Category Archives: Vocabulary

Quand on parle du loup…

Posted on 29 April 2012 by Tournesol

Two more French expressions: Quand on parle du loup, on en voit la queue : Literally: When one speaks of the wolf, one sees his tail: Talk of the devil (and he’s sure to appear). Plus ça change, plus c’est … Continue reading →

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Les automobiles…

Posted on 28 November 2011 by Tournesol

Phrases on the subject of cars and driving: La pédale d’accélération : the accelerator       un permis de conduire : a driving licence       la plage (can also be ‘a beach’) arrière : the back shelf, the parcel shelf       le pneu(matique) : … Continue reading →

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Muammar Gaddafi

Posted on 21 October 2011 by Tournesol

Un tyran de moins – one tyrant less. Quiconque se servira de l’épée périra par l’épée – he who lives by the sword dies by the sword. Now I’m waiting for a smart alec (M. Mme. Mlle je-sais-tout) to tell … Continue reading →

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La gauche molle

Posted on 19 October 2011 by Tournesol

‘La gauche molle’ is an expression I heard a lot of yesterday on europe1 French radio from Paris. I bridled up, thinking the political commentators were calling the French ‘left wing’ ‘feeble, soft, spineless’. The names of François Hollande and … Continue reading →

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Un porte-monnaie

Posted on 16 October 2011 by Tournesol

Rather than ‘money’ ‘la monnaie’ is actually ‘small/loose change’. The French for ‘money’ is ‘l’argent (nm)’. So ‘un porte-monnaie’ would literally be ‘a carry-change’ and is ‘a purse’. Expressions using ‘monnaie’ :       émettre/retirer une monnaie : to … Continue reading →

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(Se) boucher

Posted on 14 October 2011 by Tournesol

The two main meanings of ‘boucher’ are ‘to cork, put a cork in’ and ‘to block (up)’. Expressions: J’ai les oreilles bouchées : my ears are blocked;            boucher le passage à quelqu’un : to stand in somebody’s way;           boucher la … Continue reading →

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Reculer pour mieux sauter

Posted on 9 October 2011 by Tournesol

‘Reculer pour mieux sauter’ literally translates as ‘to take steps backwards to get a better (run at a) jump’. But my Collins-Robert dictionary tells me that the real translation of this phrase is : ‘to put off the evil day’. … Continue reading →

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Cinq mots de plus

Posted on 6 October 2011 by Tournesol

Five more words to take you closer to a perfect grasp of French: Un bourdon : a bumblebee and: ‘avoir le bourdon’ : ‘to have the blues’;        ‘un bougnat’ : ‘a coal merchant who also runs a small café’ – … Continue reading →

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The eyes of the head…

Posted on 3 October 2011 by Tournesol

I’m not boasting (much) but I’ve just parcelled up and posted 40 copies of “False Friends: Faux Amis” to Australia (Canberra Alliance Française). Now to work (harder) on the UK branches, so that postage does not cost an arm and … Continue reading →

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Le sol/le soleil

Posted on 1 October 2011 by Tournesol

Jumeaux : twins. Words that are confusingly similar or, in fact, the same word with more than one meaning: Le sol/le soleil : the ground/the sun;        un souci : a worry and a marigold;        la tache/la tâche : the … Continue reading →

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