French Word-A-Day is back now that winter break is over and our kids are in school again–growing their brains with soustraction,* imperfect (tensed) verbs, poetry, geography and more until the electric cloche rings at 4:30 p.m. Ahhh…. une cloche (klush) noun, feminine 1. bell Une ville sans cloche est comme un aveugle sans sa canne. A town without a bell is like a blind man … Continue reading cloche
Jean-Marc with his genial 'mop-spear'. Read on… Lance(lahnse)noun, femininea spear While preparing for a romantic getaway, I asked my husband where he had set his suitcase. That was when he informed me he wasn't taking one. I guessed the shirt on his back would be, once again, sufficient for an overnight trip, and that he would just … Continue reading lance
Happy Fête des Amoureux*–or Valentine's Day! Don't miss today's column where you will learn more than a dozen ways to say "darling" in French. amouracher (a-moor-a-shay) verb; s'amouracher de = to become infatuated with, to fall head over heels in love Le coeur découvre, la tête invente. The heart discovers, the head invents.-Arthur Cravan Les Mots Doux ~ Terms of EndearmentIt … Continue reading amouracher
une poule (pool) noun, feminine hen, fowl (sound clip and expressions follow at the end of this edition) Proverb:Celui qui veut manger des oeufs, doit supporter les poules.He who wants to eat eggs, must put up with the hens. ………………………….A Day in a French Life… I take the one-way road through the town of la Motte, searching for a parking space along avenue Fred Mistral. … Continue reading la poule
(a thin photo) maigrichon (may-gree-shon) adjective thin, slight Citation du Jour:Un de mes frères était si maigre que lorsqu’il avait bu un verre de vin rouge, on le prenait pour un thermomètre. One of my brothers was so thin that once he had drunk a glass of red wine others took him for a thermometer. … Continue reading maigrichon
Béton (bay-tohn) noun, masculine concrete My son has mentioned wanting to be a baker or a construction worker when he grows up, but I suspect his talent might lie in styling. For the past year Max has been working hard at perfecting what I call the gentleman's Mohawk: "gentleman's," for the understated height of the hair, so subtle you could almost get … Continue reading le béton
zinguer (zehn-gay) verb …would that today's word translated to 'zinger' or 'a striking or caustic remark' but no, it simply means 'to cover with zinc…' Useful, no? Citation du Jour: Sans morale, la politesse ne sert que de cache-misère. Without ethics, politeness only serves as a cover up.–Georges Koussouros A Day in a French Life… by Kristin Espinasse Dominique and I sat … Continue reading zinguer
A wee fender-bender in the neighborhood… well, that's one way to meet your neighbor! Read on in today's story column. le choc (shok) n.m. : impact, crash, bump; clash; shockToute culture naît du mélange, de la rencontre, des chocs. A l'inverse, c'est de l'isolement que meurent les civilisations. All cultures are born out of mingling, meetings and clashes. Conversely, civilizations die from isolation. –Octavio Paz … Continue reading choc
