Tuesday, April 5, 2016

the best 20 or so French words

Everyone's got their favorite French words, whether they're amusing, odd or just fun to pronounce. Here are almost 20 of the very best, according to a survey from expats in France. Chris Brown, for instance, explains that 'rassasier', meaning 'to eat one's fill' or 'to satisfy one's appetite', seems the perfect way of describing how he feels in France. And there's probably no better place to feel rasassié (full up) than France. Lilian Lau told us her favourite word was 'aléatoire', meaning 'random' or 'uncertain'. She says it "sums up life quite well and sounds good when it is pronounced". Melissa Housden opted for 'gentillesse' (kindness), as it is "something the locals always offer when I am in France". Sometimes, it is the pronunciation that tickles our fancy. Those behind holiday home company Elegant Condorcet chose 'quincaillerie', which translates roughly as 'hardware store', because it took them forever to learn how to pronounce it properly. I still cannot say this word. Jay Vogler loves 'bimbeloterie', which translates as 'knick-knacks' in English, as “it’s just so fun to say". Tweeter Elelibs argues that 'parapluie' or 'umbrella' is the perfect French word because of the “alliteration, the 'r' roll, the satisfaction of the 'pluie' but mostly the literal translation (protection against rain)". Remi Thackrey loves 'coccinelle', (ladybird), because "it sounds lovely." She adds: "Did you know the collective name is a 'loveliness of ladybirds?" Some people had a personal connection to a particular French word. 'Rouspéteur' (someone who grumbles) was Russ Goff's choice, simply because: “I’m Russ, and my dad was Peter, and together we used to grumble a lot." For Jacki Williams-Jones, the word 'poubelle' is not only a beautiful way of referring to ‘trash’, but it is also a favourite of his since there is a restaurant bearing the same name in his L.A home. Indeed, sometimes you can't put your finger on why, but a certain French word just sounds great. Theresa Lizama Hall said her favourite work was: 'Bisous' (kisses) - which the Urban Dictionary describes as: "A word that slips off the tongue with ease upon parting from anyone whose company you truly enjoy." Gina Hunt says that 'pantoufle', (slipper) “just sounds good”, and Katie Benson picked ‘sortie’ (exit) "because it's just cute!” 'Trombone' (trombone/paperclip) was the favourite of Twitter user Debbie, “because a paperclip does look like one". Doug Urhuhart loves 'rocambolesque' (incredible) , "because it sounds so rocambolesque". Janine Uhlman was one of many who voted for 'pamplemousse' (grapefruit). She has "loved that word since the first time I heard it. It has a delicious sound, but not taste malheureusement!" Here's the last word to Cheryl McCloud who loves the word 'merde', which surely doesn't need translating. She chose it because she's Australian and says "the word flows very freely from our swearing mouths". Cara - Tuesday

7 comments:

  1. French has LOTS of great words, and I'm fine with all of them, as long as Jeff quits flashing his bimbeloterie and trombone while he tosses about his rocambolesque poubelle discourir. Merde.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cara, What fun! The last two were the ones that came immediately to mind for me. Slippers in Italian are "pantofole"--very similar. Another French favorite is "cauchmar"--nightmare. The Italian for it is also wonderful "incubo."

    ReplyDelete
  3. Don't forget Jeff's pamplemousse, EvKa :)
    That's so cool about the Italian similarities to pantoufle, AM. So I'm going to Toscana next week, a total surprise with French kids so what's great for them to see near Siena AM?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lucky kids! Siena itself is marvelous. I get Stendhal syndrome in the Catedrale. It's so gorgeous. If you are looking for other sights thereabouts, 25 kms or so is Monteriggioni--a spectacular tiny Medieval town with an intact circular wall. Also about 40 kms from Siena--Volterra, a relatively unspoiled Tuscan village, originally an Etruscan settlement. Buon' divertimento!

      Delete
    2. Oh and. by the way. The Italian for "merde" is "merda," just in case the need arises. Which I PRAY it does not.

      Delete
    3. Jeff? Pamplemousse? Yikes! I shudder at the thought. Poor guy.

      Delete
  4. Hold onto your statins, folks, pamplemousse is in the house.

    ReplyDelete