French phrases used by English speakers
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'œuvres, 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.
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!
- à la -- in the manner of
- à la carte -- each item separately
- à la mode -- fashionable (or, in North America, "with ice cream")
- Adieu! -- Good bye!
- agent provocateur -- a police spy who causes a crime to secure a conviction
- Au revoir! -- See you again! (or) Good bye!
- bête noire -- lit., black beast. Someone or something which is detested or avoided.
- Bon appétit! -- Have a good meal!
- Bonne chance! -- Good luck!
- Bon voyage! -- Have a good trip!
- Bonjour! -- lit., Good day! but also means Hello!
- carte blanche -- unlimited authority (literally, blank card)
- cause célèbre -- an issue arousing widespread controversy or heated public debate
- c'est la vie! -- That's life!
- c'est magnifique! -- That's great!
- comment allez-vous? -- How are you?
- d'accord -- "agreed, okay" (mostly Canadian)
- déjà vu -- Literally already seen. The impression or illusion of having seen or experienced something before.
- de rigueur -- required, necessary
- douceur de vivre -- sweetness of life
- escargots -- snails
- l'esprit d'escalier -- thinking of the right comeback too late (literally "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 or proved wrong
- faux amis -- false friends (used to refer to similar words in French and English that have different meanings).
- faux pas -- social misstep
- fin de siècle -- comparable to (but not exactly the same as) turn-of-the-century
- je ne sais quoi -- An indefinable (usually compelling) quality (literally "I don't know what")
- joie de vivre -- joy of living
- la crème de la crème -- the best of the best
- Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité -- Liberty, Equality, Fraternity (motto of the French Republic)
- merci beaucoup! -- Thank you very much!
- mirepoix -- a cooking mixture of two parts onions and one part each of celery and carrots (see at )
- 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
- oui -- yes
- 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 (or) if it pleases you (or) if you please (formal).
- soupe du jour -- the soup of the day
- succès de scandale -- success by scandal
- tête-à-tête -- lit. head to head; a private meeting
- tour de force -- A masterly or brilliant stroke, creation, effect, or accomplishment (literally: feat of skill or strength)
- vive la différence -- Long live the difference (between England and France, or between the sexes)
- Vive la France -- Long live France
- voilà! -- There you go!
Seemingly French phrases used in English, but not in French
- auteur -- in French it just means "author", but in English it means "film director who controls everything about the film, or other controller of an artistic situation". (Actually, the English connotation derives from French, or rather French film theory. Popularised in the journal Cahiers du cinéma, auteur theory maintains that directors like Hitchcock exert a level of creative control equivalent to the author of a literary work.)
- crème de la crème -- meaning "the best possible", for which the French say top du top
- cul-de-sac -- literally "bottom of the sack" but in fact "dead end"; dated in French; current term is rue sans issue, or impasse. Note: cul-de-sac is still widely used in Alberta, Québec (both are provinces of Canada) and in Belgium.
- double entendre (pronounced dubble ontondr' or dooble ontond)-- double meaning, for which the French say double entente or double sens
- encore -- extra song(s) played at the end of a gig, literally means "again"
- le mot juste -- the right word. (means the same literal thing in French, but isn't used in the particular context English-speakers use it).
- nom de plume -- "pen name", a translation of the English term, but the French say nom de guerre.
- venue -- location of an event, from venir, literally means "came"
French phrases in international air-sea rescue
International authorities have adopted a number of words and phrases from French for use by speakers of all languages in voice communications during air-sea rescues. Note that the "phonetic" versions are presented as shown and not in SAMPA.
- SECURATE (securité, "safety") -- the following is a safety message or warning, the lowest level of danger
- PAN PAN (panne, "breakdown") -- the following is a message concerning a danger to a person or ship, the next level of danger
- MAYDAY (m'aidez, "help me") -- the following is a message of extreme urgency, the highest level of danger. MAYDAY replaced SOS in this function.
- SEELONCE (silence, "silence") -- keep this channel clear for air-sea rescue communications.
- SEELONCE FEE NEE (silence fini, "silence is over") -- this channel is now available again.
- PRU DONCE (prudence, "prudence") -- silence partially lifted, channel may be used again for urgent non-distress communication
- MAY DEE CAL (médical, "medical") -- medical assistance needed
It is a serious breach in most countries, and in international zones, to use any of these phrases without justification.
See Mayday for a more detailed explication.
Quotation
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