Fermez la bouche

In my last post, I spoke of the idiom, "Sans ouvrir la bouche." The phrase in English translates as "without saying a word," but the French prefer to speak of the mouth, la bouche.

My grandmother was French. She was born in la petite ville de Lorraine Graffigny près de la forêt des Vosges. She did not teach me French, instead I had to learn the hard way, by going to school. But, I do remember the phrase, "Fermez la bouche,"  shut your mouth. If one says it gentiment, it almost sounds polite.

I am sitting in French class the other day when le prof starts to talk about professions. And she says, "le boucher," the butcher. It has nothing to do, I think, with la bouche, the mouth. It is just one of those silly coincidences that pop up in any language. Instead, le boucher stems from le bouchon, the pig.

It is just one of those silly things that makes a kid laugh.

C'est juste une de ces choses stupides. Il fait un gamin rire.

Sans ouvrir la bouche

Sans ouvrir la bouche - without saying a word.

The Francophile likes to surf the web. On French TV, at BFMTV, he came across this article about the former (ancien) president of France, Nicholas Sarkosy.

"Sur Facebook, Sarkozy "occupe le terrain sans ouvrir la bouche."

Literally, the the sentence translates at "On Facebook, Sarkozy occupies the ground without opening the mouth." A better translation is "On Facebook, Sarkosy wins the day without saying a word."

Très en vogue

Très en vogue = Very popular.

Que faire? = What to do?

Que faire? = What to do?

en tête = on top

Dans toutes les régions du monde, Google arrive en tête.

Worldwide, Google is "on top".

Tapis Rouge

Tapis Rouge - Red Carpet


Regardez la cérémonie des Oscars

Tant Pis

Tant pis, (pronounced tan pee) can signify a range of emotions from "never mind" to "tough sh*t".

Voyez et écoutez Joyce Jonathan chante Tant pis:

From the lyrics and the refrain:

J'ai beau faire le tour du monde.
I am making a grand tour of the world
(or, I could make a trip around the world)

Mais tout me ramène à toi
But everything reminds me of you.

T'es partout à la fois 
You are everywhere at once

Il y a d'autres histoires d'amour qui n'attendent que moi
There are other loves that won't wait just for me

Mais tant pis
But tough sh*t (Never mind, Too bad)

C'est avec toi que je me sens 
It is with you that I am alive (feel)

Quelque part

Quelque part = somewhere


Écoute Kenza Farah Quelque Part

Qui bien aime a tard oublie

Qui bien aime a tard oublie

J'aime française

This line, Qui bien aime a tard oublie, comes from Chaucer's Parlement of Foules, line 679, which best translates as,

"Who loves well later forgets." Perhaps expressing the notion that all love is fleeting.

The 700 stanza poem is famous for the first recorded mention of card giving on St. Valentine's Day, lines 309 and 310. Notice the French y and ne.

For this was on seynt Valentynes day,
Whan every foul cometh ther to chese his make,

And in a launde (land), upon an hille of floures,
Was set this noble goddesse Nature;
Of braunches were hir (her) halles and hir boures (bowers),
Y-wrought (There wrought) after hir craft and hir mesure;
Ne ther nas foul that cometh of engendrure (engendered/created),
That they ne were prest(pressed) in hir presence,
To take hir doom and yeve (give) hir audience.

For this was on seynt Valentynes day, 
Whan every foul cometh ther to chese (choose) his make (mate),
Of every kinde, that men thenke may;
And that so huge a noyse gan they make,
That erthe and see, and tree, and every lake
So ful was, that unnethe(with difficulty) was ther space
For me to stonde (stand), so ful was al the place.

Et si vous ne connaissez pas, "I love you" in French is Je t'aime.

I don't know

Je sais pas.


On pourrait dire, "Je ne sais pas," mais Celine Dion chantais, "Je sais pas."

Faire du neuf avec du vieux

"Faire du neuf avec du vieux." Turn the old into the new.

Literally, make something new with something old.

Inspiration for this post came from ParisDailyPhoto. Maybe, you will want to check it out.

Get to work - mette au travail

As an informal command say, "Mette au travail."


Il faut que je mette qu travail maintenant pour que nous puissions jouer demain. 

It is necessary to get to work now so we can play tomorrow.

What's wrong?

Qu'est qu'il ya? Literally, "What is it?" but, also, "What is wrong?"

Watch the trailer for the movie Amour, 33 seconds in.

à toutes les sauces

à toutes les sauces

Litterally, the phrase translates as "with all the sauces". Take the sentence, "Employer un mot à toutes les sauces." In  English, "Use a word very loosely."

Consider, "Les politiciens utilisent cette expression à toutes les sauces," which translates as "Politicians use this expression loosely."

Other funny French idioms.

Happy New Year - Bonne année

Bonne année et bonne santé is the classic French saying to wish one a Happy New Year. Literally, it is "good year and good health".

New Year's Eve is the celebration of la Saint-Sylvestre, the 33rd pope who is credited with converting the Emperor Constantine, the first Roman emperor who converted to Christianity. The feast is called le Réveillon de Saint-Sylvestre and includes champagne and foie gras. The celebratory party ranges from an intimate dinner to a grand ball, une soirée dansante.

Joyeux Noël

Joyeux Noël - Merry Christmas, of course.

La nuit avant Noël s'appelé La Veillée de Noel. La veillée est avant la messe de minuit. La famille se réunit autour de la bûche de Noël que brûle dans la cheminée. C'est l’occasion pour la familie ensemble de chanter, rire, et partager un petit repas de fête.

 The image of earth is from NASA images and is copyright free.

Bien entendu

Les Américains ne comprennent pas toujours les Français, et vice-versa, n'est-ce pas? Mais, bien sûr, nous devons rester amis. C'est bien entendu.


Bien entendu a polite way to say "of course," when that is the obvious response to a question. Literally, it translates as "well understood" or, in context, "I heard you well".

A less formal phrase, and more used, is, bien sûr.

Vous comprendez, bien sûr. Ce n'est pas une question, mais une déclaration.

Bien entendu can also mean "understood".

Voilà, c'est (bien) entendu? That's understood? Agreed? D'accord! Okay!


Un pas de plus, One step further, très bien s'entendre, "very well it's understood".

Lastly, let's throw n'est-ce pas into the mix. N'est-ce pas, literally translates as, "Isn't it so?" Here the speaker is looking for an affirmation. Similar, meanings but perhaps a little less self assured.

L'heure avait sonné

L'heure avait sonné

L'heure avait sonné - littéralement, l'heure a sonné. Mais, ce qu'on entend, c'est que "le moment est arrivé". Le sens vient de la méditation de John Donne 17, Pour qui sonne le glas.

PERCHANCE he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill as that he knows not it tolls for him. And perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that.

Read more, ...

laissez-moi réfléchir

Laissez-moi réfléchir, laisse-moi réfléchir

Let me think about it

Getting through conversational French, or any language for that matter, requires a grab bag of  phrases that allows the speaker to pause and collect his thoughts. Laissez-moi réfléchir, is a useful one. The distinction between laissez and laisse, both imperative commands, depends on who is being addressed. Laissez is addressed to the formal vous, and laisse to the more informal tu.

Un exemple,

"Laissez-moi réfléchir à la réponse à cette question." Qu'est-ce qu'un politicien dire, avant qu'il ne répond pas à la question.

Mise en place

Mise en place, literally,  "put in place", pronounced "miz en plaz". Mise comes from the French root verb mettre, to put or place. Mise is the participe passé or past participle of the verb. The phrase translates in English to mean, "everything in place". Ready to go.

In the culinary world, the phrase is used to describe the setting up of the kitchen. An organized cook has all the pots and pans ready, the bowls all in a row, the spices pre-measured and the ingredients cut and chopped. This makes it so much simpler to cook.

But cooks don't own the phrase. It is used often in other contexts to suggest that everything is in place and ready to go. The theatrical world uses a similar phrase mise en scene to mean that the stage is set and the show is ready to go. But, it seems every organizer of complex tasks adopts the phrase.

Here, for example, is a message from Overblog, the French blogger, about their new features.

Comme indiqué dans la newsletter précédente, nous souhaitons que votre arrivée soit parfaite, dans un vrai cocon, et attendons donc la mise en place des fonctionnalités que vous connaissez et appréciez sur OverBlog ..., ou encore la personnalisation/mise en forme de vos textes, le tout en conservant l’intégralité de votre contenu, jusqu’à votre design si vous le souhaitez.

Interestingly, Google Translator uses "implementation" as a synonym for la mise en place. Not bad, but it misses a point. Gentil lecteur, let this be a reminder that nuance is more than a mere word.

Nuance est plus d'un simple mot.