Untranslatable – Crapoter

1 December 2019

“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 – pied-à-terre

1 February 2019

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

Untranslatable – Tartiner

2 January 2019

“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

Intraduisible #24 Coup de

26 June 2018

'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

Intraduisible #21

26 February 2018

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

Intraduisible #20

23 January 2018

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

Intraduisible #19

18 December 2017

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

Intraduisible #18

22 November 2017

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

Intraduisible #17

9 November 2017

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

INTRADUISIBLE #16

4 July 2016

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

Intraduisible #15

31 May 2016

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

Intraduisible #14

2 May 2016

#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

Intraduisible #13

30 April 2016

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

18 April 2016

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

Fute-fute INTRADUISIBLE #9

25 March 2016

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

Intraduisibles #5

12 February 2016

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

Intraduisibles #4

3 February 2016

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

INTRADUISIBLES #2

7 October 2015

#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

INTRADUISIBLE #1

30 September 2015

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