French Language

Untranslatable French words and phrases are a thing of beauty. The intraduisble for this month is "La douleur exquise". The literal meaning in English for… Read More

French Superlative! This month, we will be going to extremes by looking at the French superlative! In grammatical terms, the superlative is used… Read More

Dans la phrase "le voleur a volé une télévision", où est le sujet ?  (In the phrase "the thief stole a television, where is the… Read More

LES INTRADUISIBLES : pied-à-terre Ready for this month’s Intraduisible? A “pied-à-terre” is a second residence that’s far away from your original one. It… Read More

Qu'est-ce qui tombe sans faire de bruit ? (What falls without making a sound?) Baby blagues are a collection of jokes chosen by Babylangues. The jokes… Read More

“Tartiner” means to spread a substance on a piece of bread or toast. You could “tartine” just about anything onto your slice: cheese, honey, butter...the… Read More

As much as the Academie Française wants to protect the purity of the French language, language borrowing is a process as old as languages itself… Read More

Quel est le jeu préféré des philosophes ? (What is a philosopher's favourite game?) Baby blagues are a collection of jokes chosen by Babylangues. The jokes are… Read More

“Crapoter” is a very interesting little word, meaning “to fake smoke”. It is when someone doesn’t inhale the smoke while smoking a cigarette but puffs… Read More

Quel est le sport le plus fruité ? (What is the fruitiest sport?) Baby blagues are a collection of jokes chosen by Babylangues. Although they are childish… Read More

Middle French is a period of the French language from about the 14th to the 17th century. It was preceded by the Old French period… Read More

“Se recroqueviller” provides the idea of “curl up” or “shrivel” in French. It can be used both in relation to objects and people, but the… Read More

This Intraduisible ironically has too many ways to be translated in English because of all the contexts it can appear in. It is linked to… Read More

Qu'est ce qui n'est pas un steak ? (What isn't a steak?) Baby blagues are a collection of jokes chosen by Babylangues. Although they are… Read More

“Chanter en yaourt” is a French expression meaning 'to fake-sing'. Add this quirky expression to your vocabulary today ;)… Read More

Baby blagues are a collection of jokes chosen by Babylangues. Although they are childish jokes, they still make the French laugh!… Read More

Baby blagues are a collection of jokes chosen by Babylangues. Although they are childish jokes, they still make the French laugh!… Read More

Given the etymology of "spleen", it is likely that many of you will never have encountered this term! The word was coined in the 19th… Read More

'Coup de [qqc]' is a useful French phrase to describe those sudden, out-of-the-blue moments that trigger a certain feeling, such as love or tiredness. Read More

Baby blagues are a collection of jokes chosen by Babylangues. Although they are childish jokes, they still make the French laugh!… Read More

Baby blagues are a collection of jokes chosen by Babylangues. Although they are childish jokes, they still make the French laugh!… Read More

Baby blagues are a collection of jokes chosen by Babylangues. Although they are childish jokes, they still make the French laugh!… Read More

Baby blagues are a collection of jokes chosen by Babylangues. Although they are childish jokes, they still make the French laugh!… Read More

Ras-le-bol is a French phrase used to emphasise frustration or annoyance. For example, when you are so fed up with something or someone. Read More

Baby blagues are a collection of jokes chosen by Babylangues. Although they are childish jokes, they still make the French laugh!… Read More

Baby blagues are a collection of jokes chosen by Babylangues. Although they are childish jokes, they still make the French laugh!… Read More

Baby blagues are a collection of jokes chosen by Babylangues. Although they are childish jokes, they still make the French laugh!… Read More

Insortable is a popular French term that is used to describe somebody who you just can’t take anywhere!… Read More

Baby blagues are a collection of jokes chosen by Babylangues. Although they are childish jokes, they still make the French laugh!… Read More

Baby blagues are a collection of jokes chosen by Babylangues. Although they are childish jokes, they still make the French laugh!… Read More

Baby blagues are a collection of jokes aimed at French children, chosen by Babylangues. Although they are childish jokes, they still make the French laugh!… Read More

The Carambar is a quintessentially French sweet. This chewy caramel candy has almost become a national image of France. In 1961 Carambar began to include… Read More

The Carambar is a quintessentially French sweet. This chewy caramel candy has almost become a national image of France. In 1961 Carambar began to include… Read More

The French noun une dizaine is modified by the suffix ‘-aine’, which is used to convey the idea of an approximation in quantity. Read More

The Carambar is a quintessentially French sweet. This chewy caramel candy has almost become a national image of France. The Carambar is a quintessentially French… Read More

The verb mitonner, which means ‘to cook up slowly’, can also be used in an informal context to talk about someone who is preparing or… Read More

The Carambar is a quintessentially French sweet. This chewy caramel candy has almost become a national image of France. In 1961 Carambar began to include… Read More

The Carambar is a quintessentially French sweet. This chewy caramel candy has almost become a national image of France. In 1961 Carambar began to include… Read More

Quel est le point commun entre un professeur et un thermomètre ?… Read More

Derived from the noun nombril, meaning ‘navel’ or ‘belly button’, and the adjectival suffix -iste, the term nombriliste refers to someone who thinks only of… Read More

Comment se nomme l’ami que l’on ne supporte pas? The Carambar is a quintessentially French sweet. This chewy caramel candy has almost become a national… Read More

Quel est le sport le plus silencieux ? The Carambar is a quintessentially French sweet. This chewy caramel candy has almost become a national image… Read More

Quel est le point commun entre un pêcheur et un mannequin? This joke plays on the different possible meanings of the word ligne. While a… Read More

The Carambar is a quintessentially French sweet. This chewy caramel candy has almost become a national image of France. In 1961 Carambar began to include… Read More

Riddle: Je traverse les vitres sans les casser, qui suis-je ?… Read More

Don’t you think that the adjective frileux, with its harsh ‘f’ and tremulous ‘r’, evokes the exact feeling of a shiver, and then captures it… Read More

The Carambar is a quintessentially French sweet. This chewy caramel candy has almost become a national image of France. In 1961 Carambar began to include… Read More

The Carambar is a quintessentially French sweet. This chewy caramel candy has almost become a national image of France. In 1961 Carambar began to include… Read More

Mise-en-abyme is one of those expressions that seems to crop up all the time, especially in academic writing, but whose meaning is a bit of… Read More

The Carambar is a quintessentially French sweet. This chewy caramel candy has almost become a national image of France. In 1961 Carambar began to include… Read More

The adjective décomplexé is taken from the infinitive form décomplexer, whose meaning is formed from the prefix dé-, connoting removal or separation, and the noun… Read More

Idioms are a vital part of every language for they add colour and imagery to your speech, therefore making it more expressive. Learning idioms in… Read More

French joke: Que font deux brosses à dent le 14 juillet ? - Un feu dentifrice !… Read More

IDIOMS Idioms are a vital part of every language for they add colour and imagery to your speech, therefore making it more expressive. Learning idioms… Read More

Idioms Idioms are a vital part of every language for they add colour and imagery to your speech, therefore making it more expressive. Learning idioms… Read More

French joke: Quelle est la femelle du hamster ? - L'Amsterdam!… Read More

French joke: Pourquoi le football c'est rigolo ? Parce que Thierry en rit!… Read More

French joke: De quelle couleur sont les parapluies quand il pleut ? Ils sont tout verts !… Read More

Verlan is a form of slang or ‘argot’ using the inversion of syllables of a word to say the same thing. If you thought the… Read More

The French have even created the expression 'les blagues Carambar' to refer to a bad or childish joke! However these jokes still make the French… Read More

The French noun piston, often found in the expression (se faire) pistonner, is an informal way of describing the preferential treatment received by an individual… Read More

LES « INTRADUISIBLES » Too French for translation… #15 GOURMANDISE The French have a specific term to capture this love of good food: gourmandise. Read More

#14 CARTONNER The French verb cartonner and faire un carton have several meanings, but in the last few decades they have evolved to encompass a… Read More

LES « INTRADUISIBLES » Too French for translation… #13 L'ESPRIT D'ESCALIER English is yet to create any counterpart for this useful French term. Read More

INTRADUISIBLE #12 "Sortable" Too French for translation... "Sortable" is an adjective used exclusively in its negative form "pas sortable" to illustrate numerous different shortfalls in… Read More

LES « INTRADUISIBLES » Too French for translation... #11 RELANCER… Read More

LES « INTRADUISIBLES » Too French for translation… #10 CHEZ… Read More

LES « INTRADUISIBLES » Too French for translation… #9 FUTE-FUTE This informal turn of phrase is found almost exclusively in the expression, ‘il/elle n’est pas… Read More

LES "INTRADUISIBLES" Too French for translation INTRADUISIBLE #8 AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE… Read More

Les "Intraduisibles" - Too French for translation - #7 Râler… Read More