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Here are some examples of French words and phrases used by English speakers. There are many words of French origin in English, such as art, collage, competition, force, machine, police, publicity, role, routine, table, and many others which have been and are being anglicized. They are now pronounced according to English rules of orthography, rather than French. Approximately 40% of English vocabulary is of French or Oïl language origin, most derived from, or transmitted by, the Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman Conquest, before the language settled into what became Modern English. This article, however, covers words and phrases that generally entered the lexicon later, as through literature, the arts, diplomacy, and other cultural exchanges not involving conquests. As such, they have not lost their character as Gallicisms, or words that seem unmistakably foreign and "French" to an English-speaking person. That said, the phrases are given as used in English, and may seem correct modern French to English speakers, but may not be recognised as such by French speakers as many of them are now defunct or have a different meaning due to semantic evolution. A general rule is that if the word or phrase retains French diacritics or looks better in italics, it has retained its French identity. A à gogoin abundance à lain the manner of à la carteon the card; (in restaurants refers to ordering individual dishes rather than a fixed-price meal) à la modefashionable; also, with ice cream (in the U.S.) accouchementconfinement during childbirth; the process of having a baby; only this last meaning remains in French adieugood bye; lit. To God (= next time I see you, it'll be in Paradise)often used in a dramatic way in French agent provocateura police spy who infiltrates a group to disrupt or discredit it, rarely used in modern french. aide-de-campa military assistant aide-mémoirea position paper; a diplomatic agenda amuse bouchean appetizer; lit. mouth pleaser, amuse gueule in modern french. ancien régimea sociopolitical or other system that no longer exists, in allusion to pre-revolutionary France (used with capital letter in French with this meaningAncien Régime) aperçua first impression; initial insight apéritifa before-meal drink appliquéan inlaid or attached decorative feature Après nous, le déluge.the remark attributed to the "Marquise de Pompadour;" used in reference to the impending end of an era (After us, the deluge.) après-skiafter skiing socializing after a ski session; in modern French, this word refers to boots used to walk in snow typically (MoonBootsTM)usually worn after a ski session arêtea narrow ridge armoirea type of cabinet; wardrobe artistea skilled performer, a person with artistic pretensions art nouveaua style of decoration and architecture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries (usually bears capitals in FrenchArt Nouveau) attachéa person attached to an embassy; in French is also the past participle of the verb attacher (=to fasten) au contraireto the contrary au courantup-to-date; abreast of current affairs au jusliterally, with juice, referring to a food course served with sauce. Often redundantly formulated, as in 'Open-faced steak sandwich, served with au jus.' au naturelnude au paira young foreigner who does domestic chores in exchange for room and board Au revoir!"See you soon!"; lit. Until the next sight. avant gardeapplied to cutting-edge or radically innovative movements in art, music and literature; figuratively "on the edge", literally, a military term, meaning "vanguard" or "advance guard", in other words, "first to attack". B beaucoupa lot of (slang, such as, "beaucoup bucks") C cacheta distinctive quality café-au-laitcoffee with milk; or a light-brown color cap-à-piefrom head to foot; no longer used in modern French carte blancheunlimited authority; literally "blank card" carte d'identitéidentity card cause célèbrea controversial issue, such as a legal case, which divides public opinion C'est la mode."Such is fashion" C'est la vie!"That's life!"; or "Such is life!" C'est magnifique!"That's great!" chaise longuea long chair for reclining (the word lounge derives from an erroneous reading of longue chansona song chanteusea female singer chapeaua hat chargé d'affairesa temporary or low-level diplomat; also used in French in the business worldrefers to someone in charge of some business châteaux en Espagneliterally "castles in Spain; something that exists only in the imagination (as, "castles in the air" or "pie in the sky") chef d'œuvrea masterpiece Cherchez la femme.literally "Look for the woman." (expressing the notion that behind a man’s unusual behavior may be his trying to impress a woman or to cover up an affair) Chevalier d'Industrieone who lives by his wits, specially by swindling, literally "knight of industry"; chezthe home of chicstylish chignona hairstyle worn in a roll at the nape of the neck cinéma véritérealism in documentary filmmaking claquea group of admirers; in French = a slap clichétrite through overuse; a stereotype cliquea small exclusive group of friends; often used in a pejorative way in French coquettea flirtatious girl; a tease commandanta commanding officer comme il fautas is proper comme ci comme çaso-so communiquéan official communication conciergea hotel desk manager (in French also refers to the caretaker of a building usually living at the front floorconcierges have a reputation for gossiping) concordatan agreement; a treaty; when used with capital letters in French refers to a treaty between the French State and Judaeo-Christian religions during the French Empire (Napoleon)priests, ministers and rabbis became civil servants. This treaty was abbolished in 1905 (Church-State separation) but is still in use in Alsace-Lorraine (those territories were under German administration during 1871-1918) confrèrea colleague congéa departure; in French when used in the plural form refers to vacations connoisseuran expert in wines, fine arts, or other matters of culture; a person of refined taste; (spelt connaisseur in modern French) contea short story; in French a conte has usually a fantassy context (such as in fairytales) contretempsan awkward clash; a delay cortègea funeral procession; in French has a broader meaning and refers to all kinds of procession corvéeforced labor for minimal or no pay cotte d'armescoat of arms coup de foudrea sudden unforeseen event (in French, "thunderbolt": love at first sight) coup de grâcedeath blow, literally "blow of mercy" coup de maina surprise attack (usually means to give assistance in French: donner un coup de main is "to give a hand", even if the English meaning exists as well but is old-fashionned) coup d'étata sudden change in government by force; literally "hit (blow) of state" coup d'œila glance, literally "a blow (or touch) with the eye" couturefashion couturiera fashion designer crèchea nativity display; more commonly (in UK), a place where children are left by their parents for short periods in the supervision of childminders; both meanings still exist in French crème brûléea dessert consisting primarily of custard and toasted sugar, that is, caramel, literally "burnt cream" crème de la crèmebest of the best; literally "cream of the cream", used to describe highly skilled people crêpea thin sweet or savoury pancake eaten as a light meal or dessert cri de cœura passionate plea, literally "cry of the heart" cul-de-saca dead-end (residential) street; literally "bottom (buttocks) of the bag" D déclasséof inferior social status décorthe layout and furnishing of a room découpagedecoration with cut paper déjà vuan impression or illusion of having seen or experienced something before. Literally "already seen". déjà entendualready heard déjà lualready read démarchea decisive step demimondea class of women of ill repute; a fringe group or subculture, from demi mondaine in the XIX century, not used in France dénouementthe end result de nouveauagain; anew dérailleura bicycle gear-shift mechanism de règleaccording to custom; de rigueurrequired or expected, especially with reference to fashion dernier crithe latest fashion derrièrerear; buttocks; literally "behind" déshabillépartially clad détenteeasing of diplomatic tension de tropexcessive diableriewitchcraft, deviltry divertissementan amusing diversion; entertainment dossiera file containing detailed information about a person double entendresomething which can be interpreted in two ways, both of which make sense in the context used. One is often sexual (now defunct in French) douceur de vivre"sweetness of life" doyennethe senior female member of a group dressagea form of competitive horse training droit du seigneurthe purported right of a lord of an estate to deflower a woman on her wedding night in precedence to her new husband; literally the "right of the lord" du joursaid of something fashionable or hip for a day and quickly forgotten; today's choice on the menu, as soup du jour, literally "of the day" E eau de toiletteperfume élana distinctive flair émigréone who has emigrated for political reasons; the political reason is not implyed in the French use of the word éminence grisea powerful advisor or decision-maker who operates secretly or otherwise unofficially; literally "gray eminence" enfant terriblea disruptively unconventional person, a "terrible child" en blocas a group en masseall together ennuiboredom en passantin passing en routeon the way en suiteas a set ententediplomatic agreement or cooperation entre nousconfidentially; literally "between us" entréeillogically used to denote the main dish or course of a meal (US English); the first course of a meal (UK English); literally "entrance" entrepreneur escargotssnails (as food) escritoirea writing table (spelt écritoire in French) esprit de corpsa feeling of solidarity among members of a group; morale; literally "spirit of the body (of troops)" exposéa published exposure of a fraud or scandal; in French refers to a talk or a report on all kinds of subject extraordinaireextraordinary, usually as a following adjective, as "musician extraordinaire" F fait accomplisomething that has happened and is unlikely to be reversed faute de mieuxfor want of better fauxfake faux amisliterally "false friends"; used to refer to words in two different languages that have the same or similar spelling, and often the same etymology but different meanings, such as the French verb rester which means "to stay" rather than "to rest" faux pasa social blunder, or "false step" femme fatalean alluring, mysterious woman; in French the word implies a fatal ending to meeting and frequenting such a woman fiancéa man engaged to be married fiancéea woman engaged to be married film noira genre of dark-themed movies filsused after a man's surname to distinguish a son from a father, as George Bush fils (in, French "fils" = son) fin de sièclecomparable to (but not exactly the same as) turn-of-the-century but with a connotation of decadence, usually applied to the period from 1890 through 1910. flambeaua lighted torch flâneura gentleman stroller of city streets fleur-de-lisa stylized-flower heraldic device; the golden fleur-de-lis on an azure background were the arms of the French Kingdom folie à deuxa simultaneous occurrence of delusions in two closely related people, often said of an unsuitable romance force majeurean overpowering event, an act of God fortea strength, a strong point, typically of a person, from the French fort or strong. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary,"In forte we have a word derived from French that in its "strong point" sense has no entirely satisfactory pronunciation. Usage writers have denigrated 'for-"tA and 'for-tE because they reflect the influence of the Italian-derived forte. Their recommended pronunciation 'fort, however, does not exactly reflect French either: the French would write the word le fort and would rhyme it with English for. So you can take your choice, knowing that someone somewhere will dislike whichever variant you choose. All are standard, however. In British English 'fo-"tA and 'fot predominate; 'for-"tA and or-'tA are probably the most frequent pronunciations in American English." G gaffeblunder garçonliterally "boy" or "male servant"; sometimes used by English speakers to summon the attention of a male waiter; (has a playful connotation in English but can be rather insulting in French) gauchetactless, literally "left handed" gaucherieboorishness genrea type or class, such as "the thriller genre" glissadeslide down a slope Grand Prixa type of motor racing, literally "Grand Prize" Grand Guignola horror show, named after a French theater famous for its frightening plays and bloody special effects. (Guignol can be used in French to describe a ridiculous person, in the same way that clown might be used in English.) H habituéone who regularly frequents a place haute couturetrend-setting fashion haute cuisinea manner of preparing food; literally "upper kitchen". haute écoleadvanced horsemanship; literally "upper school" hauteurarrogance; lit. height haut mondefashionable society, the "upper world" Honi soit qui mal y pense."Shame on him who thinks ill of it"; or sometimes translated as Evil be to him who evil thinks; the motto of the most noble Order of the Garter (modern French writes honni instead of Old French honi) hors de combatout of the fight hors-concours"out of the running"; used to describe someone who is a non-competitor, especially in love hors d'œuvreappetizer I idée fixea leitmotiv; an obsession insouciantnonchalant ingénuean innocent young woman, used particularly in reference to a theatrical stock character J J’accuse.I accuse.; used generally in reference to a political or social indictment (alluding to the title of Émile Zola’s exposé of the Dreyfus affair) J'adoubeIn chess, an expression said discreetly signaling an intention to straighten out the pieces, without being committed to moving or capturing the first one touched as per the game's rules. lit. "I adjust" Je ne sais pas: I don't know Je-ne-sais-quoian indefinable, usually compelling quality (charisma); lit. I don't know what joie de vivrejoy of living je m'appelle ... my name is ... L l'affaire proper namea cause célèbre, such as "l’affaire Enron", an allusion to L’Affaire Dreyfus laisser-fairea policy of minimal interference, usu. in reference to government regulation of commerce Laissez les bons temps rouler."Let the good times roll." (strongly associated with Cajun and New Orleans culture and not commonly used by Francophones outside of Louisiana) Laméis a type of fabric woven or knit with metallic yarns. layettea set of clothing and accessories for a new baby la petite mortan orgasm; literally "the little death" l'esprit de l'escalierthinking of the right comeback too late; literally "staircase wit"; (originally a witticism of Diderot, the French encyclopedist, in his Paradoxe sur le Comédien) L'état, c'est moi.the remark attributed to Louis XIV ("I am the state"); also used generally in reference to the overweening ego of an absolute ruler liaisona close relationship or connection; an affaire; the French meaning is broader "liaison" also means bond such as in une liaison chimique = " a chemical bond" Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité"Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood"; (motto of the French Republic) littérateura literary person; (pejorative in French) loucheof questionable taste; shady M macramécoarse lace work made with knotted cords maisonhouse maître d'short for maître d'hotel, headwaiter malaisea general sense of depression or unease mal de mermotion sickness, literally "seasickness" Mardi GrasFat Tuesday, the last day of eating meat before Lent marquea model or brand matérielsupplies and equipment, particularly in a military context mélangea mixture mêléea confused fight; a struggling crowd ménage à troisa sexual arrangement between three people; literally "household for three"; (not typically used if all three are of the same sex) Merci beaucoup!"Thank you very much!" Merde"crap" métiera field of work or other activity; usually one in which one has special ability or training milieusocial environment; setting mirepoixa cooking mixture of two parts onions and one part each of celery and carrots mise en placea food assembly station in a commercial kitchen mise en scènestaging of sets, props, actors, etc. in theater and film moi"me"; often used in English as an ironic reply to an accusation; for example, "Pretentious? Moi?" montagea blending of pictures, scenes, or sounds motifa recurrent thematic element moussea whipped dessert or a hairstyling foam N naïvelacking experience, understanding or sophistication némasculine form of née, "born" néeused to indicate a woman’s birth name or maiden name, such as, "Martha Washington, née Martha Custis"; "born" negligee(Negligée) A robe or a dressing gown, usually of sheer or soft fabric for women. N'est-ce pas?Isn't it?; asked rhetorically after a statement, as in "Right?" noblesse obligehonorable behavior expected of high rank nom de guerrepseudonym to disguise the identity of a leader of a militant group, literally "war name", used in France for "pseudonym" nom de plumeauthor's pseudonym, literally "pen name". Originally an English phrase, now also used in France nouveaunewfangled nouveau richenewly rich nouvelle cuisinenew cuisine O objet d'arta work of art, commonly a painting or sculpture œuvre"work", in the sense of an artist's work; by extension, an artist's entire body of work P panacheverve; flamboyance papier-mâchéa craft medium using paper and paste; literally "chewed paper" par excellencequintessential; literally "by excellence" pas de deuxa close relationship between two people; a duet in ballet passéout of fashion pastichea derivative work; an imitation patoisa dialect; jargon peignoira woman’s dressing gown; a negligee (in French, also a bathrobe) pèreused after a man's surname to distinguish a father from a son, as in "George Bush pere. petitesmall; waiflike; skinny; lit. small pièce de résistancethe best; the main meal, literally "the one that resists" pièce d'occasionoccasional piece; item written or composed for a special occasion pied-à-terrea second home, usually an apartment in the city plat de résistancethe main dish of a meal; literally dish of resistance: plat du joura dish served in a restaurant on a particular day but which is not part of the regular menu; literally "dish of the day" plus ça change.The more things change, the more they stay the same. (from Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, or Plus ça change, plus c’est pareil.) précisa concise summary prix fixea fixed-price meal portmanteaua large suitcase, literally "carry coat" poseura person who pretends to be something he is not; a phony prêt-à-porterready-to-wear clothing protégéone who receives support from an influential patron provocateura polemicist pot-pourripot‧pour‧ri /ˌpoʊpʊˈri, ˈpoʊpʊˌri/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciationpoh-poo-ree, poh-poo-ree Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun 1. a mixture of dried petals of roses or other flowers with spices, kept in a jar for their fragrance. 2. a musical medley. 3. a collection of miscellaneous literary extracts. 4. any mixture, esp. of unrelated objects, subjects, etc. Q Quel dommage!"What a pity!" Quelle horreur!What a horrible thing! (often used sarcastically) Qu'est-ce que c'est?"What is this?" R raconteura conversationalist raison d'êtrejustification for existence; "reason for being" rapportto be in someone's "good graces"; to be in synch with someone; "I've developed a rapport with my co-workers"; French for: relationship rapprochementthe establishment of cordial relations, often used in diplomacy recherchéobscure; pretentious résuméin North American English, a document listing one's qualifications for employment rendezvousa meeting, appointment, or date; (usually written rendez-vous in French and sometimes in English) reparteeclever banter repertoirethe range of skills of a particular person or group reportagereporting; journalism restaurateura restaurant owner risquésexually suggestive; (in French, the meaning of risqué is "risky", with no sexual connotation) roman à clefa fictional account of a true story; literally "novel with a key" rouéa hedonist, "cunning devil" rouxa cooked mixture of flour and fat used as a base in soups and gravies S sabotagesubversive destruction, from the practice of workers fearful of industrialization destroying machines by tossing their sabots ("wooden shoes") into machinery saboteurone who commits sabotage Sacrebleu/Sacré bleu!general exclamation of horror and shock; literally "holy blue", an oath invoking the color associated with Mary, mother of Jesus. sometimes contracted and unaccented: sacrebleu (no longer current in French) sang-froidgreat coolness and composure under strain; literally "cold blood" sanswithout sans-culottesan extremist, literally "without pants", meaning the poor of France in the 18th century, because they usually wore pantaloons (full-length pants or trousers) instead of the chic knee-length culotte. savanta wise or learned person; in English referring to an exceptionally gifted individual savoir-fairesocial grace; means know-how in french. savoir-vivreetiquette s'il vous plaîtplease; literally "if it pleases you", "if you please" si vous préférez"if you prefer" sobriquetan assumed name, a nickname soi-disantso-called; self-described; literally "oneself saying" soignéfashionable; polished soiréea party soupçona very small amount soupe du jour"soup of the day", meaning the particular kind of soup offered that day succès d’estimea "success in the estimation of others", sometimes used pejoratively T table d'hôtea full-course meal offered at a fixed price tableau vivantin drama, a scene in which actors remain still as if in a picture tant mieuxso much the better tête-à-têtea private meeting; literally "head-to-head" toilettethe process of dressing or grooming touchéacknowledgment of an effective counterpoint; literally "a touch" or "a hit!" tour de forcea masterly or brilliant stroke, creation, effect, or accomplishment; literally "feat of strength" trèsvery (often ironically) trompe l'œilphotograph-like realism in painting; literally "trick the eye" U utilise un traducteurto use a translator (i.e. an online translator such as BabelFish) V venueinvited person for a show, once ("come") vignettea brief description; a short scene vis-à-visin comparison with or in relation to; also "opposite number", literally "face-to-face" Vive!"Long live ...!"; literally "Live"; as in "Vive la France!", “Vive la Résistance!”, "Vive le Canada!", or "Vive le Québec libre!" Vive la différence.Long live the difference. (generally referring to difference between male and female) Voilà! or Et voilà!"There you go!" or "And there you have it!" volte-facea complete reversal of opinion or position, about face Voulez-vous coucher avec moi (ce soir)?"Do you want to sleep with me (tonight)? " (not used in French as it's literally refering to sleep) voyeura peeping tom W - X - Y - Z Zut alors!"Darn it!", a general exclamation. Like Sacre bleu, this is considered old-fashioned by modern French speakers. Just plain zut is still in use, however - often repeated for effect, for example, zut, zut et zut!) (Whether zut is dated or not might depend on context: where merde is not polite enough, zut, zut alors, zut et rezut etc. are still in current use. Only found in English auteurA film director, specifically one who controls most aspects of a film, or other controller of an artistic situation. The English connotation derives from French film theory. It was popularized in the journal Cahiers du cinéma: auteur theory maintains that directors like Hitchcock exert a level of creative control equivalent to the author of a literary work. In French, the word originally means author, but some expressions like "cinéma d'auteur" are also in use. cause célèbreAn issue arousing widespread controversy or heated public debate, lit. famous cause décolletagea low-cut neckline, cleavage (This is actually a case of "false friends": Engl. décolletage = Fr. décolleté; Fr. décolletage means: 1. action of lowering a female garment's neckline; 2. Agric.: cutting leaves from some cultivated roots such as beets, carrots, etc.; 3. Tech. Operation consisting of making screws, bolts, etc. one after another out of a single bar of metal on a parallel lathe. double entendredouble meaning, for which Francophones would use « double sens ». The verb entendre, to hear (modern), originally meant to understand. (Note: French usage: "un mot à double sens": a word with more than one meaning; "une phrase à double entente": a sentence with a hidden meaning. "À double entente" is listed in the Petit Larousse 1994 with no mention of its being obsolete or regional.) encoreA request to repeat a performance, as in “Encore !”, lit. again; also used to describe additional songs played at the end of a gig. Francophones would say « Bis ! » (a second time !); or « Une autre ! » (Another one !) to request « un rappel » (an encore). To say « Encore ! » implies a request to reprieve the entire repertoire. faux pasAn embarrassing social error, lit. false step; sometimes used in French to mean to slip. Francophones would normally use « gaffe » which is less polite. femmea stereotypically effeminate gay man or lesbian (slang, pronounced as written). In French, femme means "woman". le mot justethe right word; lit. the just word maître d’Francophones would say maître d’hôtel instead Répondez s'il vous plaît. (RSVP)Please reply. succès de scandaleSuccess through scandal; Francophones might use « succès par médisance ». voir direjury selection (Law French) French phrases in international air-sea rescue International authorities have adopted a number of words and phrases from French for use by speakers of all languages in voice communications during air-sea rescues. Note that the "phonetic" versions are presented as shown and not in IPA. SECURITAY(securité, “safety”) the following is a safety message or warning, the lowest level of danger. PAN PAN: (panne, “breakdown”) the following is a message concerning a danger to a person or ship, the next level of danger. MAYDAY: (venez m'aider, “come help me”; N.B. "Aidez-moi" means "help me") the following is a message of extreme urgency, the highest level of danger. (MAYDAY is used on voice channels for the same uses as SOS on Morse channels.) SEELONCE(silence, “silence”) keep this channel clear for air-sea rescue communications. SEELONCE FEE NEE(silence fini, “silence is over”) this channel is now available again. PRU DONCE(prudence, “prudence”) silence partially lifted, channel may be used again for urgent non-distress communication. MAY DEE CAL(médical, “medical”) medical assistance needed. It is a serious breach in most countries, and in international zones, to use any of these phrases without justification. See Mayday (distress signal) for a more detailed explanation. See also | |||||||
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