un jouet (zhway) noun, masculine1. a toy Also:un coffre à jouets = a toybox Expressions:être le jouet de = to be the victim of somethingêtre le jouet d’une illusion = to be the victim of an illusion Citation du Jour:L’hirondelle, le jouet préféré du vent. The swallow, the wind’sfavorite toy. –Jules Renard Continue reading un jouet
cuisiner (kwee-zee-nay) verb 1. to cook 2. to grill (interrogate) Expressions:cuisiner quelqu’un = to give someone the third degreecuisiner bien/mal = to be a good/bad cook ………………….Citation du Jour:Cuisiner suppose une tête légère, un esprit généreux et un coeur large. / Cooking calls for a tranquil mind, a generous spirit and a big heart. –Paul Gauguin ………………………………….A Day in a … Continue reading cuisiner
From the back cover: “I love the way you infuse humor into these pieces. I think you have a knack for pinpointing the lines between American thoughts and ways of going about things and French ways—in a humorous way!” —Jessica L’Esperance Managing Editor, France Today: The Journal of French Travel and Culture A pastiche of readers’ impressions: ….even more enjoyable to read than your electronic … Continue reading Volume II
ramasser (ra-ma-say) verb 1. to pick up 2. to harvest Expressions:ramasser quelque chose à la pelle = to obtain loads of somethingêtre à ramasser à la petite cuillère = to be exhaustedramasser une bûche,* un gadin,* une gamelle,* une pelle* = to fall, to fall flat on one’s face ………………………..Citation du JourIl y a des jours où, pour juste se laisser vivre, il faut ramasser … Continue reading ramasser
un soulier (sool-yay) noun, masculine1. a shoe Expressionêtre dans ses petits souliers = to feel awkward or ill at ease ProverbMieux vaut user des souliers que des draps.Better to wear out the shoes than the sheets. …………………………………….A Day in a French Life… (The story that originally appeared here, along with the French vocabulary, below, is now a part of this book!) …………………………………………………………………………………………………*References: one kilometer … Continue reading un soulier
The favorite cabanon I told you about the other day. (photo, left) cuver (koo-vay) verb 1. to ferment 2. to sleep it off Expressions:cuver son vin = "to ferment one’s wine," to sleep it offcuver sa colère = to sleep, work or walk off one’s anger, to simmerdown Citation du Jour:L’humanité est une vieille ivrognesse qui, pour le moment, cuve sa dernière guerre. … Continue reading cuver
piger (pee-zhay) verb 1. to measure 2. to understand, to get it Expressions:tu piges = get it?pige-moi ça! = take a look at that!je n’y pige rien = I just don’t get itn’y piger que dalle = to understand nothing Also:un(e) pigiste = (piecework) a typesetter; a freelance journalist who is paid by the line Citation du Jour:La jeunesse a cela de beau qu’elle peut … Continue reading piger
The village of Roquebrune-sur-Argens (VAR) la dalle (dal) noun, feminine1. paving stone, flagstone; (concrete) slab Also:que dalle = nothing at all Expressions:avoir/crever la dalle = to be starvingn’y piger que dalle = to understand nothingavoir la dalle en pente = "to have a sloping floor," to be a boozerJe n’y vois que dalle = I can’t see a damn thing Citation du Jour:Le sage trouve … Continue reading la dalle
"hors saison" …off-season in Roquebrune-sur-Argens une échelle (ay-shell) noun, feminine 1. ladder 2. scale (of map) 3. musical scale Also:une échelle d’incendie, de sauvetage = a fire escapeune carte à petite/grande échelle = a small-scale/large-scale mapune échelle à poissons = a fish ladder; salmon leapune échelle mobile = a sliding scale (of prices) Expressions:faire la courte échelle = to give someone a helping handmonter … Continue reading une échelle
une jupe (zhewp) noun, feminine 1. a skirt Also: un jupon (nm) = petticoat, underskirt; bit of skirt Expression:aimer le jupon = to love anything in a skirtêtre toujours dans les jupes de quelqu’un = (to always be in the skirts of someone) to depend on someone too much Citation du Jour:La rime est un jupon, et je m’amuse à la suivre.The rhyme is a … Continue reading une jupe
