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Taxi Driver Aaron
10-11-2011, 03:55 AM
List some French words that we use in English everday (sometimes without even knowing it) here!...

I'll start...


à la carte
à la mode
à propos
adieu
armoire

belle
ballet
bon voyage
brunette
bureau

cache
café
charlatan
cliché
clique
concierge
coup de grâce
crêpe
critique
croissant
chauffeur
cortège
cul-de-sac

décor
de trop
derrière

eau de toilette

ricochet

Bigdan
10-11-2011, 10:23 AM
Did "ricochet" used in the same meaning as in french?

Jake04
10-11-2011, 01:00 PM
Did "ricochet" used in the same meaning as in french?

A ricochet is a rebound, bounce or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile.

Déjà vu
Résumé

DrSmith
10-11-2011, 01:17 PM
I happen to know that there's a long list of <acronym title="French Words used in English Everyday">FWuiEE</acronym> on the Wikipedia, but I won't link to it and kill this thread.

Words I can think of off the top of my head :

• accoutrement
• savoir-faire
• risqué
• coupé (only we say coupe)
• fiancé/e

Taxi Driver Aaron
10-15-2011, 03:56 PM
I happen to know that there's a long list of <acronym title="French Words used in English Everyday">FWuiEE</acronym> on the Wikipedia, but I won't link to it and kill this thread.

Words I can think of off the top of my head :

• accoutrement
• savoir-faire
• risqué
• coupé (only we say coupe)
• fiancé/e

If you look at my original post you will probably find it obvious that that is where I got some of my ideas from... I don't mind people picking from that wiki list as I did... but I didn't just copy and paste all the words... I only added the words that I, myself, recognize.. some of the words on the list pertain to specific jobs and lingo that not all peole use...

such as "Triage" which in french is to separate but in english it is particularly pertaining to prioritizing patients in a medical center... My French coworker used that word once not realizing that it had a different connotation in English... :)

Edit:

By the way, Risque is a good word!

Another word I use a lot is "double entendre" ... which means to say something that has an innocent and risque connotation to it...

Most people don't realize there is a word for it and call it a sexual innuendo or insinuation.

Here are some examples of double entendres

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRsaExGcx5A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9o9mwGIbN8

Quinetiam
03-30-2013, 01:17 AM
Shi ni zsay kwoi

En masse

Bigdan
03-30-2013, 04:49 AM
Shi ni zsay kwoi

En masse

you mean : je ne sais quoi ?

lapinschous
03-30-2013, 10:19 AM
I've heard quite a lot of english people use the terms : coup-d-état and "voilà" :)

that being said i probably know more english words in the french language =/

ALS
03-30-2013, 10:27 AM
Attention
March, To march as in military or to walk
Baby
Hotel
Garage
Infant
Silhouette

Jenny_HRO87
03-31-2013, 03:41 PM
what about "tête-à-tête"? :) We also use it in German... or "en vogue"?

DrSmith
03-31-2013, 05:11 PM
what about "tête-à-tête"? :) We also use it in German... or "en vogue"?

Those are good. En Vogue is also the name of an R&B group, which reminds me of another French word used in English : Chic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqupk71a-O0

Rocket
03-31-2013, 06:16 PM
cigarette
pardon
cafe
tea (spelled thé in french)
barbecue

Quinetiam
03-31-2013, 07:03 PM
And by far the most Famous of all French words used in the English vernacular:

Chevrolet

Edit:

And of course in Quebec:

Tabarnak

Sacrebleu

The phrase originated from the swear words "sacré bleu", a Marian oath, referring to the color (i.e., "sacred blue") associated with Mary, mother of Jesus.[2]

Other sources[3] propose its coming from old blasphemous curses relating to God, used from the late Middle-Age (some are attested as early as the 11th century) to the 14th (at the latest), with many variants: morbleu or mordieu, corbleu, palsambleu, jarnidieu, tudieu, respectively standing for mort [de] Dieu (God's death), corps [de] Dieu (God's body), par le sang [de] Dieu (by God's blood, the two latters possibly referring to the Eucharistic bread and wine), je renie Dieu (I deny God), tue Dieu (kill God)... Those curses may be compared to the archaic English [God']sdeath, sblood, struth or zounds (God's wounds). They were considered so offensive that Dieu was sublimated into the similar sounding neutral syllable bleu. The verb sacrer has several meanings, including to crown, to anoint, to name someone [champion, best actor, etc.], and in the past, rarely in France but more common in French Canada, of swear, curse. Therefore, sacrebleu could be in modern French Je jure par Dieu and in English I curse by God, or the more used I swear to God.

Karin
03-31-2013, 07:03 PM
faux-pas :D

P♠N
05-09-2014, 04:08 PM
I like how in French you can add "ette" at the end of a word and you'll end up with a smaller version of that which the word signifies.

So for example, we have "cigar"

http://i.imgur.com/HVAAvFR.jpg

and when we add "ette", we get "cigarette".

http://i.imgur.com/IshA65O.jpg

The French word for "ball" is "boule".

http://i.imgur.com/z9yQLlK.jpg

How do you call a small ball in French? Boulette.
Thus, in English we have "bullet".

http://i.imgur.com/5OfwVA8.jpg

Then there is "barre" for helm.

http://i.imgur.com/6EdGmSh.jpg
A "barrette" would be a hair clip

http://i.imgur.com/KCOsesX.jpg

and could "beret" possibly be a small helmet (helm+ette)?

http://i.imgur.com/7tVvs4Q.jpg







Finally we have Alizée:

http://fee-clochette.com/misc/blonde.gif

And when we add "ette", we end up with Alizette:

http://i.imgur.com/1snqX4p.jpg


The most puzzling part about all this?
What in the name of Zeus is the bigger version of an "omelette"?

http://i.imgur.com/tAVzidC.jpg

Jazzmin
05-10-2014, 02:06 PM
Finally we have Alizée:

http://fee-clochette.com/misc/blonde.gif

And when we add "ette", we end up with Alizette:

http://i.imgur.com/1snqX4p.jpg


:D

Yeah, I too like that diminutive thing. (Well, little do I speak French but I've got the pleasure to speak Italian and Polish :) .) The only problem is that some people overuse it >.<

Jenny_HRO87
05-16-2014, 07:51 PM
The French word for "ball" is "boule".

http://i.imgur.com/z9yQLlK.jpg

How do you call a small ball in French? Boulette.
Thus, in English we have "bullet".



lol. Now I finally know why these things (see below) are called the way they are. Because in Germany - or let's say in some areas of Germany because while I knew this word I usually prefer to use another term - fried meat balls are called "Buletten/Bouletten"

http://autoimg.kochbar.de/kbrezept/231476_192569/400x266/buletten-oder-frikadellen-oder-fleischpflanzerl.jpg

yum ;)

Un-rêve
06-07-2014, 10:17 PM
C'est la vie.

DrSmith
06-08-2014, 12:58 AM
Vis-à-vis.

Bric-à-brac.

Philippe
07-21-2014, 04:18 AM
hi !

as a French I'd say (and there are too many to mention) :

restaurant
rendez-vous
cabaret
casserole (not the same meaning in French, it means "pan")
beau
tour like Tour de France
Grand prix
crème fraiche
brioche
courgette
menu
chef
café
vol au vent ( we call them bouchée à la Reine)
Champaign (that we write Champagne, that's a region in France, wher it's produced)
rosé
blanc de blanc
mademoiselle, madam
garage
etc etc etc

some words borrowed from French do not even exist in French : double entendre doesn't exist, we say "sous-entendu" :)

Chuck
07-21-2014, 12:12 PM
This thread is great, but I think everyone's trying too hard. Believe it or not, England was speaking French less than a thousand years ago (after William the Conker), so there's a lot more French in the English language than most people even realize. (N'oubliez pas: "Honi soit qui mal y pense.")

A few of my favorites are:
Courage
Voyage
Portage
Montage
Fromage (?!)
Eclairs
and of course
Rendezvous
which all come from the French.

Same with most of our military terms, right down to "bullets". All the ranks we use in the U.S. are derived from French: "private", "corporal", "sergeant", "lieutenant", "captain" and so on, etc. ... these are all are French in origin. (And so is "et cetera", for all practical purposes.) "Platoon", "Regiment", "Brigade"... Eventually, one gets the idea that when languages were being solidified, the French were the ones that knew how to get things done!

...Plus they were the only ones who knew how to make the fromage...

Philippe
07-21-2014, 01:50 PM
Do you really use fromage? don't you say cheese? Is there a difference :)?

lefty12357
07-21-2014, 04:27 PM
Everyone I know uses cheese, but I think many of them know the word fromage.

Un-rêve
07-21-2014, 10:58 PM
hi !

as a French I'd say (and there are too many to mention) :

restaurant
rendez-vous
cabaret
casserole (not the same meaning in French, it means "pan")
beau
tour like Tour de France
Grand prix
crème fraiche
brioche
courgette
menu
chef
café
vol au vent ( we call them bouchée à la Reine)
Champaign (that we write Champagne, that's a region in France, wher it's produced)
rosé
blanc de blanc
mademoiselle, madam
garage
etc etc etc

some words borrowed from French do not even exist in French : double entendre doesn't exist, we say "sous-entendu" :)

:omg: There sure is too many to mention, I've wonder if "counting coup" should be included, I'm not even a trekkie but this scene has always been stuck in my head for some reason. :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlhzX7UKKNU


BTW welcome to the forum Philippe. :)

Rev
07-22-2014, 07:23 PM
Yes. It should be counted. American Indians would "count coup" (manage to perform non-lethal contact and get away alive) on an opponent as proof of bravery. :)

Philippe
07-23-2014, 12:48 AM
Thanks for the welcome :)

there are as many french words in English than English words in French.
Both languages mix together perfectly.

You use French words mostly in cuisine (anotherone) and probably in fashion, you know like Haute couture, de luxe.

We have English words in music (pop, rock...) in sports (football, volleyball etc) and everything about computers.

I love songs that are sung both in French and English, I'm thinking of Enrique Iglesias and Nadyia and there have been many duets like this.

And I prefer Mylène Farmer than the song "Mylène Farmer" :), this is a faux-pas

Un-rêve
10-29-2014, 02:07 AM
Chandelier (http://youtu.be/2vjPBrBU-TM) comes to mind right now.