“A Beginner’s Guide to Franglais”

For students studying in France (the most visited place in the world)

“A Beginner’s Guide to Franglais”

by Jessica Phalen via “Global Post“

“PARIS, France — Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

The good news, at least for people who don’t speak French: You’ll hear lots of English in France. The bad news: You won’t understand it.

It looks like English. It sounds like English. Some of it really is English. But it doesn’t mean what you’d expect it to mean.

If Anglophones love to pilfer from other languages (pilfer: from the Old Frenchpelfrer), the French like to add their ownje ne sais quoi. No, really: without some help, you wouldn’t savoir quoi they’re on about.

In the spirit of mutual mistranslation, here’s a brief glossary of the weirdest “English” words you need a French dictionary to understand — not to mention a few bons mots we’ve adopted in English that just won’t fly in France.

 Un after-work (n). An event that takes place after work. Simple, effective, yet irremediably ugly.

Le baby-foot (n). Table football. I just… I don’t even know. . . . . .”