Meet with Jean-Marc in Madison (WI) this coming March 14th or during his 2012 US wine tour
The recent prize giveaways have been a wonderful chance to discover silent readers, including Gus Elison (87-years-old, from Florida) and Marjorie Recinos (Newburyport, Massachusetts). Congratulations to these two, who have each won an antique key! Read on, in today's story column, to learn about who has won today's telephone call… (Photo taken in Le Castellet Village, at the restaurant Le Pied de Nez – painting by Christian Pieroni)
la popote (poh-poht) [slang!]
: cooking; officer's mess, canteen
Note: la cuisine and cuisiner are trustier word choices, should you want to talk about "cooking" with the French! However, if you are looking for a funny synonym, you might give today's word a go!
Also:
faire popote = to take one's meal with others
faire la popote = to cook, to do the cooking
popote (adjective) = stay-at-home, home-loving
=> "popote" is also a child's word for "soup"
Example Sentence:
Aimez-vous faire la popote? C'est qui qui fait la popote chez vous? Do you like to cook? Who does the cooking at your house?
A Day in a French Life… by Kristin Espinasse
In the last grips of la grippe… I had better take things slowly today. Inspired by so many wonderful reader tips on listening, I had hoped to write a story about a beer-guzzling, check-bouncing, twenty-something… but this tender tale of a floundering young woman and The Loving Ear that steered her, will have to wait.
Meantime, I need to draw a number… for we have another prize winner in our latest drawing: "Win A Telephone Conversation with a former Beer Guzzler Kristin"…
…And the winner is…
Dana Jones!
Bonjour, Dana. I'm putting any jitters aside… and looking forward to talking to you very soon!
***
Wishing everybody a happy weekend and, if you feel like joining in on today's topic of conversation "Favorite French words and expressions", then you can leave your pick here in the comments box. Who knows, maybe another winner will be drawn?…. Click here to share your favorite French word or expression.
- Thank you for reading one of Kristin's books (or gifting one!): Blossoming in Provence or Words in a French Life
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My co-workers have learned what it means when I say “Allez,allez, Dépêche-toi, toute de suite, illico presto, J’attends, oh là là, Tu est trop lent!
LeNora’s ‘bonne idée / bunny day’, qui m’a fait sourire.
“Allez, à tantôt tout le monde”… hein 🙂
Jeff
foutaise
Because it slides softly from the mouth, is teasingly endearing, and entwines innocence with flirtation … “Mon petit chou” – And, if you are completely pragmatic, you can eat it. Either way, I suppose it denotes a hunger of sorts. 🙂 Dianne, Mahalo Nui for subscribing to my website .. I’m honored.
Chouchoute and belle-fille…
I call my three year old son the former, and I love that my nine year old stepdaughter would be described as she truly is by the latter in France–beautiful daughter.
A la bonne franquette!
Il est à côté de ses pompes …
Tomber comme un cheveu dans la soupe…
Allez, devinez-donc, les bloggeurs!!!
nadine, Napa, Californie
I’m still laughing at Lenora’s “bunny day”. I rarely come back here the second time (It’s almost 9:30 pm New Mexico time) after checking in during the morning, but this time, I’m glad I did! It was certainly worth it!
Hi Kristi and Jules,
I am happy to see that your readers/writers are identifiying their locations around the globe. I haven’t put pins on a map yet (good idea) but I am keeping track in my head and am very pleased. What an amazing world it has turned out to be for us computer people.
My favorite expression that I said to my son when he was little was ‘mon petit chou chou”.but my all time favorite expression/words are ooh la la la.. it can mean approval, disapproval, acknowledgemnet of a scandal, encouragement, satisfaction..very French.
Just because of its associations for us appropos Le Bureacracy- ‘néanmoins’, always accompagned with the gallic shrug !
We learned to accept it with humour as part of the french life, which we love .
Audrey Roussillion in the Pyrénées Orientale
Hi Kristin,
My favorite French expression is l’heure bleu. My favorite time of each day. Within l’heure bleu, here in the South USA we have also the “pink moment.”
Speedy recovery.
Bonnie in South Carolina
Chere Kristin, Glad la grippe has loosened it’s grip on you. We just returned last night from two months in Paris, and your blog will keep me connected with the French language. My favorites are “melange,” “truc,” and “Ce n’est pas grave.” I’ll say something like “I’m sorry for for not having exact change,” or some such thing, and the response is that it’s not serious. I love that!
Alors, on peut faire la popote avec un pote, n’est-ce pas ?
I’m loving this !! My favorite is ” comme ci comme ca” And it was one of the few french phrases I actually remembered off the top of my head when I was last there (I find it hard to retain a new language at my age (73)but will keep on trying !!
Anne from Auckland new Zealand
“Tant pis”! Too bad! Great fun to use….
aussi….”je parle le francais comme une americaine”. I speak french like an american.
tammy / arizona
Kristi, so glad you are feeling better! Pamplemousse AND pantoufle have long been favorites of mine, but my latest favorite is chatouilleuse, it really tickles me!
This expression “faire du lèche-vitrines” (to window shop) reminds me of when we kids and pressed our faces up against windows to get even closer to the wonderful things inside. Who cared about all the germs, smudges left and iced up?
Glad you are on the mend.
Bises et bonne journée.
Edie in Brunswick,Maine
Sorry about the typos. Should be “when we were kids” and instead of “iced up” it should be “picked up”.Think I need another cup of coffee!
Edie
“Je n’ai pas les yeux en face des trous.” Perfect for how I feel in the morning when I haven’t had enough sleep–“my eyes aren’t sitting right in their sockets?” That’s the best translation I’ve come up with.
Also love “Cela me tappe sur les nerfs.” (It’s beating on my nerves.)
And “vachement,” as in “vachement bon.” “Cowly good”–that’s about as inexplicable as calling someone you love a little cabbage!
Oh, and “Elle/Il saute du coq à l’âne.”
“She/he jumps from the rooster to the donkey.” Said in reference to a speaker whose thoughts wander from one topic to a different, unrelated topic in conversation making them hard to follow. Creates a really funny image!
I am coming late to the expression party but have enjoyed them all!! I don’t know how to spell it, but one of my favorite words to say way back when I took high school French was ‘coqcorico’ for the sound a rousted makes!!! We must of been having an animal sound lesson HaHa. And I loved the way that sounded, so muc better than ‘cockle-doodle-do!! (sine then I’ve enjoyed many of the ones the other readers have sent, esp ‘pamplemousse’
My favorite French word is pourquoi. I like how it sounds. Plus sometimes it’s sometimes good to ask why. I love French food. Though I am no longer Chef at a French restaurant, I use my skills that haven’t faded unlike my memory seems to have, on the guys at the firehouse. Glad you are feeling better!