pourra = do what there is to do

Now, let's take a look back at venir:

je viens ('s' is silent)
tu viens ('s' is silent)
il vient ('t' is silent)
nous venons ('s' is silent)
vous venez ('z' is silent)
ils viennent (pronounced "vienne")

There are many more verbs that consist of a prefix + venir, such as:

circonvenir = to circumvent
contrevenir = to contravene
convenir = to agree
devenir = to become
intervenir = to intervene
parvenir = to reach
revenir = to return
(se) souvenir = to remember
subvenir = to support (someone's needs)
survenir = to occur, to happen

and they all conjugate the same way.

Carte blanche

2008-01-07T08:30:00.000-05:00

une carte = a card, but also a map
blanc (the 'c' is silent) / blanche = white

so carte blanche literally means "white card" or "blank paper", and has the same meaning of giving someone full discretionary power to do whatever is necessary:
tu as carte blanche = I give you carte blanche

Saperlipopette bis

2008-01-04T14:35:00.000-05:00

Saperlipopette, j'ai oublié la prononciation! (oh my, I forgot the pronunciation). If you really want to use yesterday's word, it's pronounced sah-pair-lee-poh-pet

And also, don't forget this Sunday is l'Epiphanie, if you can get your hands on one, have a Galette des Rois

Saperlipopette

2008-01-03T13:05:00.000-05:00

A mild interjection ("oh my") that has apparently slowly derived from variations of sacrelote / sacrebleu / sacredieu, all blasphemous at some point (sacré = sacred, Dieu = God)

Today it is a pretty insignificant, almost antiquated thing to say though, but you can always try it.

Bonne année!

2008-01-01T21:06:00.000-05:00

The French word of the Day has been dormant for a while, but it is my humble New year resolution to start it again. In the meanwhile, as it is the custom:

Bonne année, et bonne santé! (Happy new year and may you be healthy)

S'énerver

2007-08-07T23:03:00.000-04:00

s'énerver = to get upset. E.g.:
ne t'énerve pas! = don't get upset!
qu'est-ce qu'il m'énerve! = he gets on my nerves!

Needless to say, you do not want to upset a Fenchman!

Fait-tout

2007-08-06T12:22:00.000-04:00

Literally, fait-tout means "do everything". As a masculine noun, it refers to a stew pot where, supposedly, you can cook anything. It's pronounced "faytoo"

(source)

Answers

2007-07-30T23:15:00.000-04:00

And the answers to last week's quiz are:

Die Hard (1) is Piège de cristal (as the movie takes place is a skyscraper)
Die Hard 2: Die Harder is 58 minutes pour vivre ("58 minutes to live"), as the hero has 58 minutes to stop the bad guys, although the exact time doesn't have that much importance in the movie
Die Hard 3 - Die Hard with a Vengeance is Une journée en enfer ("A day in Hell")
Die Hard 4 - Live Free or die hard is Retour en enfer ("Back to Hell")

André wins the PIMs!

Quiz

2007-07-28T19:52:00.000-04:00

Today, in celebration of the latest adventures of John McClane, try to match the 4 Die hard movies with their French titles:
1/ Une journée en enfer (literally "A day in Hell")
2/ Retour en enfer ("Back to Hell")
3/ 58 minutes pour vivre ("58 minutes to live")
4/ Piège de cristal ("Crystal trap")

First right answer gets a pack of PIMs

Clafoutis

2007-07-23T23:45:00.000-04:00

un clafoutis (pronounced kla-foo-tee)= a desert made of fruit baked in batter - usually cherries, plums, apples or other berries.

Canard

2007-07-13T13:33:00.000-04:00

un canard (the 'd' is silent) = a duck, also slang for newspaper (e.g. Le Canard Enchainé)

French ducks are now used for more than foie gras and other pâtés, as seen in the news today

And of course, as July 14th approaches, Happy Bastille Day to all! (Bon quatre Juillet!)

La fuite

2007-07-10T08:40:00.000-04:00

s'enfuir = to run away

E.g. "il s'est enfui à toutes jambes" or "il a pris ses jambes à son cou" = he ran away as fast as he could. (une) jambe = leg and (un) cou = neck, so that literally translates into "he took his legs to his neck"

la fuite = flight, escape. E.g. prendre la fuite = s'enfuir

Chouquettes

2007-07-01T22:24:00.000-04:00

An impromptu visit to Financier, the local patisserie, last week ended up being a trip down memory lane. I hadn't seen chouquettes in years, so today's word is my personal equivalent of Proust's madeleine.

Une chouquette is a small puffy ball made out of choux pastry and topped with chunks of sugar. They're not that different from les pets-de-nonne (fritters) except the latter are deep-fried instead of baked. Interestingly, pet-de-nonne literally translates to "nun's fart". One story has it that pets-de-nonne are a culinary incident that happened when nuns started laughing when one of them farted, and accidentally dropped some dough in hot oil. I'd love to know the true meaning... this may even be worth a bag of chouquettes.

Tahoe

2007-06-26T14:16:00.000-04:00

I know I should feel bad, but there's something about reading the words lake and fire in the same headline that reminded me of this one:

un lac = a lake
un feu = a fire. In the case of wildfires, arson or accidental fires, we use un incendie

which leads me to the expression:
il n'y a pas le feu! (y a pas le feu! for short) or y a pas le feu au lac! = no need to rush, there's no emergency (literally there's no fire and the lake is not on fire, respectively)

While it's pretty clear why the absence of a fire means there is no need to rush, the mischievous addition of the lake is (allegedly) a reference to the Swiss - and their lake Léman - whom in France have the reputation of being slow. That expression is therefore better used with a forced Swiss accent!

Le réveil

2007-06-21T18:48:00.000-04:00

After a good week of inactivity it is time for le réveil = waking up, (re)awakening. E.g.

au réveil, il allume la radio = he turns on the radio as soon as he wakes up
un réveille-matin = alarm clock (a "morning-waker"?)

Not to be confused with le réveillon = (Christmas/New Year) eve, as in le réveillon de Noël = Christmas Eve

Le temps

2007-06-06T07:53:00.000-04:00

As a follow-up to yesterday's météo, I was reminded that météo usually refers more to the forecast than the current weather, which leads me to:
le temps ('p' and 's' are silent, so this is pronounced like 'tan') = weather (it also means time)
E.g.

quel sale temps! = what awful weather!
le mauvais temps = bad weather
quel temps fait-il? = what's the weather like?

La meteo

2007-06-04T08:49:00.000-04:00

la météo = (short for météorologie) is the weather or weather service. E.g. la météo est pourrie = the weather sucks.
It can also be an adjective, as in les predictions météo = the weather forecast

Météo France is the organization responsible for weather forecasts in France. Ironically, as the weather has been disrupting Roland Garros (the French Open), Météo France recently ordered a new NEC supercomputer that should allow greatly enhanced precision in its forecasts.

Pleurnicheur

2007-05-15T17:03:00.000-04:00

pleurer = to cry, to weep, to lament
e.g. il pleure pour un rien = he cries at the slightest thing

pleurnicher = to whine, to snivel
e.g. arrête de pleurnicher! = stop whining!
un pleurnichard (the 'd' is silent) or pleurnicheur / une pleurnicheuse = a cry-baby

Which leads me to today's news: French workers are cry-babies. You have to love the illustration there.

(thanks Corina for the link)

Béarnaise

2007-05-13T17:26:00.000-04:00

While one would expect Sauce Béarnaise to originate from Béarn, a small area in the Pyrenées, it was actually created around Paris in the 19th century.

Quite simple on paper, this sauce made with egg yolk, butter and herbs is actually quite difficult to get right. If you want to give it a try, here is a recipe. It's simply divine with beef...

Peine

2007-05-07T22:00:00.000-04:00

la peine has a number of meanings:
1/ sorrow, grief, e.g.:

avoir de la peine = to feel sad
faire de la peine (à quelqu'un) = to hurt someone
ça me fait de la peine (de...) = it hurts me (to...)

2/ effort, trouble, e.g.:

c'est peine perdue = it's a waste of effort
se donner la peine or prendre la peine (de...) = to take the trouble (to...)
ce n'est pas la peine (de...) = there's no point (in...)

3/ difficulty, e.g:

sans peine = easily
avec peine = with difficulty
avoir de la peine (à...) = to have difficulty (doing...)

4/ punishment, sentence, e.g. :

une peine de prison = prison sentence
pour la peine, tu feras la vaisselle = as punishment, you'll do the dishes

Dust

2007-04-30T21:27:00.000-04:00

la poussière = dust, a speck of dust. E.g.

réduire en poussière = to reduce to dustspeck of dust.
5 euros et des poussières = just over 5 euros
mordre la poussière = to bite the dust

Paris

2007-04-27T11:52:00.000-04:00

No big surprise with this one (don't pronounce the 's' in French), but a few side notes and snippets of information:

Paris was known as Lutèce (Lutetia) under Roman occupation, but takes its name from the Parisii celtic tribe that inhabited the region before the Romans
It is nicknamed la ville-lumière (city of lights), supposedly both for its center role in the French cultural life and its famous street-lighting
It is also referred to as Paname, an early-20th century slang term that has recently been revived by the young generation
It's also sometimes referred to as la ville aux cent villages (the hundred-village city), la cité de l'amour (the city of love) or, modestly, la plus belle ville du monde (the most beautiful city in the world)
Parisians are les Parisiens, also pejoratively called Parigots (pronounced pa-ree-go) by jealous non-Parisians
Its often-mocked soccer team is PSG, which stands for Paris Saint-Germain

Elections

2007-04-23T15:56:00.001-04:00

Well, today's word in an easy one, as French voters return from the urns:
une election = an election
but it also allows me to introduce some of the acronyms that you need to be aware of if you happen to speak to a French national in the next couple of weeks, as these are sure to be part of every conversation:

UMP: Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement) - right, candidate Nicolas Sarkozy who came in 1st in the first round
PS: Parti Socialiste (Socialist Party) - left, candidate Ségolène Royal who came in 2nd in the first round
UDF: Union pour la démocratie française (Union for French Democracy) - center, candidate François Bayrou who came in 3rd in the first round
FN: Front National (National Front) - extreme right, candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen who came in 4th in the first round.

And for the smaller ones:

LCR: Ligue communiste révolutionnaire (Revolutionary Communist League)
MPF: Mouvement pour la France (Movement for France)
LO: Lutte ouvrière (Workers Struggle)
CPNT: Chasse, pêche, nature et traditions (Hunting, Fishing, Nature and Traditions)

If you are interested in reading about these and the fascinating process of French presidential elections, feel free to read more here. The climax will happen in two weeks (on 5/6), with the 2nd round face-off of Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal.

Elections

2007-04-23T15:56:00.000-04:00

UMP: Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement) - right, candidate Nicolas Sarkozy who came in 1st in the first round
PS: Parti Socialiste (Socialist Party) - left, candidate Ségolène Royal who came in 2nd in the first round
UDF: Union pour la démocratie française (Union for French Democracy) - center, candidate François Bayrou who came in 3rd in the first round
FN: Front National (National Front) - extreme right, candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen who came in 4th in the first round.

And for the smaller ones:

LCR: Ligue communiste révolutionnaire (Revolutionary Communist League)
MPF: Mouvement pour la France (Movement for France)
LO: Lutte ouvrière (Workers Struggle)
CPNT: Chasse, pêche, nature et traditions (Hunting, Fishing, Nature and Traditions)

Boulet

2007-04-19T09:01:00.000-04:00

un boulet = a large, heavy ball, usually a cannonball:
un boulet de canon = a cannonball
Also means a ball as in "ball and chain", hence the popular expression to designate someone who's a burden:
je ne veux pas être un boulet pour toi = I don't want to be a burden to you
quel boulet! = what a drag!

1-2-3

2007-04-11T18:21:00.000-04:00

primo = firstly
secundo (pronounced se - gon - do) = secondly
tertio = thirdly (pronounced ter-see-yo)

You can also use deuzio (also spelled deusio) but it is less formal (although it is listed in my dictionary). If you want to be facetious, you can also try uno-deuxio-troisio (simply appending -io to the numbers) but that's definitely incorrect. And lastly, you can go a little bit further (quarto = fourthly) but it becomes a mine field trying to go past 4. I wouldn't recommend it :)

Khâgne

2007-04-09T22:56:00.000-04:00

la khâgne = slang term used to designate the classes préparatoires (preparatory classes) to France's top schools ("grandes écoles")

This term refers in particular to humanities classes, but classes préparatoires more generally refers to the two years of intense study, right after high school, that lead to highly competitive exams for entrance into the top engineering, business and research schools, such as the Ecole Normale Supérieure (for research, aka Normale Sup', ENS or Ulm after the street where it's located in Paris) or Ecole Polytechnique (for engineering, also called "X"). Known for their intense competition between students ("no, you can't borrow my eraser, I wouldn't want you to correct your mistakes"), classes préparatoires also compete against each other. Among the most famous ones are Louis-le-Grand, Henri IV (aka H4), and Saint Louis, all located in Paris' famous Quartier Latin (latin quarter) student district, but many more exist throughout France.

By extension, un khâgneux / une khâgneuse = slang for a student in a preparatory class. Slang is actually an integral part of life in classes préparatoires, for example:

maths sup' (short for mathématiques supérieures) = first year of math prep school
maths spé (short for mathématiques spéciales) = second of math prep school
3/2 (trois-demi) = student in his second year of classes préparatoires
5/2 (cinq-demi) = student who's repeating his second year and taking the entry exams for the second time
une colle = literally, glue. In university lingo, an oral test

Tarte

2007-04-05T11:53:00.000-04:00

une tarte = a pie

One of my favorites has to be la tarte tatin, an apple pie baked upside-down with caramelized apples. Legend has it the Tatin sisters created this dish by mistake (either by dropping a pie on the floor and re-baking it, or by trying to salvage a bunch of overcooked apples... more here). Anyway, it's delicious with crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream. Here's a recipe.

In completely unrelated news, No One Is Innocent, a French band who had its 15mn of fame in the late 90s before a comeback in 2004, and whom I've already mentioned, recently released a new album (Gazoline), for those interested in noise.

Lapalisse

2007-04-04T22:44:00.000-04:00

une lapalissade = a truism

Not to be confused with la palissade = a fence, this word derives from Jacques de la Palisse, of whom, legend has it, people said "a quarter hour before his death, he was still quite alive" (un quart d'heure avant sa mort, il était encore en vie) - more details on the true story here, in English this time

TGV

2007-04-03T22:31:00.001-04:00

TGV = Train à Grande Vitesse, literally High-Speed Train, the French version of the bullet train that made the news today. Of course, it also stands for Tequila-Gin-Vodka.

Sot-l'y-laisse

2007-03-29T23:36:00.000-04:00

sot / sotte = silly (the 't' is silent in the masculine form)
e.g. petit sot! = you silly thing!
un sot-l'y-laisse = a chicken oyster. Literally, it means "the part that a silly person would leave behind"

Barbe à papa

2007-03-26T10:08:00.000-04:00

une barbe = a beard

E.g. se laisser pousser la barbe = to grow a beard
barbe à papa = cotton candy (literally daddy's beard)

Barbapapa is also the name of a series of children's books and cartoons born in France in the 70s, featuring a pinkish blob called Barbapapa and his wife Barbamama.

OVNI

2007-03-22T19:53:00.000-04:00

OVNI stands for Objet Volant Non-Identifié, where:
un objet = an object 9the final 't' is silent)
volant / volante = flying. As a noun, un volant = a steering wheel
non-identifié(e) = unidentified

As you must have guessed by now, OVNI is the French acronym equivalent to UFO. In news today, France became the first country to open up its UFO files to the public. If you have an investigating mind, or would like to practice your French by reading transcripts of police interviews of farmers who claim they were abducted by aliens, you can do so on this site (at the time I'm writing this, however, it is down. I suppose too many UFO investigators tried it out).

Cream

2007-03-20T18:03:00.000-04:00

First, let's start with the less obvious usage, as a masculine noun:
un crème = an espresso with milk

And now for the more usual one:
la crème = cream

For example:

fraises à la crème = strawberries and cream
la crème anglaise = custard ("English cream")
la crème de la crème = the crème de la crème, the very best
crème fraîche = heavy cream, or crème fraîche, since it recently officially made it as an English word according to the Oxford dictionary (thanks Fredrik)
crème Chantilly = Chantilly cream
crème fouettée = whipped cream
crème brûlée = crème brûlée ("Burnt cream")

and a lot more...

La relégation

2007-03-19T08:09:00.000-04:00

reléguer = to relegate, to banish

E.g.: reléguer quelquechose au second plan = to push somthing into the background
in sports, la relégation is, well relegation, i.e. what is looking more and more likely to happen to Paris' laughable soccer team, Paris Saint Germain

RAS

2007-03-13T21:12:00.000-04:00

signaler = to point out, to report, to indicate something, to remind

E.g.:

je te signale que tu parles à ta mère = may I remind you that you're speaking with your mother
je leur ai signalé qu'on serait en retard = I let them know we'd be late
rien à signaler = nothing to report (abbreviated RAS)

Raaaah

2007-03-07T22:55:00.000-05:00

râler = to moan/groan/complain
E.g. qu'est-ce que t'as encore à râler? = what are you moaning about now?
un râleur / une râleuse = someone who complains a lot
un râle = a groan
râlant / râlante (adjective) = infuriating

Bitters

2007-03-06T21:13:00.000-05:00

aigre = sour (works for both masculine and feminine)
doux (feminine: douce) = sweet (the 'x' is silent)

aigre-doux = bittersweet

Wet

2007-02-26T21:09:00.000-05:00

mouiller = to wet (pronounced moo - yay)
se mouiller = to get wet, to wet oneself

For example:
mouiller le maillot = to give one's best (in sports. un maillot = a shirt or jersey)
ça mouille! = it rains!
il a les cheveux mouillés = his hair is wet

les mouillettes (feminine) are thin, finger-like pieces of bread that one can use to dip into un œuf à la coque (boiled egg):

Greetings

2007-02-06T22:30:00.000-05:00

Trying to shed some light on the various French greetings:

bonjour = hello, can be used pretty much anytime you meet someone (during daytime)
bonne matinée = have a good morning
bonne journée = although similar in meaning as bonjour, used mostly after having met someone for the first time in the day, to wish him a good day
bonne après-midi = similarly, used to wish someone a good afternoon when parting ways. Note that après-midi can be both masculine and feminine, so bon après-midi works as well, and is pronounced the same. If it is late in the afternoon, you can also say bonne fin d'après-midi (have a good rest of the afternoon)
bonsoir = good evening (when meeting someone)
bonne soirée = enjoy your evening (again, used generally when leaving someone). You can also say bonne fin de soirée (have a good rest of the evening, e.g. if you're leaving for the night but people are staying behind)
bonne nuit = good night
bon week-end = have a good week-end

Overnight bag

2007-01-18T20:44:00.000-05:00

It took a watching of Quatre étoiles, a forgettable movie with José Garcia, to remind me of this seldom-used word:
un baise-en-ville = overnight bag (slang)
from:
la baise = screwing (or any other synonym you can think of)
la ville = city
the meaning, clearly, being that the bag contains all you need to have an overnight affair (in the city).

Note that the use of baiser requires attention, as it means both to kiss and to screw, although nowadays it tends to lean towards the latter.

Coupe

2007-01-17T23:32:00.000-05:00

une coupe =

a cup, in sports - la coupe Davis, la Coupe du monde, etc.
a haircut, e.g. ta coupe est ridicule = your haircut is ridiculous
a cut, e.g. une coupe dans le budget = a cut in the budget
a glass, but only for champagne: une coupe de champagne = a glass of champagne
a bowl

la coupe est pleine! = enough is enough! (literally the bowl is full)

See you in two weeks when I'm back from vacation!

Sans

2007-01-17T21:30:00.000-05:00

sans = without (the final 's' is silent)

e.g.: il est parti sans moi = he left without me
j'aime mon café sans sucre = I like my coffee without sugar

And a few nouns / adjectives:

un/une sans-cœur = a heartless person (can also be an adjective)
un/une sans-culotte = sans-culottes (literally without pants). The term is used to refer to the working-class that led the French Revolution, not because they ran around naked, but because they wore pantalons instead of the fancier culottes
un/une sans-emploi = unemployed (literally without a job)
un sans-faute = a faultless ("without a fault") performance
un/une sans-gêne = a bad-mannered person (literally without embarrassment)
une/une sans-le-sou = a penniless person. Un sou = a penny/a cent, to refer to a small amount of money. 1/100 of a Euro is called un centime

Papill-

2007-01-15T09:44:00.000-05:00

Today, words that start with papill-

un papillon = a butterfly (pronounced like pah - pee - yon)
une papille = a taste bud (pronounced like pah - peey')
une papillote = a foil parcel in which to cook food. Also a chocolate or candy wrapped in silver paper (pronounced like pah - pee - yot)

Parisians

2007-01-11T09:49:00.000-05:00

Famous for their alleged rudeness and pride, Parisians also boast a wide range of verbal and facial expressions, that a non-profit tourism organization decided to showcase in their latest advertising campaign. To be fair, these are not specific to Paris, but see if you can spot the signs and gestures that accompany:

On s'appelle? = Call me (literally let's call each other)
Bof = hmm, eh, or whatever else you say when you shrug
Camembert! = a cheese, of course. Telling someone "Ferme ta boite à Camembert" ("shut your Camembert box", or "Camembert" for short) is a (rather childish) way of telling him or her to shut up. I personally prefer "ta gueule!"
Ras le bol = fed up (the 's' is silent). Un bol is a bowl, so the image is that of a bowl filled to the top, ready to overflow, as in the other expression la goutte d'eau qui fait déborder le vase
Hein? or Répétez? = Uh? Say again?
On se tire or on se casse = Let's get the hell out of here (slang)
Les boules = when you're upset. Une boule = ball. Note the gesture can also accompany tu me gonfles! (or tu me les gonfles!) = you're getting on my nerves!

See if you can find them all, plus la moue (pout), and if you feel like it you can also enter their contest to win a week-end in Paris for two by taking pictures of yourself practicing those gestures.

A few things to do before and after new year

2007-01-09T09:54:00.000-05:00

After having recovered from New Year celebrations, a few reminders of things to do around this time of year:

Profiter de la trêve des confiseurs - un confiseur is a candy/chocolate maker. une trêve is a break, a truce. La trêve des confiseurs refers to the break between Christmas and New Year, when one likes to enjoy candies. It was formerly known as the trêve de Noël in relation to a short truce between British and German troops during WWI to celebrate Christmas (as told in this 2005 movie)
Envoyer ses vœux - sending New Year greetings. Un vœu (pronounced veu, the x is silent in the plural form) is a wish or a vow
Donner les étrennes - giving New Year gifts. A long-standing tradition of giving gifts to family, now mostly replaced by a number of professions (firefighters, mailmen,...) making rounds to offer small gifts (mostly calendars) in exchange for donations
Manger la galette des rois - I already covered that topic, and now's the time of year to enjoy a delicious galette and get a chance to be the king or queen for a day!

Ennui

2007-01-08T09:38:00.000-05:00

l'ennui is a masculine noun that is pronounced "an - nui" and means either:
boredom:
mourir d'ennui! = to die of boredom
quel ennui! = what a bore!

problem, trouble:
il a des ennuis = he has problems
j'ai des ennuis avec la police = I'm in trouble with the police
il a des ennuis de santé = he has health problems

Bon à rien

2007-01-03T22:44:00.000-05:00

bon (masculine) / bonne (feminine) = good (as an adjective).
Une bonne = a maid

rien = nothing

un bon à rien / une bonne à rien = a good-for-nothing

Pipelette

2007-01-02T23:43:00.000-05:00

une pipelette (feminine only, go figure...) = a gossipmonger

Also slang for concierge / superintendant. Other synonyms include:

une commère (please note: feminine again)
une mégère (literally a shrew)
une jacasse or une pie (literally a magpie)
and probably a lot more

Gossip can also be translated in a number of ways, mostly use in plural form:

des commérages (masculine)
des potins (masculine)
des ragots (masculine)
des cancans (masculine)
des papotages (masculine)
le qu'en-dira-t-on (literally what will people say)

Bonne année!

2007-01-01T22:07:00.000-05:00

une année or un an = a year

Bonne année! = Happy (New) Year!

Joyeuses Fêtes!

2006-12-27T19:12:00.000-05:00

As usual, now is the time to go over how to wish your French-speaking friends a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year:

Joyeux Noël! = Merry Christmas!

Bonne Année! = Happy New Year!

Following on

2006-12-21T11:31:00.000-05:00

Some interesting expressions using our last word, chou

bête comme chou = really easy (literally stupid like cabbage)
faire chou blanc = to draw a blank (literally to make white cabbage, whatever that means)
faire ses choux gras (de quelquechose) = to use something to one's advantage. Often used when referring to the media (e.g. tabloids)
être dans les choux = to bring up the rear (literally to be in cabbage)
aller planter ses choux ailleurs = to go to pastures new (literally to go plant one's cabbage elsewhere)
rentrer dans le chou de quelqu'un = to beat someone up (literally to rush into one's cabbage), or, if verbally, to give someone a piece of one's mind.

Chou

2006-12-21T09:51:00.000-05:00

First, an interesting addition to the last French word: la redevance means, in general, charge/tax/license, but is mostly used in "la redevance télé", a French tax on television sets.

Now on to today's word. un chou = cabbage, as in:

soupe aux choux = cabbage soup (also happens to be the title of a famous 80's comedy. The IMDB summary says it all "Two buddy farmers are visited by aliens who like their domestic cabbage soup")
chou farci = stuffed cabbage
chou de Bruxelles = Brussels sprout
chou à la crème = cream puff

Also an affectionate term meaning dear, darling:

tu es un chou = you're a little darling
mon chou = my darling
which can also be used as an adjective meaning sweet, cute: elle est chou avec son chapeau = she looks so cute in her hat

le chouchou (la chouchoute) means either:

someone's darling, favorite, e.g. le chouchou du professeur = the teacher's pet
a scrunchie

Les impôts

2006-12-18T17:09:00.000-05:00

les impôts = taxes

Of course, it would be too long to list all the types of taxes that exist in France. Just a few:

impôt sur les bénéfices = corporation tax
impôt foncier = property tax
impôt sur la fortune = wealth tax
impôts locaux = local taxes
impôt sur le revenu = income tax

Today, however, there are good news regarding taxes in France. In case anyone is interested in moving there, 2008 might be a quite unusual tax-free year

Rappel

2006-12-14T11:38:00.000-05:00

un rappel =
1. a reminder. E.g.
un rappel amical = a friendly reminder
un dernier rappel = a final reminder
recevoir un rappel = to receive a reminder

2. A call to come back
E.g. in show business, un rappel is an encore / a curtain call
il a reçu trois rappels = he took three curtain calls
Other example: un rappel a l'ordre = a call to order

3. descendre en rappel = to rappel (for US folks), to abseil (for UK folks)

Nase

2006-12-12T22:25:00.000-05:00

Some slang today:
nase = shattered, broken, useless, both literally and figuratively.

mon stylo est complètement nase = my pen has had it
c'est nase ce film! = this movie sucks!

La télé

2006-12-08T11:04:00.000-05:00

la télévision = television (rather unsurprisingly). We abbreviate it to "télé".

E.g.
je regarde la télé = I watch TV
un plateau télé = a TV dinner

In other French news, this Wednesday marked the launch of France24, a trilingual (French-English-Arabic) news channel that promises to offer the French point of view on world events.

Pousse

2006-12-05T19:27:00.000-05:00

pousser = to push

Obviously, a lot of applications of this word, so I'll just throw in a couple of examples:
tu m'as poussé! = you pushed me!
faut pas pousser = don't overdo it, don't exagerate
à la va comme je te pousse = any old how. Literally, "going as I push you"
un pousse-café = an after-dinner liqueur
un pousse-pousse = a rickshaw

Pain

2006-11-29T16:24:00.000-05:00

After a longer-than-usual break for vacation, we resume with one of my all-time favorites:
la douleur = pain. E.g.
j'ai des douleurs dans le dos = to have a backache
avoir les premières douleurs = to go into labor
tu vas comprendre ta douleur! = you'll understand the meaning of suffering!
douloureux / douloureuse = painful
la douloureuse (literally "the painful one") = the bill

Vol

2006-11-15T20:41:00.000-05:00

un vol = a flight / a theft
E.g.
il a pris un vol pour Paris = he took a flight to Paris
il a commis un vol = he committed a theft / robbery
C'est du vol! = It's a racket!

un voleur / une voleuse = a thief

Which leads me to the story of the day, brought to you by southwestern France.

Elysées

2006-11-13T18:26:00.000-05:00

Les Champs-Élysées (literally "Elysian fields") is a famous avenue in Paris, nicknamed La plus belle avenue du monde ("The most beautiful avenue in the world"), that runs from Place de la Concorde (with its obelisk) to Place Charles de Gaulle (where the Arc de triomphe is located). It is famous for its cinemas, luxury shops and cafes.

Not far from it is the the Palais de l'Élysée ("Elysian palace"), also simply called l'Elysée, which is the official residence of the president of France.

Déjà vu

2006-11-10T15:17:00.000-05:00

Literally, déjà-vu means "already seen" (which, as I was pointed out, opens the door to a lot of French jokes for this upcoming movie)

une impression de déjà-vu = a feeling of déjà vu

Gage

2006-11-03T16:40:00.000-05:00

un gage (pronounced gaj) =

a security / surety, e.g. je te laisse ma montre en gage = I'm leaving you my watch as security
a pledge, e.g. donner des gages d'amitié = pledging friendship
finally, in games, a forfeit, e.g. faire son gage = to pay one's forfeit

Today...

2006-10-31T18:32:00.000-05:00

...no word, but:

an explanation on yesterday's reference to La belle au bois dormant. As was pointed to me, "dormant", being a masculine form, cannot refer to the very feminine la belle. It is, indeed, the entire forest (le bois) that was asleep in Charles Perrault's original story (which you can read, in French, here)

As some of us celebrate Halloween, an interesting read on the fairly recent adoption of Halloween in France (and why it hasn't been very successful)

Belle

2006-10-30T09:51:00.000-05:00

belle, feminine for beau (pronounced 'bo'), is an adjective that means beautiful

Some expressions with belle:
faire une (or la) belle = to play the last game in a best-of-three
se faire la belle = to run away
faire sa belle = to show off
l'avoir belle = to have an easy life
en faire voir de belles à quelqu'un = to give someone a hard time
la Belle au Bois dormant = Sleeping Beauty

Beau and belle are also used to refer to in-laws (which, I'm sure, some would find strange):
un beau-père / une belle-mère = a father/mother-in-law, but also stepfather/stepmother
un beau-frère / une belle-sœur = a brother/sister-in-law

La baffe

2006-10-23T13:39:00.000-04:00

Today, synonyms of une claque (a slap):
une beigne
une gifle
un soufflet
une torgnole (my personal favorite)

il mérite des baffes = he deserves to be slapped

Pas

2006-10-16T20:21:00.000-04:00

un pas = a step

faire un grand/petit pas = to take a long/small step
à tout petits pas = with small steps
suivre quelqu'un pas à pas = to follow someone everywhere
j'habite à deux pas (d'ici) = I live just a step away (from here) (literally two steps)

Not to be confused with the adverb meaning "not", e.g.
je ne sais pas = I don't know