Every weekday, The Local publishes a French word or phrase of the day, with the emphasis on slang, sayings, colloquialisms and (sometimes) swearing. Our aim is to introduce readers to the words and phrases that they won’t learn in French class, but they definitely will hear during the course of everyday life in France.
We’ve been publishing a daily word since 2018, so by now we have a fairly hefty back catalogue – you can find it HERE. Members of The Local can also sign up to our Word of the Day mailing list and get each day’s word or phrase delivered straight to your mailbox.
Here’s a selection of the words and phrases we published in January;
1. Mr. Smith
You might know someone named Dupont, after all, it’s a fairly common name in France. And, yet, Monsieur Dupont is not always real – in fact the name is frequently used in a metaphorical context to signify an everyman figure, or someone whose identity is not known.
Pronounced: miss-yur doo-ponn
Learn more about France’s ‘John Doe’ here.
2. Flasher
You might be curious why French newspapers are writing about the number of “serial flasheurs” on the country’s roads. But it’s not what you think as this word is a classic fake friend (false friend). Flasher in French does not mean – as it does in English – someone who has exposed themselves in public.
In fact it means either taking a photograph, shining a (metaphorical) spotlight on something or falling head-over-heels in love. The photographic meaning is the most common, particularly in reference to being photographed by a speed camera.
Pronounced: flah-shay
Find out more here.
3. Cast off
This originally nautical expression now has a less literal meaning to “let go” of something or launch something new. It’s most commonly heard in the context of a new start like moving house or starting a new job, or the end of something – in particular the end of a love affair.
Pronounced: lar-gay lays ah-mahr
Find out more here.
4. Being upset
If dinosaurs could talk, they may have used this French phrase to describe being hit by the asteroid. The word can be used in both extremely happy and extremely sad situations, to describe being either delighted or devastated by a turn of events.
Perhaps its closest English synonym is ‘bowled over’.
Pronounced eh truh bool vehr say
We explain how to use it here.
5. Fuck the flies
Fuck the flies has an extremely crude literal translation but as a phrase is actually not all that offensive (although it’s definitely casual).
In English we might call someone who is very picky over grammar and spelling a ‘pedant’, in French it’s the distinctly more dramatic ‘sodomiser of flies’. Interestingly, French is not the only language to have a very rude phrase for pedants, others include ‘comma fucker’ and ‘little dot shitter’.
Pronounced: ahn koo lay lay moosh
Learn more here.
6. Viandard
We know that traditional French cuisine is quite meat-heavy and the French love their meat. However viandard has two meanings – the first being simply a person who loves meat, the second being an unscrupulous person who exploits others for gain. The secondary meaning is though to come from the hunting world.
Pronounced: vee-ahn-darr
We explain fully here.
7. Wishes
Wishes is the plural form of the word wishand is useful at weddings and other solemn occasions because it means ‘vow’. But the reason we have included it in our January roundup is because at the start of the year it is common for politicians, CEOs and other leaders to make ‘vows’ to their electorate or employees.
Pronounced: vooh
Learn more here.
8. Shock absorber
This word might be already familiar to you if you are unlucky enough to have car trouble in France – it means shock absorber. But it can also be used in a metaphorical sense to describe a device or plan that cushions the blow or softens the impact, and in 2023 has a very specific meaning relating to electricity bills.
Pronounced: ah-more-tee-zur
Let us tell you more here.
9. 6h file
As any dictionary will tell you, the main meaning of the French word pile is a battery. However it can be used to mean “exact” or “sharp” when used to describe a moment in time – so 6h chicken means “6am sharp” or “6am on the dot”. It’s also used in several phrases and expressions relating to time.
Pronounced: peel
Full details here.