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Glossary of French words and expressions in English

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Here are some examples of French words and phrases used by English speakers.

There are many words of French origin in English, such as competition, art, table, publicity, police, role, routine, machine, and force, but this article covers only words and phrases that sound unmistakably "French" to an English-speaking person. That said, the phrases are given as used in English, and may seem more French to English speakers than they do to French speakers. The general rule is that if the word or phrase looks better in italics, it has retained its French identity, but if it doesn't need italics, it has probably passed over into English.

Words and phrases

Note that these phrases are pronounced using the French rules, and not the English ones. Thus, the stress most often falls on the final syllable, the final letter is silent (unless it is r, à, or é), consequent words are pronounced without a pause between them, unaccented e is usually pronounced as [ ə ], and final n is nasalized as /~/. (see International Phonetic Alphabet for English for a guide to phonetic symbols).

  • À bientôt!—See you soon! (relatively uncommon in English)
  • Adieu!—Good bye!
  • à la—in the manner of
  • à la carte—each available separately
  • à la mode—fashionable (UK) or with ice cream (US)
  • à propos regarding (this particular subject)
  • agent provocateur, pl. agents provocateurs—a police spy who causes a crime to secure a conviction; can also mean a secret agent spreading unrest in French
  • au contraire—to the contrary
  • Au revoir!—See you soon!, lit. Until the next sight
  • avant garde— applied to cutting-edge or radically innovative movements in art and literature, lit. before the guard (vanguard).
  • bête noire, pl. bêtes noires—someone or something which is detested or avoided, lit. black beast
  • Bon appétit!—Enjoy your meal!, lit. Have a good meal!
  • Bonjour!—Hello!, lit. Good day!
  • Bonne chance!—Good luck!
  • Bon voyage!—Have a good trip!
  • carte blanche—unlimited authority, lit. blank card
  • C'est la vie!—That's life!
  • C'est magnifique!—That's great! (relatively uncommon in English)
  • Comment allez-vous?—How are you?
  • Connoisseur an expert in wines, fine arts or other matters of culture. A person of refined taste. (spelt "connaisseur" in modern French.)
  • coup d'état, pl. coups d'état—a sudden change in government by force, lit. takeover of state
  • La crème de la crème—The best of the best, lit. The cream of the cream
  • cul-de-sac, a dead-end street.
  • D'accord.—Agreed., OK. (relatively uncommon in English)
  • déjà vu—The impression or illusion of having seen or experienced something before.
  • de rigueur—required, necessary, especially with reference to fashion.
  • derrière—rear, buttocks, lit. behind
  • douceur de vivre—sweetness of life (relatively uncommon in English)
  • éminence grise—a powerful advisor or decision-maker who operates secretly or otherwise unofficially, lit. gray eminence
  • escargots—snails as food, a delicacy; lit. snail, animal
  • Esprit de corps—a feeling of solidarity among members of a group, morale; lit. Spirit of body
  • L'esprit de l'escalier—thinking of the right comeback too late, lit. staircase wit. Originally a witticism of Diderot, the French encyclopedist, in his Paradoxe sur le Comédien.
  • fait accompli—something that has happened and is unlikely to be reversed
  • faux amis—used to refer to words in two different languages that have the same etymology, but different meanings; lit. false friends
  • fin de siècle—comparable to (but not exactly the same as) turn-of-the-century but with a connotation of decadence.
  • honni soit qui mal y pense—Shame on him who thinks ill of it or sometimes translated as Evil be to him who evil thinks, the motto of the most noble Order of the Garter (modern French writes honni instead of old French honi);
  • Je-ne-sais-quoi—an indefinable, usually compelling quality (charisma); lit. I don't know what
  • joie de vivre—joy of living
  • Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité—Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood (motto of the French Republic).
  • ménage à trois—a sexual arrangement between three people, not typically used if all three are of the same sex; lit. household for three
  • Merci beaucoup!—Thank you very much!
  • Mirepoix—a cooking mixture of two parts onions and one part each of celery and carrots[1]
  • moi—me; often used in English as an ironic reply to an accusation, for example "Pretentious? Moi?"
  • né (masculine) or née (feminine)—born; past participle of naître, to be born. Often used to give someone or something's former or maiden name: Martha Washington, née Martha Dandridge.
  • N'est-ce pas?—Isn't it?, used after a statement, as in Right?
  • Non—No
  • nom de plume, pl. noms de plume—pen name
  • nouveau riche—newly rich
  • Oui—Yes
  • par excellence—quintessential, lit. by excellence
  • pièce de résistance—the one that resists, the best
  • plat de résistance—the main dish of a meal, lit. dish of resistance
  • Quelle horreur!—A usually sarcastic phrase meaning What a horrible thing!, lit. What horror!
  • Qu'est-ce que c'est?—What is this?
  • raison d'être—justification for existence, reason for being
  • rendezvous—a meeting, appointment, or date; usually written rendez-vous in French and sometimes in English
  • Le roi est mort. Vive le roi!—The king is dead. Long live the king!
  • roman à clef—a fictional account of a true story, lit. novel with a key
  • Sacré bleu!—General exclamation of horror and shock; used to avoid the oath “Sacré Dieu!”, lit. Sacred God!; This is a very dated expression, not used anymore in French; sometimes contracted and unaccented: “sacrebleu”.
  • savoir-faire—know-how
  • s'il vous plaît (SVP)—please, lit. if it pleases you, if you please
  • soupe du jour—soup of the day
  • tête-à-tête —a private or tense meeting, lit. head-to-head
  • tour de force—a masterly or brilliant stroke, creation, effect, or accomplishment, lit. feat of strength
  • vis-à-vis—in comparison with or in relation to, lit. face-to-face; also used to refer to the opposite corner of an intersection, i.e. catercorner (coll. kitty-corner).
  • Vive la différence—Long live the difference, generally referring to difference between male and female
  • Vive la France!—Long live France!, sometimes said with tongue-in-cheek sarcasm
  • Voilà! or Et voilà!—'There you go! or And there you have it!
  • Zut alors!—Darn it!, a general exclamation

Only found in English

  • auteur—A film director, specifically one who controls most aspects of a film, or other controller of an artistic situation. The English connotation derives from French film theory. It was popularized in the journal Cahiers du cinéma: auteur theory maintains that directors like Hitchcock exert a level of creative control equivalent to the author of a literary work. In French, the word originally means author, but some expressions like "cinéma d'auteur" are also in use.
  • cause célèbre—An issue arousing widespread controversy or heated public debate, lit. celebrated cause
  • double entendre—double meaning, for which Francophones would use «double sens». The verb entendre, to hear (modern), originally meant to understand.
  • encore—A request to repeat a performance, as in “Encore!”, lit. again; also used to describe additional songs played at the end of a gig. Francophones would use «un rappel ! ».
  • Entrée or Entree—The main dish or course of a meal (US); in French, entrée literally means entrance and refers to the appetizer (UK).
  • faux pas—An embarrassing social error, lit. false step; sometimes used in French to mean to slip. Francophones would normally use «gaffe».
  • Le mot juste—The right word, lit. the just word
  • petard—A metaphorical trap, as in “hoist by one's own petard”, or “caught in one's own trap”. In French, pétard means fire-cracker or small explosive device. In Medieval warfare, a petard was a primitive mine hoisted by a crane against a castle gate in a siege.
  • Répondez s'il vous plaît. (RSVP)—Please reply. Francophones use "prière de répondre". (Note: RSLP ["Réponde s'il lui plaît"] is used on old-fashioned invitations written in the 3rd person, usually in "Script" typography -- at least in Belgium.)
  • succès de scandale—Success through scandal; Francophones might use «succès par médisance».
  • venue—The location of an event; from the feminine past participle of venir, to come.

French phrases in international air-sea rescue

International authorities have adopted a number of words and phrases from French for use by speakers of all languages in voice communications during air-sea rescues. Note that the "phonetic" versions are presented as shown and not in IPA.

  • SECURITAY (securité, “safety”) – the following is a safety message or warning, the lowest level of danger.
  • PAN PAN (panne, “breakdown”) – the following is a message concerning a danger to a person or ship, the next level of danger.
  • MAYDAY (m'aidez, “help me”) – the following is a message of extreme urgency, the highest level of danger. (MAYDAY is used on voice channels for the same uses as SOS on Morse channels.)
  • SEELONCE (silence, “silence”) – keep this channel clear for air-sea rescue communications.
  • SEELONCE FEE NEE (silence fini, “silence is over”) – this channel is now available again.
  • PRU DONCE (prudence, “prudence”) – silence partially lifted, channel may be used again for urgent non-distress communication.
  • MAY DEE CAL (médical, “medical”) – medical assistance needed.

It is a serious breach in most countries, and in international zones, to use any of these phrases without justification.

See Mayday for a more detailed explanation.

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