Lost In Translation, but in the Neighborhood

C'est what?  Photo, a shop in Paris

You probably know about those pesky faux amis, ‘false friends’ that sound like an English word but mean something that will get you in a heap of trouble.  The best known one is of course the French preservatifs, which is the word for condom.  If you say le tampon you may fall into the same hole, so to speak, since it is not a necessarily a feminine hygiene product but most commonly refers to a rubber stamp. 

But what about those other words that are not false friends, but kissing cousins?  There are many words whose meanings are subtly different, which can leave you bewildered just the same.  There are LOTS of them, land mines in the language field. 

Case in point:  I hired a carpenter who worked for us for several days.  I asked him if he’d like to stop by and pick up his check one afternoon.  Eventuellement he said.  Eventually?  Have you EVER known a contractor to say ‘eventually’ when offered a check?  I tried again: Could he stop by around 2:00? Again, éventuellement.  

Puzzled, I ran for the dictionary. Aha. It does not mean ‘eventually’ but ‘possibly’.   Nicole has since told me that the misuse of this word is one of the most common mistakes that Anglophones make when speaking French.

Here is a list of some other ‘Close, but No Cigar’ words:

propre:  not proper, but clean (proper=correct)

évidemment:  not evidently, but obviously (evidently=apparemment)

special:  This one’s particularly dangerous.  Used for an object, it means the same.  But if a person is special, s/he is eccentric, odd, strange.

finalement:  not finally but ‘in the end’ (finally=enfin)

arriver:  to arrive, but also to happen.  ('What happened?'  Qu’est qui est arrivé?)

intéressant:  a subtle difference here.  Can mean interesting, but most often used (and used a lot) to mean worthwhile, favorable, valuable. 'Can you offer me a price that’s plus intéressant?'

actuellement: not actually, but currently (actually=en fait)

chance :  not an opportunity, but luck (chance=hasard. Oops, there’s another one! hazard=risque)

inviter means to invite but also to treat, as in to pick up the tab.  This one can cost you! 

assister: not to assist but  to attend 

Don’t even get me started on those French words that are spelled differently but sound the same, since the French love to throw away perfectly good letters.  My friend Pete has a great story to illustrate this.  His elderly neighbor, Madame Mugnier, was forever chatting away to him in rapid-fire French over the garden wall.  He caught only a little.  “I think she’s very ill,” he said, “she’s always going on about her liver” (le foie).  I speculated that she could be talking about religion:  la foi means faith.  We were both wrong:  turns out she was using the French exclamation Ma foi!  which translates as 'Good Lord!', or 'Oh my Goodness!'  At least we THINK that’s what she’s saying. Eventuellement…

Confused yet?  Must be time for lunch.  Beautiful French strawberries are showing up at the market now, signs of spring.  Pour yourself a glass of wine, slice some brie and a baguette, pull  up a chair in the garden, and it’s like a mini-vacation to La France.

RECIPE:  Spring Berry Salad with Walnuts 

This salad has some peppery radi and celery for crunch.  Make it special with sautéed walnuts.

for 4:

• a head of butter lettuce
• fresh strawberries, sliced
• radishes, sliced
• stalk of celery, sliced
• slices of brie, camambert or Délice de Bourgogne
• crackers, and/or a baguette

For the dressing: 

• ¼ cup (60 ml) walnut oil
• 2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar (or balsamic)
• pinch of sugar
• a couple of teaspoons of minced shallot

• walnuts, or pecans
• butter 

Arrange radishes and celery on lettuce on 4 plates.  Sprinkle with sea salt.    Put slices of cheese on salad. Add berries and fresh ground pepper.

Whisk dressing ingredients together and drizzle over salad.  Sauté walnuts in a little butter, sea salt and pepper until they begin to brown, about 2 or 3 minutes.  Add to salad and serve with crackers. 

Merci beaucoup to the folks at Online Classes.org, who included Southern Fried French in their list of 50 best blogs for Francophiles and French Majors. It's a great article, check it out!  http://www.onlineclasses.org/2011/04/04/the-50-best-blogs-for-french-majors-francophiles/

Favorite Reads: Today, our very favorite French learning methods.  Ron, whose linguistic skills are not his strong suit, loves the French for Dummies book, great for beginners or intermediate level students. His favorite DVD/CD Roms are the  Rosetta Stone  series (choice of 5 levels) and Michel Thomas Method. In fact, many of our ex-pat friends prefer these last two programs.  I'm fond of the text Mot a Mot: New Advanced French Vocabulary  (just out last year), which emphasizes conversational phrases.  For multi-media, I've always liked the Berlitz series.  The French Deluxe Language Pack has books, CD's and quiz cards; there are various programs for every level, even 'travel French'. 

In the Comments this past week:  A big welcome to Lael and Sandra, who are dreaming of Nice, and to Quintessence.  Mirana is seriously into anchovies and grew up eating bagna cauda.  Have fun surfing around some of our reader's blogs:  The Educated Palate, The Daily Basics, Quintessence, Silver Magpies.