French words of the day: adroit to terrible

French - English

adroit - skilful (literally right handed?)
beret - round soft felt men's hat with no brim and a small upright tag in the middle
billet - place with instructions to lodge a soldier, originally a little bill or order
billet-doux - sweet nothings, sweet note, bits of sweet(ness)
cagoule/kagoule - anorak, balaclava
cavalier - on horseback, or hastily sweeping somebody aside, going past above them
coquette - flirt
démodé - out of fashion
enfant - child (similar to our word infant)
enfant terrible - terrible child / embarrassment / notoriously naughty person
finesse - skill and style
harangue - shout out incessantly, badger
hauteur - arrogance, haughtiness, pride
passé - out of date
raison d'être - literally reason of / for being / sole reason for existing, primary purpose
regrette - regret
terrible - terrible

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

French words of the day: chalet, raison d'être

chalet - small cottage or large wooden building, Swiss of alpine area, with gently sloping A line roof designed to let snow slide off and not build up

A chalet bungalow is usually let privately or through an agency to a group, as opposed to a hotel which has a reception desk and is open to the public for meals and accommodation

raison d'être - reason for being. Somebody night describe a new invention but you don't see the point of it. You could ask, "What is its raison d'être?"

Angela Lansbury, teacher of English and French

French words of the day: raison d'être, tour de force, cartouche, en papillote

French words are always a joy, enlightening us as to new ways of cooking and new delights to eat. Here are today's discoveries from recipes and articles:

cartouche - circle of paper to protect sauce from browning or burning
chef - chief cook, wearing a chef's hat or large white hat with folds
coterie - small group of people with shared interests, a clique defending their group, originally the French word for inhabitants of a village
en papillote in paper
Hammersmith Palais - palais is palace.
raison d'être reason for being/ reason why/for
tour de force - tour of force, literally tower of strength, same as pièce de résistance - best work

So chefs are a coterie of people using French to baffle English eaters.

Angela Lansbury, teacher of English and French, tutor, author, speaker.