French Words used in English Everyday

[DrSmith]

Originally Posted by Jenny_HRO87

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

[Rocket]

cigarette
pardon
cafe
tea (spelled thé in french)
barbecue

[Quinetiam]

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]

faux-pas

[P♠N]

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"



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



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



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



Then there is "barre" for helm.


A "barrette" would be a hair clip



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









Finally we have Alizée:



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




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

[Jazzmin]

Originally Posted by P♠N

Finally we have Alizée:



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

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]

Originally Posted by P♠N

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



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"



yum

[Un-rêve]

C'est la vie.

[DrSmith]

Vis-à-vis.

Bric-à-brac.

[Philippe]

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"