FRENCH WORD-A-DAY

My beau-frère, our dog Braise (leaping) and pal. What's that? You want to see a close-up of my brother-in-law? Click here. And for a recent photo, skip to the end of this post.

beau-frère (boh-frair) noun, masculine
  brother-in-law

Psst! Pressed? Haven't got time to say the whole word? Why not try the user-friendly "beauf" (bowf), a popular shortened version. No need to roll a French "r" with that one!

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Je veux être le frère des blancs, pas leur beau-frère.
I want to be the white man's brother, not his brother-in-law.
                                          --Martin Luther King

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I call him "Uncle Jacques" even though he is a few years younger than I. Besides brother-in-law, my children's uncle is many things to me. He is our family's cat consultant, for one. (It was Uncle Jacques who rushed out to buy steamed BABY food ("printanière de légumes,"* no less) when our new kitten came down with feline coryza.* Croquettes* are too hard to digest, he cautioned, before sending Coco and me off to the vétérinaire.*

Beside Cat's Best Friend, he is our children's favorite jester as well as my mom's adopted son (after Jean-Marc). And did I mention he is was single (Jacques, that is!)?

Bon,* I won't go on (lest you call me Cupidon*). I leave you with Uncle Jacques' foolproof recipe for gâteau au yaourt.* (update: remind me to post this recipe at the next chance!)

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References: printanière de légumes = spring vegetables; coryza = aka "feline influenza"; la croquette (f) = dry vittles, (cat, dog) food; le/la vétérinaire (m,f) = vet; bon = OK, then; le Cupidon = cupid; le gâteau (m) au yaourt = yogurt cake; bon appétit = enjoy (your meal)!


:: Audio File ::
Hear Jean-Marc pronounce today's quote (see "Audio File" column at the blog):
Beau-Frère. Je veux être le frère des blancs, pas leur beau-frère.
Download beau-frere.mp3
Download beau-frere.wav

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Mon beau-frère, Jacques.