Chantal, une ado (adolescent) who speaks excellent English with virtually no accent,…

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From oysters to eggplants, French is stuffed with food metaphors...The other night at dinner, Philippe was discussing food. Not surprising. After all, France is a country with four religions and 400 sauces. (The United States, Philippe opines, has four sauces and 400 religions.) Specifically, the pervasiveness of food imagery in French speech. I recounted confronting my…

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Amuse-Bouche No. 30. Who’s counting?  Le monde en chiffre…

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Amuse-Bouche No. 29: Striking differences…

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Amuse-Bouche No. 27: Words à la Mode -- or how to be out of date fast…

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Amuse-Bouche No. 18: Getting the etiquette



by Julia Frey

(julia.frey@aya.yale.edu)



Foot-in mouth disease is rampant, even among the French



At a multilingual dîner en ville (dinner of powerful people), the pretty daughter of American personnalités (VIPs), in Paris to learn French, provoked well-bred amusement by mixing up j’ai chaud (I’m hot = too warm) with je suis chaude (I’m hot = aroused). The notables… Continue

Amuse-Bouche No. 9 Partying With Intellectuals



by Julia Frey



What does un intello do for fun?



Every year, Jean-Pierre and Florence (Jumpy and Flo-Flo to intimates) have a fancy pique-nique for their anniversary. And every year it rains.



Jumpy’s whimsical invitation asks guests to bring totally imaginary dishes like terrine de kâ à la tetragone. Quoi? A kâ (kaon), as only a serious Scrabble player would know,… Continue

Amuse-Bouche No. 8: Pardon My French



by Julia Frey





As Anne and Sylvie arrive for dinner, Auguste, recovering from a bad cold, greets them with exquisite politesse: “Pardonnez-moi si je ne vous baise pas, mais j’ai un rhume” (Forgive me if I don’t f**k you, but I have a cold). Quoi? This provokes a generalized fou rire (uncontrollable laughter). Although my Dutch husband speaks French fluently—well enough to teach his university… Continue

Amuse-Bouche No. 5: What’s Litotes?



by Julia Frey



When is an insult not an insult?



Isabelle has invited les copains (pals) to dinner. She brings in the entrée (“appetizer,” not “entree”) hot from the oven, gives each of us a slice, watches to see if we like it. François-Noël swallows his first bite and announces,“Ça se laisse manger” (“It lets itself be eaten”—i.e., it’s edible). Quoi? He’s using une litote (lee… Continue

Amuse-Bouche No. 4: Nissarts and Ch'tis -- Separated by Language -

by Julia Frey

The French tend to ridicule all regional accents but their own.



We are exploring PACA (Provence–Alpes du Sud–Côte d’Azur), our new neighborhood, and I discover that les Provençaux speak French so you can understand them! They pronounce all the letters, including some that aren’t in the word. And they’re volubiles. In Vallauris (pronounced valorisse), it’s no use… Continue

Amuse Bouche No. 2: What's in a name? (bis): Le Name Dropping



by Julia Frey



Even as they dump conventional first names (see Amuse-bouche No. 1), the French remain obsessed with le nom de famille



Camille’s bobo (bourgeois-bohème) parents never got around to getting married. Déclarée (legally recognized) by her father, she bears his surname (not surnom -- which means nickname). But seventeen, and… Continue

I had to ask France Aimée where she got a patriotic name like Beloved France. (What if my parents had named me Beloved United States?) Not patriotism, she said. Her mother is Aimée; her grandmother was named France. Well, I observed, her grandmother was born in 1915. Another friend was named France during the German occupation in 1940. France…

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