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Acertainjenesaisquoi:FrenchwordsandphrasesusedinEnglish|AboutWordsCambridgeDictionariesOnlineblog

CommentingondevelopmentsintheEnglishlanguage

A certain je ne sais quoi: French words and phrases

usedinEnglishJanuary21,2015
byLizWalter
ItisanoddironythatthemoresophisticatedyouruseofEnglishis,
themorelikelyyouaretouseFrenchwordsandphrases.Or,tobe
moreaccurate,onesyouknow to be French words such as ballet,
au pair, abattoir, fianc, caf, and restaurant are so entrenched in
EnglishthatwedontreallythinkofthemasFrenchatall(eventhe
oneswithaccents).
FrenchisthefirstforeignlanguagethatmostBritishchildrenlearn
in school, so perhaps it isnt surprising that we pepper our own
language with it, particularly in some contexts. For example, we
often use French words to describe personality, with adjectives such as gauche, blas, soign or
laissezfaire and nouns such as panache, lan, savoirfaire, sangfroid and joie de vivre. Similarly, we
coulddescribesomeoneasanenfantterrible,afemmefatale,abonvivant,aningnueoranminence
grise.
Termssuchascordonbleuandhautecoutureareuseddeliberatelytoconnotehighclassandquality,
and there is no doubt that a certain snobbery can attach to the use of French. Phrases like soi
disant,detrop,commeilfautordenosjoursexcludeallbutthemosteducated.Andwhatcouldbe
moresnobbishthantodescribesomeoneasapetitbourgeoisoraparvenu?
However,whenEnglishspeakersdouseFrench,itisofteninaratherarchorjokyway,puttingit
inmetaphoricalinvertedcommas.Ifyouaskforasouponofmilkinyourtea,ortellsomeonethat
you are temporarily hors de combat, you would usually be inviting a smile. I fondly remember
taking a child with a broken bone to hospital and being introduced to a nurse who introduced
himselfasPhilip.Plastererextraordinaire.
There are also some French phrases that we use very commonly because we cant express the
concept anywhere near as neatly in English. Dj vu is probably the most obvious example a
universalphenomenonwithnonameinEnglish.Whenwetalkaboutsomeonebeinggivenacarte
blanche to do something, or about something being a fait accompli, we do so because an English
paraphrasewouldbelesseconomicalorelegant.
Sotosumup,usingFrenchwordsisnotderigeur,thoughtheycancertainlyexpandourrpertoire
andprovidetheoddbonmot.However,careisrequiredifwewanttoavoidgivinganimpression
ofspeakingdehautenbas.
PostedintheEnglishlanguage|Tagged2015,Englishlanguage,phrases,vocabulary,words|
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11comments
The same goes for Greek words, since it is known worldwide that the Greek language
constitutesthebasisofalltherest!!!Itscommonknowledge,isntit??
byANNAstbJanuary21,2015at1:20pm
Reply
e.g. phenomenon, analysis, basis, theory, criticism, philosophy, symbol, symbolic, chaos,
catastrophe, crisis, harmony, euphoria, melody, rhyme, rhythm, tragedy, methodology,
anthropology, character, egocentric, egoism, theme, thesis, irony, paradox, cosmology,
astrophysics,asteroid,astronomical,democracy.DonotIsoundabsolutelysophisticatedand
cultivated??WellmaybeIamindeedThethingis,youaresuretohavebeenconvinced
byANNAstbJanuary21,2015at1:53pm
Reply
I know almost half of em but i dont think i would use some of them in communication
which could possibly trigger misunderstanding, esp outside uk. as you say, many words
aredestinedforjokesandshowingtheparticularfrenchknowledgeofthespeakersofthe
certaingroups.Anyways,thisblogtookmetothenextleveloflearningenglishwords.
byphuditpuangmalaiJanuary24,2015at10:35am
Reply
Touch!
MayIaddthatawomanwithflair(aSouthernbelleperhaps?)shoulddefinitelychoose
herbeauamongyoungsterssportingchinsweaters,drivingcoupsandholidayingin
chalets,inordertoavoidbeingconsideredpass?
And one should not forget the one French word that is probably understood almost
everywhereintheworld:hotel
byLuc007January21,2015at3:40pm
Reply
Is this because it was once considered to demonstrate a level of education in a person? So,
knowingsomeFrenchelevatedsocialstatus?
byJacquiThatcherJanuary22,2015at11:25am
Reply
YesterdayIcameacrossnomdeplumeinatext
byBegoaJanuary27,2015at11:56pm
Reply
ThiswouldhavebeenanarticleworthreadinghadithadvoicepronunciationsandtheFrench
meanings.Otherwiseyawn
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byCharlesFebruary13,2015at10:30pm
Reply
inschool[usedinthetext]oratschool?Whichformiscorrect?Iamconfused
byTadzioMarch11,2015at6:51pm
Reply
HiTadziogoodquestion!Ifyouhadaskedthis10yearsago,Iwouldprobablyhavesaidthat
inschoolwasAmericanandatschoolBritish.However,inschoolisoftenusedinBritish
Englishnow,butusuallyonlywhenyouaretalkingaboutwhathappensinschoolsingeneral.
Fortalkingaboutaspecificschool,Britsstilluseatschool,e.g.WhereisTom?Hesatschool.
Atschoolwouldbecorrectinthecontextinmyarticletoo.Soyoucansafelyuseatschoolin
anysituation.
byLizWalterMarch16,2015at9:45am
Reply
ThankyouLiz.English(bothBritishandAmerican)isarealchallengeandwillneverstop
surprisingme.
byTadzioMarch19,2015at4:40pm
Reply
[]Acertainjenesaisquoi:FrenchwordsandphrasesusedinEnglish.[]
byAcertainjenesaisquoi:FrenchwordsandphrasesusedinEnglishbasiabeckettJune23,2015
at5:50pm
Reply

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