How “Chic”!

 

If you were asked if you speak French, you might feel that your answer would have to be “no” but, in fact, there are words and phrases that we use in the English language all the time which are definitely French.

We have compiled a short list of words we think you will readily recognize and will have used many times.  Our list is fairly short, mind you, and there are many more….many, many more words that could be added.

Have fun with this and think of some others that are not on the list.

Apéritif              A before meal drink

Armoire             Wardrobe

Attaché              Person attached to an embassy

Au contraire     On the contrary

Au gratin           Food with cheese

Au jus                 Food course served with sauce

Au pair               Young foreigner who does domestic chores in exchange for room and board

Baguette             Long, narrow loaf of bread with crispy crust

Ballet                  A classical type of dance

Belle                    A beautiful woman or girl – “belle of the ball”

Blasé                   Unimpressed with something because of overfamiliarity, jaded

Bon appétit        Enjoy your meal

Bon voyage        Have a good trip!

Bouquet               Handful of flowers

Brunette              A brown-haired girl

Café                      Coffee shop

Carte blanche    Unlimited authority

Chaise longue    A long chair for reclining

Chauffeur            Driver

Chic                      Stylish

Chignon              A hairstyle worn in a roll at the nape of the neck

Concièrge            A receptionist at a hotel

Couture                High fashion

Crème brûlée      Dessert

Crèpe                    Thin sweet or savory pancake

Cul-de-sac           Dead end

Décor                    Layout and furnishing of a room

Déjà vu                 An impression or illusion of having seen or experienced something before

Du jour                 Today’s choice on the menu

Éclair                    Chocolate pastry

Entrepreneur      A person who undertakes and operates a new enterprise or venture

Escargot               Snail

Fait accompli      A done deal

Faux pas              Violation of accepted social rules

Fiancé/e              A man/woman engaged to be married

Flambé                 A cooking procedure in which alcohol is added to a hot pan to create a burst of flames

Fleur-de-lis         A stylized flower

Gaffe                     Blunder

Genre                    Type or class

Hors d’œuvre      Appetizer

Impasse                Deadlock

Je ne sais quoi    An indescribable or indefinable ‘something’ (literal translation is “I do not know what”)

Joie de vivre         Joy of life/living

Liaison                 A close relationship or connection

Mardi gras           “Fat Tuesday”, the last day of eating meat before Lent

Mileau                   Social environment

Motif                      A recurrent thematic element

Mousse                  A whipped dessert or a hairstyling foam.  In French means “foam”

Nouveau riche     Newly rich – used in English to refer particularly to those living a garish lifestyle with their newfound wealth

Panache                Flamboyance

Potpourri               French name for a Spanish stew with a wide variety of ingredients.  In English, It is the name for dried, scented herbs and refers also to any collection of miscellaneous or diverse items, as in “A Potpourri of Savvy Secrets”!

Prix fixe                A menu on which multi course meals with only a few choices are charged at a fixed price

Raison d’être       Reason for being, purpose

Rapport                To be in synch with someone

Répondez s’il
vous plait             RSVP – Please reply

Roux                     Cooked mixture of flour and fat used as a base in soups and gravies

Sabotage              Subversive destruction

Sans                      Without

Sauté                     Quickly fry in small amount of oil

Savoir-faire         Know how to do

Silhouette            The image of a person, this image usually being black

Sommelier           Wine steward

Trompe-lœil        “Trick the eye”, realism in painting

Voilà                      There it is

Vinaigrette           Salad dressing of oil and vinegar

Use these phrases and more that you find.  It just makes for more joie de vivre!