Sacred monsters, when prégnant doesn’t mean pregnant, old-fashioned words that are back in style, and why the French occasionally drown fish – here are our favourite French words of the Day.
Every day The Local publishes a French word or phrase of the day, focusing on colloquialisms, slang, sayings (and a bit of swearing) – you know, the type of French you might not learn in the classroom, but will hear all the time in the street.
This daily habit means we have a very extensive back catalogue – find it here – and we’ve picked out eight of our recent favourites.
Prégnant — pause a while, because this doesn’t mean what you think it does. To avoid being embarrassingly caught out, click here.
Monstre sacré — sacred monster? A hydra with a halo? This is another French phrase that’s definitely open to misinterpretation. Fortunately, readers of The Local know better.
Chienlit — French politicians have a fondness for resurrecting olde-worlde words. This one, revived by Charles de Gaulle during the tumultuous May 1968 period in France, has come to have a modern political meaning that seems appropriate. Find out more, here.
Amant — here’s a word to describe someone you love that may lead people to think the wrong thing, as we explain here.
Polar — nothing to do with ice caps or white bears and everything to a specific genre of books and movies. Honestly
Quelconque — you were just wondering what French word covered nondescript, ordinary, random, or ‘meh’, weren’t you? You’re not now.
Taf — Although this slang word for work is popular today, especially among young French people, its origins are old, dating all the way back to the beginning of the 17th century, as we worked hard to tell you, here.
