un sou
Thursday, April 28, 2005
La Tirelire ~ The Piggy Bank
un sou (soo) noun, masculine
1. shilling; five centimes; one cent
Also: les sous (mpl) = (informal) money
Expressions:
de quatre sous = worthless
sou par sou = progressively
un sou est un sou = one mustn't waste money
propre comme un sou neuf = mint condition (clean)
n'avoir pas le sou/sans le sou = to be penniless
être près de ses sous = to be stingy
une machine à sous = slot machine
n'avoir pas un sou de bon sens = not to have an ounce of good sense
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Proverb
Prêter argent fait perdre la mémoire.
Lending money leads to memory loss.
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A Day in a French Life...
(The story that originally appeared here, with the French vocabulary (below) is now a part of this book.)**
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*References: une chaussette (f) = a sock; une culotte (f) = underwear; un gant de toilette (m) = a washcloth; une dent (f) = a tooth; J'ai envie de dix = I would like ten; Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq. Cinq euros = One, two, three, four, five. Five euros; J'ai trois sous = I have three coins; la fenêtre (f) = the window
** Words in a French Life: Lessons in Love and Language from the South of France
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