A brand-new French adjective, stolen from the English noun, “people,” splashes across the cover of L’Express. Its other form, “pipole,” makes it look more French. They both refer to celebrities of all kinds – movies, sports, politics, etc. (See my New Words post here and my website article for more of these recent plunderings from English.)
Watch out for unsuspected French nuances of some of the new anglicisms! We could get in trouble if we don’t realize them. A friend of mine there, for example, warned me not to confuse the new verb “tchatcher” with its pejorative noun “la tchatche.” They both come from the English “to chat,” of course. But the verb means “to chat,” whereas the seemingly matching noun implies BS. The Premier Ministre, he continued, “FAIT DES CHAT [sic] qui sont des moments où il passe sur des téléweb et discute avec les internautes ! Il ORGANISE UN CHAT ou FAIT UN CHAT mais il ne tchate pas !”
Stephanie writes: For New Years we had a big party with friends where I witnessed small French children (ages 4,5,6 etc) begging their parents at the table for more raw oysters (???) as if they were chocolate bonbons. That surprised me as I know many adults who don’t like them – let alone small kids who are notoriously fussy.
Stephanie writes: My mother in law has to have a “quatre-heure” every day – this means a flan, or an éclair au chocolat, or a millefeuille for everyone– which compounded with a buche de noel, etc, meaning it’ s time to hit the gym. And now it is January the only month the bakeries sell Galettes so every 2 minutes you are invited for a Galette de Rois. Every weekend someone has a Gouter, and at work there are Galette parties right left and center. I have started my collection of little porcelain figures, and my paper crowns should look great with my muu-muu!!!
Stephanie recounts hysterical and perceptive anecdotes about her experiences as an American transplant in Paris. She’s been raising her family there for around two years and still bumps into various cultural and linguistic surprises. Check them out!
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