FRENCH WORD-A-DAY

la citrouille (see-troo-y) noun, feminine
1. pumpkin, gourd
2. head, nut; idiot

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Expressions:
n'avoir rien dans la citrouille = to be empty-headed, bird-brained
avoir un coeur de citrouille = to have a pumpkin heart, to lack stamina
avoir la tête comme une citrouille = to have a pumpkin head = to have
a migraine (or when your head feels swollen from information overload)

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Citation du Jour

Le melon a été divisé en tranches par la nature afin d'être mangé en famille. La citrouille étant plus grosse peut-être mangée avec les voisins.

The melon was devised by nature to be eaten among family. The pumpkin, being larger, can be eaten with neighbors. --Bernardin de Saint-Pierre

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A Day in a French Life...

The story that originally accompanied this post is now a part of the book "Words in a French Life: Lessons in Love and Language from the South of France." Vocabulary from the original story is posted below.

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une cheminée (f) = fireplace; un périple (m) = journey; qui fait peur = which scare; une sorcière = a witch; la mairie (f) = the town hall; ah-lo-een = pronunciation for "Halloween"; une friandise (f) = a bonbon, candy; un déguisement = a disguise; le tout, c'est de faire peur! = the most important, is to scare (them)!; une boîte-aux-lettres (f)= mailbox; une porte (f) = a door; un voisin(e) = neighbor; grimace soup (from the French expression "faire la soupe à la grimace" = to become angry)

ténébreux (teh-neh-bruh) adjective
1. dark, gloomy 2. saturnine (person)

the feminine is ténébreuse (teh-neh-bruz)

Also: ténèbres (n.f.pl) = darkness, gloom

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Citation du Jour

L'homme sait enfin qu'il est seul dans l'immensité indifférente de l'univers d'où il a émergé par hasard. Non plus que son destin, son devoir n'est écrit nulle part. A lui de choisir entre le royaume et les ténèbres.

Man at last knows that he is alone in the unfeeling immensity of the universe, out of which he emerged only by chance. Neither his destiny nor his duty have been written down. The kingdom above or the darkness below: it is for him to choose. --Jacques Monod

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A Day in a French Life...

I stood in la place* holding my 4-ounce jar of mayonnaise. The store clerk didn't say "papier ou plastique,"* so I collected my change, picked up the cold jar and walked back to the quiet square to rejoin the kids and wait for our ride out of the village of Salernes.

Max and Jackie chased each other along the cobblestones in a game of "Trap-Trap." Max was le loup* about to attraper* his little sister, a.k.a., le mouton.* When she changed her mind about wanting to play (read, when she got caught) Max protested, "Mauvaise Perdante!"*

I couldn't help but wonder what the square would look like during "la saison touristique." The shutters might receive a fresh coat of paint in sage green, or bleu lavande,* geraniums would tumble from earthenware pots, and a lazy cat would stretch just behind some lace curtains.

Presently, la place was somber, ténébreuse. The chipped and weatherworn shutters were closed, empty benches framed the square. No cats, not even a tiger lily in a vase.

I stood there passing the jar of mayonnaise from one hand to the next. I tried to put it in my coat pocket, but the jar was too big, so I settled for warming my hands one at a time.

Now and then Jackie would bolt up, thrusting cold fingers around my waist, threatening to knock that jar of mayonnaise free, for once and for all. "Je ne suis pas une mauvaise perdante!" she cried.

"No sweetie, you're not a sore loser."

I observed the pot of mayonnaise; the label read: "Un goût fin et délicat." A poetic jar of "may-oh-nayz."

Fin et délicat. Just like this French life. Fine. Still delicate. Fitting into a foreign culture has been a silent struggle. (Ask my French husband, who might tell you,"a very loud struggle!")

I realized, shivering there in the square, listening to my two little Franco-Americans rattle on in a language still foreign to me, how my dreams continue to unfold, delicately; on their own terms, not mine.

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*References: la place (f) = the (village) square; papier ou plastique = paper or plastic; le loup (m) = wolf; attraper = to catch; le mouton (m) = sheep; mauvaise perdante = sore loser; la saison touristique (f) = the tourist season; bleu lavande = lavender blue

Today's column "A Closer Look..." is in French and English. (Just a reminder in case you stumbled first on the French, became nonplussed, and proceeded to "tourner le dos" on the rest!)

le dos (doh) noun, masculine
1. back; spine (book)

Expressions:
de dos = from behind
dos à dos = back to back
avoir mal au dos = to have a backache
faire le gros dos = "to make the big back" (a cat arching its back)
tourner le dos à quelqu'un = to turn the back on someone
tomber sur le dos de quelqu'un = to drop in on someone (unexpected)
mettre quelque chose sur le dos de quelqu'un = to saddle someone with
something (to shoulder them with the responsibility for something)
faire quelque chose derrière le dos de quelqu'un = to do something behind someone's back

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French Proverb:

Si l'hiver est froid et rigoureux
Ton ventre à la table, ton dos au feu.

If winter is cold and harsh
Put your stomach to the table and your back to the fire.

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A Closer Look at French Expressions

by Barbara Barles

Comme vous avez pu le constater, la langue française adore les expressions imagées pour exprimer une idée, un sentiment ou décrire une situation.

Après les fruits, légumes et autre vocabulaire alimentaire, je vous propose aujourd'hui une liste d'expressions se référant à l'anatomie du corps humain.

Il s'agit là d'expressions tout à fait courantes et très employées dans le langage de tous les jours. A retenir sans "se prendre la tête"!!!

English

As you may have noticed, the French language loves picturesque expressions to express an idea, a feeling, or to describe a situation.

After the fruit, vegetable and other food vocabulary, today I propose a list of expressions having to do with the human body.

Here you will find modern expressions that are used often in everyday language. To retain without "holding your head" (without getting flustered!)

- Mettre les pieds dans le plat:
"To put the feet in the dish"
= faire une gaffe = to blunder

- Prendre ses jambes à son cou:
"To take one's legs to one's neck"
("To take to one's heels")
= s'enfuir = to run off

- En avoir plein le dos:
"To have a back full"
= en avoir ras-le-bol, en avoir assez = to be fed up

- Avoir un poil dans la main:
"To have a hair in the hand"
= être faignant = to be lazy

- Avoir les chevilles qui enflent ou avoir la grosse tête:
"To have swollen ankles" (or a big head)
= être prétentieux, fier, se prendre au sérieux
=to be pretentious, proud, to take oneself too seriously

- Avoir le bras long:
"To have a long arm"
= avoir des relations, des connaissances influentes.
To know the right people, to be in contact with influential people

- Se serrer les coudes:
"To press the elbows together"
= être solidaires les uns des autres
= to help one another, to stick together

- Ne pas savoir sur quel pied danser:
"To not know upon which foot to dance"
= ne pas savoir quelle attitude tenir, ne pas savoir comment agir ou
réagir. = to not know which attitude to take, to not know how to act
or react

- Dormir sur ses deux oreilles:
"To sleep on both ears"
= dormir en toute tranquilité, ne pas avoir à s'inquiéter.
= to sleep tranquilly, to not have worries

- Avoir un cheveu sur la langue:
"To have a hair on the tongue"
= zozoter = to lisp

- Etre comme les deux doigts de la main:
"To be like two fingers on a hand"
= être inséparables = to be inseparable

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Barbara Barles is a jurist based in Toulon, France. She enjoys trying out new recipes on friends and the pleasing "qualité de vie" in her native Provence.

Tune Up Your French: Top 10 Ways to Improve Your Spoken French

Words in a French Life: Lessons in Love and Language from the South of France

The Ultimate French Review and Practice: Mastering French Grammar for Confident Communication

Mastering French Vocabulary : A Thematic Approach
2000+ Essential French Verbs: Learn the Forms, Master the Tenses, and Speak Fluently!

bouquiner(boo-kee-nay) verb 1. to hunt after, to collect, old books 2. (informal) to read

Also:
un bouquin = a book
un(e) bouquiniste = a secondhand book seller

Expression:
bouquiner un livre = to read a book

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Citation du Jour

Aimer à lire, c'est faire un échange des heures d'ennui que l'on doit avoir en sa vie contre des heures délicieuses.

To love to read is to exchange the hours of boredom that we have in our lives for delicious hours. --Montesquieu

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A Day in a French Life...

brader (brah-day) verb

1 to sell off; to sell for next to nothing
2. (se débarrasser) to get rid of

Also:
une braderie = a sidewalk, clearance sale

Expression:
brader les prix = to cut prices

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Proverb
Acheter ce dont on n'a pas besoin, c'est le moyen d'aller de tout à rien. Buying what we don't need is the way to go from all to nothing.

A Day in a French Life... by Kristin Espinasse

On a humid and hazy vendredi matin, we arrive in St. Tropez to find the parking lot presque plein. Along the port the artists are setting up shop: a chair, several canvases for sale and a work-in-progress on the easel. Multi-million dollar yachts are parked alongside a dozen or so small fishing boats for equal opportunity frimerie. A restaurant on the port announces its "Menu Braderie" -- a bold offering when you consider that "braderie" means "to get rid of" (yesterday's Bouillabaisse? day-old baguettes?).

We are in St. Tropez ("St. Trop" for the locals) for the famous Braderie d'Automne. 100,000 shoppers are expected to descend on the former quaint fishing village with hopes to "dénicher la bonne affaire."

Not fifteen steps into our quest for les bonnes affaires and we are stalled in a cramped rue piétonne, swallowed up by power shoppers.

"You've got to push." Barbara says. I look up at all these delicate French women and am afraid of crushing them, or at the very least ruffling their delicate chemises.* I push. Pardon. Oh, pardon. Pardon...

In front of every boutique, tables full of discounted merchandise. Kiwi brand bathing suits at 30 Euros instead of 90, GAS jewelry at 20 euros instead of 65. "Ça vaut la peine,"* the women say, as they sort through boxes of bijoux de fantaisie.*

Nothing for sale outside Louis Vuitton's and in front of Tommy Hilfiger's, no tables. The mannequins in the window are stripped. Inside, the salespeople look like TH models. C'est rigolo.*

"C'est..... Trop!" I say to Barbara, as we surface from la foule.*
"On ne sait plus ou donner de la tête!"* she says, translating my sentiments into her French.

Early on, I realize I would rather be watching than rummaging. I long to be a French seagull perched high on a colorful striped canvas store,* making harmless tongue-in-beak commentary as the Tropéziens file by, weighed down with chic paper shopping bags.

From where I am, c'est-à-dire,* sea level, in the belly of the crowd, I see a lot of bare midriffs, cleavage and pouty lips. I see men with coiffed hair and shoppers in talons hauts* toting dogs the size of an American football. I listen to the French who say things like, "Ils ont pas beaucoup de choses à brader là-bas."* Or, "Ici, c'est que les vieilleries!"*

We leave St.Trop with four small sacs* between us. Swim trunks for Barbara's son and a few nappes* for my friends and family back home. The sun eventually crept through the fog offering us a free St. Tropez tan, without the jingle cream, without le bain. And we are left with un bon souvenir* of a day in late October à un prix assez bas.*

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*References: vendredi matin (m) = Friday morning; presque plein = almost full; frimerie = (a made up word from "frimer" = to show off); dénicher la bonne affaire = to unearth a good deal; une rue piéton (f) = pedestrian street; une chemise (f) = a shirt; Ça vaut la peine = it's worth the trouble (rummaging); les bijoux de fantaisie (m) = costume jewelry; c'est rigolo = it's funny; Ils ont pas beaucoup de choses à brader là-bas = they don't have a lot on clearance over there; une vieillerie (f) = old thing; la foule (f) = the crowd; C'est trop = It's too much; On ne sait plus ou donner de la tête! = We don't know where to begin (to look); un store (m) = awning; c'est-à-dire = that's to say; les talons hauts (m) = high heels; un sac (m) = shopping (bag); une nappe (f) = tablecloth; le bain (m) = bath (sun bath); un bon souvenir = a good memory: à un prix assez bas = for quite a low price

manquer (mahn-kay) verb
1. to be lacking; to be missing
2. (manquer à) to be absent (from); to be missing (from)
3. to fail
4. (manquer de) to not have enough of something
5. to almost (miss, hit, lose)

intransitive verb
1. to miss 2. to bungle, to botch

Expressions:
manquer sa vie = to make a mess of one's life
manquer une occasion = to miss an opportunity
manquer à sa parole = to break one's word
manquer à son devoir = to fail in one's duty
manquer à une règle = to violate a rule
manquer à quelqu'un = to be disrespectful to somebody

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Citation du Jour:

Les mots manquent aux émotions.
Words fail to describe emotions. --Victor Hugo

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A Day in a French Life...

The story that appeared here is now part of this book.

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*References: pas du tout = not at all; chez ma grand-mère (f) = at my grandmother's (home); un coffre (m) = a chest; une bricole (f) = a trifle, trinket, token; un bibelot (m) = a knick-knack; un oncle (m) = uncle; une tante (f) = an aunt; jamais = ever; Je t'aime. A très bientôt! = I love you. See you real soon!

un coffre (kohfr) noun, masculine
1. chest, bin (storage), case, cabinet
2. safe; safety-deposit box
3. boot or trunk (of car)

Also:
le coffre à linge = linen chest
le coffre à outils = tool chest
un coffre-fort = a safe
le coffre à gants = the glove compartment
un coffre à jouets = a toybox
la salle des coffres = the bank vault
un coffre au trésor = a treasure chest
un coffre à bagages = an overhead luggage locker

...and the verb "coffrer" (emprisonner) = to throw or put inside (prison)

Note: coffre is also used informally to mean chest, lungs or voice.

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Expression:
avoir du coffre = (Here, the image of a puffed out "coffre" or chest) = to have the audacity (to)

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Proverb:
On ne jette pas le coffre au feu parce que la clef est perdue.
We don't throw the chest into the fire just because the key is lost.
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A Day in a French Life...

At 3 a.m. this morning I was busy dreaming about snow, when:

"As-tu fermé tes vitres?" my husband mumbled.
"What?" I replied, coming out of a slumber.
"As tu fermé tes vitres?"
"Quoi?"
"It is raining outside, are your windows closed?" Jean-Marc repeated, patiently.

Oh, the windows. Rain. THE WINDOWS!

Realizing he was not going to get out of bed and check to see if my car windows were closed, I dragged myself out into the rain, stopping first by the front door to pick up an oversized parapluie.*

Mission complete, I crawled back into bed and answered my husband in 3 a.m. Franglais:

"Yes, I had closed my vitres.* And, while I was out, I took the opportunity to shut YOUR coffre* which, by the way, was wide open!"

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*References: un parapluie (m) = umbrella; un coffre (m) = trunk (car)

un caleçon (kal-sohn) noun, masculine
1. boxer shorts, underpants
2. leggings (for women)

Also:
caleçons de bain = swim trunks
caleçon(s) long(s) = long johns
une caleçonnade = a "spectacle de boulevard" (road show) including risqué themes

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Expression:

jeter le caleçon à quelqu'un = to provoke someone to fight

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Citation du Jour:

Le caleçon est au vaudeville ce que la toge est à la tragédie.
The underpants are to Vaudeville what the gown is to tragedy.
--Carlo Rim

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A Day in a French Life...

The lady in line before me at the supermarché is busy sending her husband back and forth for items oubliés.*

"Mais non, that is not what I asked for!" she says.
"Ils ne comprennent rien, les hommes. Men don't understand anything!" With that, she looks at me, winks and throws her jaw over to the next line:

"Çelui-là, il a des choses à se faire pardonner! That guy there has things he needs forgiven!"

I look across to the next line. A man is waiting to check out, a bouquet of twelve long-stemmed roses in his arms--grocery store roses--with their tips darkened and fané,* mimicking the disheveled look of their holder.

"Oh! Mais, je vous ai dit...But I told you...!" this time the lady's husband has returned with Swedish krisprolls and not the apéritif toasts, she had asked for...

I return home with the groceries and hand Max four new pairs of underwear.

"Ce sont des slips!" he says, pronouncing "slip" as "sleep."
"Slips are for girls! I wanted caleçons."

I know very well that "un slip" in French is not like the slips women wear back home in Arizona (under skirts). In French, a slip can mean "briefs" for men (the non-boxer type) or "panties" for women. The slips I bought my son are the non-boxer type.

Though it took a while to understand French underwear terms, including slip, caleçon, culotte,* sous-vêtement,* dessous,* bas,* collant,* soutien-gorge* et compagnie*--I eventually caught on, and now have underwear vocabulary under control (though I couldn't tell you what the term for "control top" is...").

In brief: there will be one less stereotypical Frenchman in a Speedo at the beach this summer, which might have some of you cheering "Bra-vo!"

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*References: oublié (oublier) = forgotten; fané (faner) = withered; une culotte (f) = briefs, panties; un sous-vêtement (m) = undergarment; le dessous (m) = underwear; les bas (mpl) = nylons, stockings, pantyhose; un collant (m) = tights; un soutien-gorge (nm) = bra; et compagnie = and the rest
Photo: "Laundry drying in Nyons, France"

le goût (goo) noun, masculine
1. taste
2. savor, flavor
3. liking, fondness

(from the Latin, gustus, taste)

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Expressions

sans goût = tasteless
de bon goût = in good taste
avoir du goût = to have good taste
avoir le goût fin = to have a fine palate
à chacun son goût = to each his own
un goût passager = a passing fancy
prendre goût à quelque chose = to take a liking to something
faire passer le goût du pain à quelqu'un = to do away with someone; to
make someone want to give up
le goût du terroir (the taste of the soil) = food/drink with a native tang

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Citation du Jour

Le goût, c'est la mort de l'art.
Taste, it's the death of art. --Edgar Degas

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A Day in a French Life...

(Do not miss the story that originally appeared here, along with the vocabulary below. Order the book!)

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*References: une maman = a mom, mother; le jeudi (m) = Thursday; un peu énervé(e) = a little irritated; boules (pétanque) = the game of bowls; en rang = in line; CFA = Centre de formation d'apprentis = apprentice training center; une épreuve = an ordeal; le trottoir (m) = the sidewalk; un matelots = a seaman, sailor; sur place = on the spot; un atelier = a workshop; pâtisserie = pastry; boulangerie = bakery; un(e) apprenti(e) = apprentice; un récipient = container; méfiant = suspicious, distrustful; ah bon = oh really?

une feuille (fuhy) noun, feminine
1. a leaf
2. a sheet (paper)

Also:
la feuille d'or = gold leaf
la feuille d'étain = tin foil
le fer en feuilles = sheet iron
la feuille de paie = payroll
la feuille de présence = attendance roll
la feuille d'impôt = tax return sheet
la feuille de laurier = bay leaf
la feuille volante = loose leaf

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Expressions:

lire sous la feuille = to read between the lines
les oreilles en feuille de chou = cauliflower leaf ears = ears that stick out

Thank you Magalie L. in Ireland for these recent additions:
être dur de la feuille (feuille is the ear here) = to be deaf
le mille-feuille(s) = type of pastry

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Citation du Jour

Je ne puis regarder une feuille d'arbre sans être écrasé par l'univers.
I cannot look at the leaf of a tree without being overwhelmed by the universe. --Victor Hugo

.........................................
A Day in a French Life...

(Do not miss the story that originally appeared here, along with the vocabulary below. Order the book!)

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*References: une habitude (f) = a habit; l'automne (m) = autumn; les feuilles mortes qui tombent = dead leaves that fall; Je vais faire un feu ce soir = I'm going to make a fire tonight; le sèche-linge = the clothes dryer; tailler = to cut; une boule (f) = a ball; braderie d'automne = autumn clearance sale; un quatre-quatre = a four-wheel drive vehicle; la garrigue = wild scrubland; la chasse (f) = the hunt; une belle-mère (f) = mother-in-law; fatigué,e = tired; "ça doit être le changement de temps = it must be the change of seasons; un(e) gosse = a kid; le daube = (meat) stew, casserole ; le plat du jour (m) = the day's special;chez vous = in your area