Do you speak French? You might think you don’t, but the English language is peppered with French words and phrases, many of which we hardly even realize are French anymore. Apparently around 30% of our English vocabulary is of French origin. Most of the French vocabulary now appearing in English was imported over the centuries following the Norman Conquest of 1066, when England came under the control of Norman-speaking peoples. It is also via French that many Latin words have come to the English language.
As I researched this, I found there are thousands of words, so I’ve listed just some here.
So whether you realize it or not you may already “speak French!” C’est la vie!
- à la carte
- à la mode
- abbreviation
- absurd
- access
- adolescence
- advertisement
- amateur
- ambience
- après-ski
- à propos
- art déco
- au contraire
- au gratin
- au jus
- au naturel
- au pair
- avant-garde
- bistro
- bizarre
- blasé
- blonde
- bon appétit
- bon vivant
- bon voyage good
- boulevard
- brunette
- c’est la vie
- chic
- connoisseur
- crème brûlée
- critique
- cuisine
- cul-de-sac
- debutante
- décolleté
- déjà vu
- de rigueur
- double entendre
- du Jour
- eau de toilette
- en route
- entrepreneur
- Fatigue
- faux
- faux pas
- femme fatale
- fiancé
- film noir
- fleur-de-lis
- garage
- gauche
- general
- generous
- gourmet
- gorgeous
- haute couture
- haute cuisine
- hors d’oeuvre
- ignorant
- imagine
- je ne sais quoi
- joie de vivre
- laissez-faire
- laundry
- liberty
- lieu
- machine
- maneuver
- mardi gras
- matinée
- melange
- ménage à trios
- moustache
- mousse
- number
- omelette
- option
- passion
- passport
- pen
- petite
- premiere
- president
- prêt-à-porter
- protégé
- rendezvous
- résumé
- remarkable
- repartee
- risqué
- rouge
- RSVP (répondez s’il vous plait)
- sans
- sex
- soirée
- souvenir
- stupid
- tête-à-tête
- touche
- vis-à-vis
- voilà !
- voyeur
There are so many… if you would like to see more just go here.
Chicago – the City of Now
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