Le Mot du Jour

un secret de polichinelle – Mot du jour

hardly a secret – French expression

What does ” un secret de polichinelle ” mean? How do you say ‘hardly a secret’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com.

un secret de polichinelle – a secret of Punchinello, the character from Italian ‘la commedia dell’arte’. In everyday French, un secret de polichinelle means that there is something that everyone knows, but won’t talk about. In English, t’s ‘an open secret’, or ‘hardly a secret’.

* « Pour faire des progrès en français, il faut réviser tous les jours. Ça, c’est un secret de polichinelle. »

* “To improve one’s French, you must review every day. That’s hardly a secret.”

Tenses and Modes

* présent de l’indicatif : Ça, c’est un secret de polichinelle.

* conditionnel présent : Ça, ce serait un secret de polichinelle.

Try using this expression at least once today.

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in a pickle – French expression

Part of All Levels | French Expressions – Daily Practice

What does ” dans le pétrin ” mean? How do you say ‘ in a pickle ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com.

être dans le pétrin – un pétrin is food related. It is a dough trough. être dans le pétrin – to be in the dough trough. To keep the culinary analogy, the English translation for être dans le pétrin is ‘to be in a pickle’.  Sometimes instead of je suis dans le pétrin, you may hear je suis dans la Béchamelle.

* « J’suis dans l’pétrin : je devais aller chercher les gosses à l’école à 4 heures mais j’ai une réunion. Tu peux me dépanner ? »

* “I’m in a pickle: I was supposed to go and get the kids at school at 4 but I have a meeting. Can you help me out?”

Tenses and Modes

* présent : je suis dans le pétrin, nous sommes dans le pétrin

* passé simple : je fus dans le pétrin, nous fûmes dans le pétrin

* futur : je serai dans le pétrin, nous serons dans le pétrin

Practice

* She was in a pickle. – Elle était dans le pétrin.

* If you were in a pickle, I would help you – Si tu étais dans le pétrin, je t’aiderais.

* She is lucky, she will never be in a pickle. – Elle a de la chance, elle ne sera jamais dans le pétrin.

Try using this expression at least once today.

 

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yuppie with an attitude – French expression

What does ” bobo ” mean? How do you say ‘ yuppie with an attitude ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com.

The term bobo is short for bourgeois-bohème. The two words bourgeois and bohème both start with BO: bourgeois-bohème = bobo.  bourgeois-bohème is both a noun and an adjective. Bourgeois means middle-class and bohème is a person with quite a lot of financial means and a non-conventional lifestyle, generally with liberal, left-wing political views, often with an attitude, a Parisian attitude. It’s slightly derogatory. The famous singer Renaud has a whole – self-deprecating – song about Les bobos. Click below to hear the song.

So, un or une bobo is somebody who is well-to-do, that’s the bourgeois part, but with a non-conformist lifestyle, that’s the bohême part. I’m translating by ‘yuppie with an attitude’. That’s the closest I come to a translation, and I welcome your suggestions below. Merci !

* « Il dit qu’il a [n’a] pas de fric, mais t’as vu où il a réservé ? Au Grand Hôtel – 5 étoiles. C’est un bobo, ce mec. »

* “He says he doesn’t have any dough, but did you see where he reserved a room? At the Grand Hotel – 5 stars. This guy’s a true yuppie with an attitude. “

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Song ‘Les Bobos’ 

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prendre du recul – Mot du jour

to get things into perspective – French expression

What does ” prendre du recul ” mean? How do you say ‘ to get things into perspective ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com.

prendre du recul – to take some moving back – In everyday French, prendre du recul means ‘to take a step back’ or more figuratively, ‘to get things into perspective’.

* « J’suis perdue dans la paperasse là, je vois bien que ce que je dois faire, c’est prendre du recul. »

* “I’m confused with all the paperwork right now, I can see that what I need to do is put things into perspective.”

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c’est dur dur – Mot du jour

it’s sooo hard – French expression

What does ” c’est dur dur ” mean? How do you say ‘ it’s sooo hard ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com.

c’est dur dur – it’s hard hard – In everyday French, dur dur is a familiar, sometimes cute way of insisting on the difficulty or the hardship. Dur dur means ‘sooo hard’. In the feminine form, it’s spelled with an E – dure dure, and it’s pronounced the same way.

* « Je viens de reprendre le boulot après les congés. C’est dur dur ! »

* “I just got back to work after being on vacation. It’s sooo hard! “

Try using this expression 4 times today

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une infox – Mot du jour

fake news – French expression

What does ” une infox ” mean? How do you say ‘ fake news ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com.

une infox is a made-up word, a new word, a neologism. It starts with une information, a piece of information, which shortened becomes une info. Blended with une intoxication, abbreviated in une intox, it becomes une infox. Une infox a piece of information that’s toxic. In everyday French, une infox is ‘fake news’.

* « L’autre jour, j’ai entendu dire que les manifs à Paris avaient fait 5 morts. Heureusement, c’était une infox. »

* “The other day, I heard that the demonstrations in Paris had killed five people. Fortunately, it was fake news. “

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roman de gare – Mot du jour

light novel – French expression

What does ” roman de gare ” mean? How do you say ‘ light novel ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com.

un roman de gare – a novel of train station – I guess, novels you may find in French train station are light and easy to read. In any case, un roman de gare is exactly that: a novel that’s not too intellectual, that you don’t need to concentrate much on. In everyday French, un roman de gare is a light novel.

* « J’ai trop de trucs à faire en ce moment et je lis un roman de gare pour me distraire. Et toi ? »

* “I have too much to deal with right now and I;m reading a light novel to have fun. And you ? “

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un long fleuve tranquille – French expression

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être fâché contre – Mot du jour

to be angry with – French expression

What does ” être fâché contre ” mean? How do you say ‘ to be angry with ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com.

être fâché contre, être fâchée contre – to be angry against – In everyday French, être fâché uses the preposition CONTRE and it means ‘to be angry with’. Knowing the preposition that goes with a verb is very important.

* « Les Gilets Jaunes sont super fâchés contre le gouvernement. Ils manifestent tous les jours depuis un mois. »

* “Yellow Vests are very angry with the government. They have been demonstrating every day for a month. “

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le ravi de la crèche – Mot du jour

the idiot – French expression

What does ” le ravi de la crèche ” mean? How do you say ‘ the idiot ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com.

le ravi de la crèche – the thrilled one of the nativity scene – ravi means ‘thrilled’ in French and it’s an adjective. In Provence French though, ravi, almost always in the masculine form is a noun and was used to talk about this santon character that was naively marveled in the nativity scene. In everyday French, le ravi de la crèche is an old expression that means the idiot, the village idiot.

* « On dirait que tu es le ravi de la crèche quand tu dis ça. »

* “You sound like an idiot when you say that. “

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sur le volet – Mot du jour

hand-picked – French expression

What does ” sur le volet ” mean? How do you say ‘ hand-picked ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com.

sur le volet – on the shutter. The expression sur le volet is used with the verb TRIER – to sort. In everyday French, (trier) sur le volet means chosen very carefully, ‘hand-picked’. 

* « Les bonnes moules que tu nous as données hier… Elles étaient triées sur le volet ? C’était trop bon ! »

* “The good mussels you gave us yesterday … Were they handpicked? It was sooo good!”

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