Frenglish

I know we can credit a lot to the French for awesome things that crept into our culture:
French Toast
French skin care products
French vanilla
French poodle
French fries

(OK half of these aren't really French but they sell better if we think they are. Or we reject it and rename it Freedom Fries... which are actually Belgian... like the waffle.)

So in this quickie post I thought I'd share a few words we thought were our own but we actually yanked from the French... serves them right.

Vinegar - In French it's Vinaigre. Success! A word I don't have to learn from scratch! But while for us it's the name of something we use to clean with, make salad dressings, or functional volcanos for a 5th grade science project, for them the name is actually a description, and a very true one. Vin-aigre. Did you guess it? Can you now? Most of you know vin (I'm shaking my head at you in disapproval - winos!). But yes, vin is wine. And aigre? Any guesses. What face do you make when you so desperately want to sip that wine from last week with your pasta you're eating this week? Hello bitter beer face! Yes, aigre means bitter. So there you have it.  A very true description of the substance. Vinegar of vinaigre - bitter wine.

Cul de sac - Ok clearly this ain't no English word but did any of you guess it's French? On top of that you might be shocked to know, you shouldn't let your 5 year old say such a vulgar word. The last half of this word is easy. De sac is of sack. But what is that cul word? Your right cul doesn't sound French but as with the majority of French words, you don't pronounce the last letter of the word... letters are their frosting on a cake... not necessary but pretty. So pronounce this word without the last letter, l, and when you say the u, say it aaalllll nasal. Go ahead, say it. Cul.

Nice job, potty mouth! You just said ass. That's right and we're not talkin' donkeys for all you zoo folks trying to get outa this one. Cul de sac means sack ass. Think about the shape. Now place that shape at the circular dead end of a street. DING DING DING! Same shape. And thank you France for that little gem.

Because of my poor memory, or the fact that we had a housewarming party with a bit of non-bitter wine, I can't remember the others so I will continually post my etymological discoveries in something I've called "Les Petits" which will be little short posts.

Until next time,

Jessie