Day 842 (Sunday) 29^th September 2019

We beat Australia 25 29! The first half was amazing but like last week the second half wasn’t so good but we did it – hooray!

We had a very lazy day today sunbathing and reading so I didn’t take any beautiful photos but I took lots yesterday and here they are.

Enjoy these false friends….

Bottom of FormFrom rude to mince: 19 English words that have very different meanings in French

False friends alert! Spare yourself some embarrassment by checking that you know the true meaning of these English-looking words that mean something else in French.

The technical term for these (pardon our French) cunning little b*stards is false cognates. 

Here are 19 that you will encounter on a daily basis in France; all with the capacity to throw you off balance a little, either while reading or speaking.

Chair - this doesn't refer to the piece of furniture you sit on - that's chaise - the French use it to say 'flesh'. One good example is 'chair de poule', meaning goosebumps - J'en ai encore la chair de poule (I still have goosebumps).

Main - in English it's used as an adjective to mean the 'most important'. In French, it's the word for 'hand'. In the case of the cortical homunculus, this distorted representation of the human body based on human's neurological "sensibility", his "mains" are his main attribute. 

Pain - It's not a synonym for 'agony' as it is English; it means 'bread' as you probably know. 

Four - In French four does not refer to the number between three and five (that's 'quatre'). 'Four' is the kitchen appliance used to bake your 'pain': the oven. J'ai cuit le pain dans mon nouveau four (I cooked the bread in my new oven).

Pile - Pile means a 'mound' or 'haemorrhoid' in English but in French it actually refers to a 'battery'.  An example: Puis-je avoir deux piles? (Can I have two batteries?)

Chat - the difference between a 'chat' with friends and a 'feline' lies in the silent 't' and a more "shh" sounding 'ch' in French.

Mince - In English it's the verb 'to chop up meat', the noun for chopped up meat, there's the saying ' don't mince your words' meaning to speak in a forceful way and mince can even be the verb for a 'stylised manner of walking'. The French keep it simple, using it just as an adjective for 'thin'.

Sensible - This is a potentially awkward one. How many times has a French person called you 'sensible' and you were secretly chuffed, when really they meant that you were 'sensitive'? Pourquoi es-tu toujours trop sensible? (why are you always too sensitive?)

Baskets - In French this is a shortened version of 'basketball' used to refer to 'trainers' or 'sneakers', presumably because the sport's popularity in France came to be associated with the comfortable footwear that players wore. Nothing to do with the basket you put your laundry in, that's a 'panier'. 

Coin - Nope, it's got nothing to do with the loose change in your pocket, but rather refers to a 'corner' in French. J'habite au coin de la grande rue (I live on the corner of the big street). 

Court - It doesn't have anything to do with a tennis or basketball court in French, it just means 'short'. 

Spectacles - When a French person shouts "Quelle spectacle!" they're not complimenting your old-fashioned glasses, they're referring to the incredible 'show' or 'theatre production' they've just watched. The spectacles you wear (or your gran rather) are just called 'lunettes', same as glasses. 

Natter - It's not a synonym for chat, in French it's the verb 'to braid' as in to plait hair. Careful using this one with your friends from the French Caribbean, you might end up looking like Boy George.

Blouse - Quick history anecdote. If 'blouse' sounds French to you that's because it is. Its use is first recorded in English around the 1820s, referring to a loose, light upper body clothing garment.  But whereas in modern English it came to usually mean a woman's shirt (a chemisier in French) in France its usage is mainly to speak of overalls worn by workers, lab coats by scientists or surgical gowns by doctors.

 

 Librairies - Here's an easy one to muddle up. Whereas in English 'libraries' are book repositories where you rent out printed work for free, in French it's the plural for 'bookshop'. So remember: library card at the 'bibliothèque' and debit card at the 'librairie'. 

Rude - The French may have a reputation for being a bit 'rude sometimes, but this isn't the word you're going to want to use with the next Paris waiter that grunts at you. In French, 'rude' means 'harsh' or 'tough'. La vie est rude pour un étranger à Paris (life is tough for a foreigner in Paris). To refer to someone who's impolite say 'impoli' or 'grossier'.

  

Tissue - In French this noun doesn't just refer to the 'tissue' you need to blow your nose with, this means all kinds of 'materials'.

Report - An important one to know about for professional matters. In French, 'report' never refers to a study or investigation. It can actually mean a 'postponement'. Le juge a accepté un report de la date du procè (the judge accepted the postponement of the trial date). It can also mean the 'minutes' of a meeting.

 

Ben – A confusing word for English speakers in France who are called Ben. In French It’s used as a spoken intermission to express hesitation or surprise, meaning everything from 'errr' to 'well' to 'hmmmm' and 'of course'. Here are a couple of examples: Et tu sais à quelle heure revient ton frère? - Ben, j'en sais rien. (And do you know what time your brother got home? - Er, I don't know anything). Or, Et tu vas à l'anniversaire de Pascal samedi? - Ben oui! (And you're coming to Pascal's birthday on Saturday? - Of course!).