Tag: French

Fun French Finds

On By Dani Francuz RoseLeave a comment

Language is a funny thing. You never really think about just how many words and phrases there are in any given language (to say nothing of all the grammar features, pronunciation rules, and cultural nuances), but every time I find myself switching to a different daily-use language, I am always inundated with new (or sometimes, forgotten) vocabulary. Even with something like French, which I’ve definitely studied before and which has quite a lot in common with both English and Spanish, there is still SO MUCH to learn (and remember).

So, for this month’s post, I thought I’d share a few of the many entertaining direct translations that are living rent free in my mind now that I’ve gotten back into using français au quotidien. Amusez-vous bien!

Poules en liberté – literal meaning: “hens at liberty” – real meaning: “free run chickens”

This makes me laugh every time I buy eggs because I can’t help but picture chickens reenacting the French Revolution or something. Liberty, Fraternity, Egg-quality!  

Nid-de-poule – literal meaning: “hen’s nest” – real meaning: “pothole”

Speaking of cultural nuances, chickens are super engrained in Francophone culture, which is clearly evidenced by the cute French name for this annoying modern-day obstacle.

Jaunes – literal meaning: “yellows” – real meaning: “yolks”

In English, we say “egg whites”, but “egg yellows” sounds ridiculous, non? Well, “yolks” actually comes from an Old English word meaning “yellow”, so maybe we’re the ridiculous ones.

Papillon de nuit – literal meaning: “butterfly of the night” – real meaning: “moth”

Another hauntingly beautiful (and delightfully descriptive) French noun! Of course moths should be called butterflies of the night! That’s exactly what they are, and it sounds très cool.

Porc-épic – meaning: “porcupine” (originally from Greek, meaning “spiny pig”)

Okay, this one is similar in English, but the way it’s written in French makes my franglais brain think “epic pork”, which I think really paints porcupines in a whole new light, don’t you?

Chauve-souris – literal meaning: “bald mouse” – real meaning: “bat”

What I want to know is who hated bats enough to stick them with this completely unfair name for the rest of éternité. I mean, even if you felt really strongly about their baldness and/or mousiness, what about the wings?!

Cerf-volant – literal meaning: “flying deer” – real meaning: “kite”

Another bizarre animal description here because I can’t really see a lot of similarities between kites and deer. What exactly was going on with the kites and deer of early France?

Barbe à papa – literal meaning: “dad’s beard” – real meaning: “cotton candy”

Explaining this to non-French speakers is always a little awkward. I’m aware that “cotton candy” doesn’t sound that appetizing either, but thinking about your father’s beard hair as a snack is just a bit étrange.

Pissenlit – literal meaning: “piss-in-bed” – real meaning: “dandelion”

I absolutely love that this name survived into modern times because what a cool way to learn that dandelions are diuretics!

Cul-de-sac – meaning, well, “cul-de-sac” or “dead end”, but the literal translation is “ass of the bag”

We all know the word “cul-de-sac”, but I bet now you have a whole new visual to associate with it! I love when languages use profanity to make a point.

Nez qui coule – literal meaning: “nose that flows” – real meaning: “runny nose”

This phrase is immediately clear upon first encounter, which I love, but what I now find disappointing is that English missed out on this glorious rhyming opportunity!

42 pouces – literal meaning: “42 thumbs” – real meaning: “42 inch”

Oui, oui, “pouce” can mean either “thumb” or “inch”, but I first learned it as “thumb”; therefore, I now measure TVs in thumbs rather than inches. Honestly, I wish we’d just use centimeters anyway!

Pomme de terre – literal meaning: “apple of the Earth” – real meaning: “potato”

An oldie, but a goodie. This poetic way of naming the most basic of things is what I always associate with French. However, Canada is a bit more efficiency-based, which is why I see “patates” a lot now too. 

Pommettes – literal meaning: “little apples” – real meaning: “cheekbones”

Another example of French flair contrasted with English frankness; one of which I love as a linguist, the other, I prefer as a student. Thank God for Google Translate though.

Et c’est tout! I hope you enjoyed these fun little tidbits about some common French and English words! Until next time, à bientôt!

Initial Québec Observations

On By Dani Francuz RoseLeave a comment

We’re almost halfway through April, and we’ve now officially been living in Québec for six weeks, which is crazy since it feels like the move was just last weekend, but that’s how the first few months always go. We get caught up in a daze of setting things up, collecting documents, making appointments, etc. But luckily, this isn’t our first rodeo! Not only are we completely on top of all our paperwork and logistical tasks, but we’ve also made good progress on our observations list. So how different is Québec from Ottawa? Well, here are the first few things that have caught our attention:

The French

Of course, the absolute first thing on the list has to be the use of French. While Ottawa is fairly bilingual, and we definitely got quite a bit of French exposure there, English was still absolutely the reigning language, sometimes even in Gatineau (which is technically in the province of Quebec). In Québec City, however, we’re not only expected to use French 100% of the time, we’re actually legally required to after six months of living here, which is honestly really great motivation!  

The Salutations

Living in multi-story apartment buildings means we tend to have a lot of neighbors, so we’re usually pretty quick to notice how (and how often) acquaintances interact, like in an elevator, the lobby, the parking garage, etc. In Ottawa, most people kept to themselves or smiled politely in passing, but here in Québec, it’s a steady stream of “bonne journées” and “bonne soirées” no matter how brief your interaction is. It reminds me so much of all the “buenos días” and “buenas tardes” we got in Mexico, and it immediately feels so welcoming!

We’re in a Port City

Ottawa is definitely a water city of sorts with two major rivers and a canal running through it, but Québec is even more water-forward. The Québec City icon is fittingly a ship, and with ferries being a common means of transport, international cruise ships docking nearby, and whale watching tours every weekend, we’re not just between rivers anymore, we’re practically seafaring. At least the seagulls make more sense here.

Bizarre Hours

I have no idea if this is a French thing or a Quebec thing or a Québec City thing, but we have noticed that stores, restaurants, and pretty much every kind of business here has bizarre hours. Monday 8:30-4, Tuesday 9-6, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 10-2…I mean, what? Do they just like to keep us guessing or is there some hidden meaning behind these choices? We definitely need more time to investigate.

Definitely not easy to remember…

Laidback Vibes

This might have more to do with Ottawa being the nation’s capital and less to do with Québec, but we’ve definitely noticed things are a little less official here. Our car registration (ou immatriculation) is printed on regular printer paper rather than fancy cardstock, our lease paperwork was submitted while we were still missing a few things, and we’ve gotten several messages along the lines of “X will be sent to you at a later date”. Definitely feels like a slower pace here in general.

Flashing Green Lights

Another thing we immediately noticed (and subsequently had to google) are the flashing green lights or “advanced greens”. Very often in Québec, you’ll come to a stop light and the green light will be flashing, which we learned means it’s basically both a green light and a green arrow. Apparently, this is common in a lot of Canadian provinces (including Ontario), but we had never seen it or at least not regularly enough to really register a difference.

Pedestrian-friendly

Ottawa is pretty pedestrian-friendly as well, but in Québec (at least downtown) the crosswalks are set up to allow for regular double crossing. Instead of waiting for the lights to change and basically taking your turn to cross when the flow of traffic changes direction, cars will be stopped in all directions allowing people to cross diagonally if they want/need. This and the no-touch crossing sensors make this particular pedestrian so happy!

Vestiges from France

I didn’t know how else to label this one, but smoking is much more common here. And by smoking, I mean cigarettes. We went from smelling a lot of marijuana in Ottawa to smelling a lot of cigarettes in Québec, and I can’t help but feel the cultural influences in that.   

Drinking Culture

In a similar vein, Ontario seemed pretty strict when it came to alcohol sales/consumption. It was rare to see alcohol (even beer and wine) sold in stores, but in Quebec, that’s the norm. BYOB is also more frequent here, and it’s custom to bring wine to a park for a picnic.

Food Culture

We’ve also noticed a lot differences when it comes to food. The groceries here are overall cheaper, yet the selection of “fancy” food is definitely wider. There are like three types of caviar sold at the grocery store right next to our building, and if you wanted to try each type of cheese sold there, you’d need a few years. Restaurants here also seem to be a bit fancier – for example, there are fewer fast-casual options than in Ottawa, but way more multi-course menus.  

Still a hard “no” from me though.

Louder

We lived downtown in both cities, and we’re used to hearing a fair amount of shouting, singing, and laughing (especially on the weekends), but I think Québécois voices are literally just louder. Now we can hear the actual words being said, and even the volume of regular conversations here seems to be louder than what we grew accustomed to in Ottawa. Probably still not as loud as our country of origin, but a noticeable difference from the last two years nonetheless.

Colder, Windier, & More Humid

We had our suspicions about the weather being more extreme in Québec. I mean, we are further north and east, both of which usually get hit pretty hard, but we kind of thought we’d need a few months before we noticed if it was really much different. Turns out, we didn’t need long at all. The added humidity and constant wind means that the same temperature feels quite a bit colder. We keep seeing temperatures slightly above freezing, and then step outside only to realize that the real feel is significantly lower. Damp, windy cold is definitely tougher.

Snow-ready

Of course, both Ottawa and Québec are great at handling large amounts of snow, but it seems that they tackle the problem in different ways. Ottawa LOVES salt. The city and its inhabitants go hard on salting everything. Québec uses a mix of salt and sand, meaning that things are a bit slushier here. And maybe for that reason, it’s really common for buildings and houses here to put up tents in their driveways/entryways to keep the slush (and additional shoveling) at bay.

So that’s what we have on our list so far, but as usual, we plan to keep learning and sharing as we go. I’m sure by now it’s pretty apparent that these little differences are one of our favorite things about moving to a new place. Even one province over, there are just so many things to observe! How cool is that?

These are a Few of our Favorite Words…

On By Dani Francuz RoseLeave a comment

As you might have guessed (or observed), Tucker and I usually do our best to learn the languages of the countries we live in. Whether by way of formal university classes or informal lessons from native friends, Polish, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and French have all found their way into our homes, but recently, we found ourselves wondering which bits and pieces of these languages have stayed in our lives throughout the years and why. So, I did what I do best and made a list of our most-used non-English words (for possible future research, of course), and came up with:

Na zdrowie /nah zdrov.ee.yeh/

The first word, or in this case phrase, that fits the bill is definitely na zdrowie. It means “for health” in Polish and is used both when someone sneezes and as a “cheers” when clinking glasses. We typically use it in the sneezing scenario, and it never fails to elicit the fitting follow-up of “dzięki” (or even more frequently “dzięks”, the Poglish alternative). Why is this the call and response that stuck for something that obviously exists in English? No idea really, except that I think it’s way more fun to say!

Uwaga /oo.vah.gah/

The next word on the list has a clear reason for its common and continual usage. Uwaga means something like “attention” or “caution” in Polish, but it doesn’t sound so formal or pressing. It’s the one-word, light warning that we sometimes need, like for example, if there’s someone trying to get past the person you’re talking to or if there’s a puddle you’d rather your partner avoid. It’s too much to say “look out” or “caution”, but a little “uwaga” is perfect.

Laowai /lao.why/

Next up is laowai or “foreigner” in Chinese. This one we usually use out of politeness. When we need to specify someone not local to the area, “foreigner”, “outsider”, “gringo”, etc. all sound a little harsh to our ears, so instead we’ll throw out a “laowai”. It’s clear and to-the-point with a bit less emotional baggage/pejorative connotations. Sometimes I really miss the bluntness of Chinese, but then I remember having to shout “fuwuyuan” or “waiter” at restaurants, and on second thought, I’m all good.  

Cha bu duo /cha boo do.wuh/

Another phrase that we still find ourselves using post-China is cha bu duo, which literally translates as “not much difference”, but is used more or less like “good enough”. It’s something we use when events don’t exactly go to plan, but the end result is perhaps the best we (or anyone) could manage in the given situation. It’s a verbal shrug if you will, and somehow we find ourselves using it a lot.

Sip /seep/

Now onto probably the most used word on this list, one that I would conservatively guess we use daily: sip. It’s something we picked up in Mexico and haven’t dropped despite confused looks on various Quebecois faces. “Sip” is the Spanish equivalent of “yep”, and it’s just so quick and easy that it slips out all the time, even when we’re clearly not speaking Spanish with anyone.

Ojalá /oh.ha.la/

Another commonly used Mexican Spanish word in our house is ojalá. Ojalá might just be my favorite Spanish word punto because it has such a great etymology and is incredibly useful. It means “hopefully” but can also be used at the end of a thought to mean something like “fingers crossed” or “inshallah” (”if God wills it”), which is where it originally came from. For example, will we continue to grow our collection of amazing international words and phrases? ¡Ojalá!

Oh mon Dieu /oh mon dee.oo/

Speaking of Allah or Dieu, another non-English phrase we tend to favor over any English alternatives is oh mon Dieu. Maybe it’s because “oh my God” sounds a bit strong in English, while “omg” makes me sound like I’m twelve. Or maybe it’s just the perfect amount of French drama, but nothing feels more theatrical than an eyeroll and an “oh mon Dieu”.

Dangereux /dan.zher.oo/

And last but not least is another one we tend to sub out just because it’s way more fun to say: dangereux. It’s French for “dangerous”, but again I think it just gives the situation a certain je ne sais quoi, non ? The next time you want to playfully point out some implicit danger, I recommend using “dangereux” with just the right amount of emphasis – quel drame !

Okay, they might not be on par with “schadenfreude” or “fetch”, but these are definitely some fun and useful words as far and Tucker and I are concerned, and I sincerely hope you’ll start using them in your regular speech! Ojalá the next time we chat, you can be inducted into our weird little linguistic mélange. Until next time! Na zdrowie!