One of my favorite poems uses the word "rendezvous" without the least hint of romance. It was written by an American fighting for France during La Grande Guerre: "I Have a Rendevous With Death".
I think my favorite French language faux pas happened a few decades ago when the business owners in a US town wanted to welcome some French visitors from their town's "sister city." There was going to be a parade going down their main street, so the shops on either side of the street were going to have some nice sales to celebrate the visitors' arrival. Someone had the great idea to put a welcome banner across the parade route, but didn't think to ask a native French speaker to look it over first. The sign said "Bienvenue Français Sale," which was meant to invite people to shop for good bargains, not insult their guests by saying "Welcome Dirty French"! 😅
We are close to the idea of "faux amis", words that are closely related in two languages but have different meaning. Examples : rendez-vous, affaire, demande, casserole, hasard, regard, just to name a few...
In English, "rendez-vous" can be used in a non-romantic way that is more like the French meaning (just a meeting), but what's interesting is it gets used sort of as a verb: "Let's rendez-vous at the park".
The peculiar thing about entrée is that in the UK before about the 80s, entrée was indeed the word for the first course, that is, what the British now call a starter. It was, (and is) still the word used in Australia, so that in Australia the modern sequence is: entrée, main course and dessert. The use of entrée to mean Main Course in the US baffles Australians as much as it baffled you.
@3:00 Why are French terms considered "fancy" in English? It probably started in 1066 when William the Conqueror conquered England. During his reign, the aristocracy spoke Norman French. The commoners spoke English. That's probably when English speakers started thinking French terms were "fancy".
"Please RSVP" is an example of "RAS Syndrome" (Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome). Other examples: "ATM machine", "PIN number", "DC Comics", "LCD display", "ISBN number", "GPS system", "DSL line", "UPC code", "PDF format".
It makes sense that English speakers would think that French words are "fancy". There are many synonyms in English where one word is of English/Germanic origin and the other is from Norman/French origin. Start and commence, for example. The word derived from French is almost always a higher register, something more formal, for historical reasons related to the Conquest. As a result French words are going to sound fancy because they're often related or similar to higher register words in English. And that's all aside from more recent cultural influences.
French as an indicator of sophistication in the Anglophone world probably relates to the upper class expectation that educated people would learn and be reasonably fluent in French. Thus you see French expressions in 19th century English novels as an expression of high culture -- an example would be the novels of Henry James.
What amuses me is that British hosts will say 'Bon appetit' and French hosts will say 'Good eatings', meaning please start eating and enjoy your meal, but neither phrase is used like that in the original language!
Rendezvous can also be used in a non-romantic way in English, such as to rendezvous with the fleet.
I like your take on French words in English. I am glad that you understand why French words have evolved differently once in English. What makes it so complicated is that English has often borrowed a French word more than once. So, you have words like guardian and warden that came from French at different times and from different French dialects.
"Entree" definitely seems like it spawned from an attempt by restaurant menu designers to make the place seem fancy. In my experience, most Americans will never even use that word.
Being bilingual Belgian (Dutch and French, both natively) and using predominantly English, this video just made me realise what’s obvious to me isn’t obvious to everyone… 😅
I always thought that "coup de grâce" meant a lawnmower. Thank you for enlightening me. Once in conversation with a French lady, I had forgotten the word for "jam" (confiture). But I remembered that "jam" in English is also called a preserve — a French derived word. My substitution of "preservatif" for "confiture" caused some hilarity.
I love you channel and your friendly attitude. Very helpful!
Great video as always Lucile. Glad to see you and Bobby are doing well. God bless.
This was a fun & interesting video, even when you know some of it. You explain things so well & without judgement. Kudos to you!
Yes, except the meaning of words can change over time. Words are constantly evolving.
@LucileHR