French words and phrases used by English speakers.
There are many words of French origin in English, such as croissant, baguette, déjà vu, naive
(sometimes spelled naïve with a diaeresis for the i), police, role (or rôle), routine, machine, and hors
d’oeuvres, but this article covers only words and phrases that remain identifiably French. That said, the
phrases are given as used in English, and may seem more French to English speakers than they do to
French speakers. The general rule is that if the word or phrase looks better in italics, it has retained its
French identity, but if it doesn’t need italics, it has probably passed over into English.
1 Words and phrases
Note that these phrases are pronounced using the French rules, and not the English ones. Thus, the
stress most often falls on the final syllable, the final letter is silent (unless it’s “r” or “à” or “é”),
consequent words are pronounced without a pause between them, unaccented “e” is usually
pronounced as [ @ ], and final “n” is nasalized as /~/ (see SAMPA for a guide to phonetic symbols).
À bientôt! — see you later!
Adieu! — good bye!
À la — in the manner of
À la carte — each item separately available
À la mode — fashionable (or, in North America, “with ice cream”)
Agent provocateur — a police spy who causes a crime to secure a conviction
Au revoir! — see you again! good bye!
Avant-garde — lit. “before the guard”, applied to cutting-edge or radically innovative movements in art
and literature
Bête noire — lit. “black beast”, someone or something which is detested or avoided.
Bon appétit! — have a good meal!
Bonjour! — Hello! lit. “good day!”
Bonne chance! — good luck!
Bon voyage! — have a good trip!
Carte blanche — unlimited authority (lit. “blank card”)
C’est la vie! — that’s life!
C’est magnifique! — that’s great!
Comment allez-vous? — how are you?
Coup d’état — lit. “blow of state”, a sudden change in governments through force
La crème de la crème — the best of the best
Cul-de-sac — lit. “bottom of the sack”, dead end
D’accord — agreed, okay
Déjà vu — lit. “already seen”. The impression or illusion of having seen or experienced something before.
De rigueur — required, necessary
Derrière — lit. “behind”, buttocks
Douceur de vivre — sweetness of life
Escargots — snails
Esprit de corps — lit. “spirit of the body”, a feeling of solidarity among members of a group
L’esprit d’escalier — thinking of the right comeback too late (lit. “staircase wit”), originally a witticism of
Diderot, the French encyclopediste, in his Paradoxe sur le Comédien.
Fait accompli — something which happenend and is unlikely to be reversed
Faux amis — false friends (used to refer to similar words in French and English that have different
meanings).
Faux pas — social misstep
French.txt
Fin de siècle — comparable to (but not exactly the same as) turn-of-the-century but with a “decadence”
connotation
Je-ne-sais-quoi — An indefinable (usually compelling) quality (lit. “I don’t know what”)
Joie de vivre — joy of living
Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité — Liberty, Equality, Fraternity (motto of the French Republic)
Ménage à trois — lit. “household for three”, a sexual arrangement between three people
Merci beaucoup! — thank you very much!
Mirepoix — a cooking mixture of two parts onions and one part each of celery and carrots (see mirepoix
at foodreference.com)
Moi — me, often used in English as an ironic reply to an accusation: “what, me?”. Can sound pretentious
if over-used in English, hence the joke “pretentious? moi?”.
Né (or) née — born (past participle of naître — to be born), often used to give someone’s former or
maiden name
N’est-ce pas? — isn’t it? Used after a statement, as in “right?”
Non — no
Nom de plume — pen nameA pen name or nom de plume is a pseudonym adopted by an author. Nom de
plume is a French-language expression. Allonym is another synonym for pseudonym. Some authors take
on pen names to conceal their identity: for example the Brontes, who felt they would
Oui — yes
Par excellence — lit. “by excellence, quintessential
Raison d’être — lit. “reason for being”, justification for one’s existence
Répondez s’il vous plaît (R.S.V.P.) — please reply
Le roi est mort. Vive le roi! — The king is dead. Long live the king!
Savoir-faire — know-how
S’il vous plaît (S.V.P.) — please. Lit. “if it pleases you”, “if you please”.
Soupe du jour — the soup of the day
Tête-à-tête — lit. “head to head”, a private meeting
Tour de force — a masterly or brilliant stroke, creation, effect, or accomplishment (lit. “feat of skill” or
“strength”)
Vis-à-vis — lit. “face to face”, in comparison with or in relation to
Vive la différence — long live the difference
Vive la France — long live France
Voilà! or Et voilà! — there you go!
Letmewrite's Weblog 