Untranslatable

“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

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

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

“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

“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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

LES « INTRADUISIBLES » Too French for translation… #6 BÊTISE… Read More

LES « INTRADUISIBLES » Too French for translation… #5 DÉBROUILLARD A positive adjective of great versatility in the French language. Read More

LES « INTRADUISIBLES » Too French for translation… #4 RETROUVAILLES For this noun captures the irrepressible joy experienced when you meet someone again after being… Read More

LES « INTRADUISIBLES » Too French for translation… #3 EMPÊCHEMENT… Read More

#2 FLÂNER Perhaps the most Parisian of all French words, flâner originates from the Old Norse ‘flana’, meaning, ‘to get into something heedlessly’. Read More

LES "INTRADUISIBLES". Too French for translation... #1 Dépaysement Learn French with Babylangues. Read More