List of pseudo-French words adapted to English
Encyclopedia
This is a list of pseudo-French words adopted from French
and adapted in such a way into English that their original meanings are no longer readily recognised by indigenous French speakers due to the new circumstances in which they were being used in English:
Several such French expressions have found a home in English. The first continued in its adopted language in its original obsolete form centuries after it had changed its morpheme
in national French:
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and adapted in such a way into English that their original meanings are no longer readily recognised by indigenous French speakers due to the new circumstances in which they were being used in English:
Several such French expressions have found a home in English. The first continued in its adopted language in its original obsolete form centuries after it had changed its morpheme
Morpheme
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,...
in national French:
- double entendreDouble entendreA double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
— still used in English long after it had changed to "double entente" or, more often, "double sens" in France, and ironically has itself two meanings, one of which is of a sexually dubious nature. This might be classed a kind of "pseudo-Gallicism".
- Entrée in French on a restaurant menu does not have the meaning of "main course" that it does in American English (in French that is "plat"), but instead refers to the course preceding the main course, namely the first course in a three-course meal, or what in British English is also called a "starter" and in American English an "appetizer" (Australasian English however uses 'Entree' in the same sense as French). Thus a three-course meal in French consists of an "entrée" (first course), a "plat" (the main course) and "dessert". [Source: universal French menu usage and Larousse "Grand Dictionnaire Français/Anglais - Anglais-Français": s.v. entrée (7): First course, starter: "je prendrai une salade en entrée — I'll have a salade to start with."]
- Law FrenchLaw FrenchLaw French is an archaic language originally based on Old Norman and Anglo-Norman, but increasingly influenced by Parisian French and, later, English. It was used in the law courts of England, beginning with the Norman Conquest by William the Conqueror...
- Many words used in modern law are derived from now-archaic French words that have lost their meaning for native French speakers.
- Rendez-vous — merely means "meeting" or "appointment" in French, but in English has taken on other overtones. Connotations such as secretiveness have crept into the English version, which is sometimes used as a verb. It has also come to mean a particular place where people of a certain type, such as tourists or people who originate from a certain locality, may meet. In recent years, both the verb and the noun have taken on the additional meaning of a location where two spacecraft are brought together for a limited period, usually for docking or retrieval.
- Portmanteau words are called mot-valises in French. The word portemanteau (or porte-manteau) generally refers to a coat hanger nowadays. However, it used to also refer to a form of suitcaseSuitcaseA suitcase is a general term for a distinguishable form of luggage. It is often a somewhat flat, rectangular-shaped bag with rounded/square corners, either metal, hard plastic or made of cloth, vinyl or leather that more or less keeps its shape. It has a carrying handle on one side and is used...
containing two separated hinged compartments, which metaphorically became a word containing two distinct words. Interestingly, the French word mot-valise literally means "suitcase-word".
- OKOKOK may refer to:* Okay, a word expressing approval or assent* A-ok, a circular hand sign- Abbreviations and acronyms :* Oklahoma United States postal abbreviation* Czech Airlines IATA airline designator...
- HoosierHoosierHoosier is the official demonym for a resident of the U.S. state of Indiana. Although residents of most U.S. states typically adopt a derivative of the state name, e.g., "Indianan" or "Indianian", natives of Indiana rarely use these. Indiana adopted the nickname "Hoosier State" more than 150...