FRENCH WORD-A-DAY

la moelle (mwal) noun, feminine
  1. marrow; pith, core

Also:
la moelle de boeuf = beef marrow
la moelle épinière = spinal marrow
la moelle osseuse = bone marrow

Expressions:
corrompu jusqu'à la moelle = rotten to the core
n'avoir pas de moelle dans les os = to be weak
se ronger les moelles = to worry a lot
tirer la moelle = to extract the essential in something
sucer la moelle de quelqu'un = (lit: to suck the marrow from someone) = to ruin someone

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Citation du Jour:
Je voulais vivre intensement et sucer la moelle de la vie. Et ne pas, quand je viendrai à mourir, découvrir que je n'aurai pas vécu.

I want to live deep and suck the marrow out of life. And not, when I come to die, discover that I have not lived. --Henry David Thoreau

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A Day in a French Life...

(The story that once appeared here, along with the French vocabulary below, is now a part of this book!)

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*References: niçois(e) = (person) from Nice; un gilet (m) = cardigan; la place (f) = square; chez moi = at my place; l'orthographe (f) = spelling; peu importe (peu importante) = of no great importance, of little significance; la dragée (f) = sugared almond; le marché (m) = market; un légume (m) = a vegetable; quel beau temps = what a beautiful day; la soupe du jour (f) = the soup of the day; le panneau (m) = the sign; étranger(-ère) = foreigner, outsider; la soupe au  pistou = vegetable soup with basil and garlic; après tout = after all; le pot-au-feu avec son os à moelle = French stew of vegetables and beef with its bone marrow; fricassée de poulpe = octopus fricassee (stew); le soleil du midi = the southern sun; ça n'existe pas = it doesn't exist; pas de patates = no spuds