French words of the day: aperitif, canapé, emigré

At meal times and in supermarkets you meet and need to know lots of French words, such as baguette, a long bread roll.

You start your meal with an aperitif, a drink supposed to stimulate saliva and the appetite. At a cocktail party you would be offered a canapé , a small but exquisitely prepared and garnished savoury morsel of food.

Perhaps you will meet other expats, or emigrés. People who have emigrated.

By the way, the letter e at the start of an English word often comes from the Greek word exit, going out. I remember sitting on a Greek aeroplane and seeing letters above the door. I wondered what they mean. I identified two of the letters, x and d and s. Suddenly I knew. The word was exodus, same as the word for the book of the old testament. I had found the word for exit!

 In or en means coming in. So the immigrant is coming into the country. The emigrant is leaving, going out.

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

French words you use or recognise in English

Mont Saint-Michel and words such as cider
From a leaflet promoting a place which invited you to a free tasting of Normandy products opposite Mont Saint-Michel I noticed lots of French words which I and you would recognise.


face (a or au) - facing
produit - product
producteur - producer
Mont - mount / mountain
aperitif - aperitif
cidre - cier
jus - juice
liqueur - liqueur
creme - cream
biscuits - biscuits
possibilite - possibility
saint - saint
michel - Michael
point - point
entree - entry
sortie - exit / way out
fabrication - fabrication or manufacture
artisanale - artisanal
age - age
ans - years (like the English word annual)
regionaux - regional
cave - cave or cellar
poire - pear

I found these words on a flyer for a business offering free tastings, opposite Mont Saint-Michel.
www.calvados-montsaintmichel.com

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

PS
entente cordiale
entourage

French words on wine lists: aperitif; digestif

aperitif - drink before a meal, supposedly to stimulate the appetite
digestif - drink at the end of the meal, supposedly to help you digest your food

This is what you drink to promote bonhomie and camaraderie with your petit amour at a rendez-vous.

Angela Lansbury B A Hons
Travel writer, author, photographer, speaker, speech trainer and English tutor - occasionally French, if I must.

Aperitif In England And France

In England the traditional pre-dinner aperitif would be sherry from Spain.

In France the traditional pre-dinner aperitif would be Port from Portugal. Tanwny Port.

What's Tawny Port?
   When wine is picked from the grape it is red colour. Fresh bright red like fresh blood and fresh red grapes. After it ages in the barrel it goes brown like the barrel, like dried blood, or dried plums which turn into dark coloured prunes.

Here's a Tawny Port as an aperitif. You can see the tawny brown colour, like a tawny owl. My picture makes it look slightly red on my screen. the plate is red, but the drink is brown.