Language is a fluid creation, and English is certainly a mélange of dozens of others (see what I did there?). With all of the cultural and linguistic exchange going on in the world, it’s easy to slip in words from other languages in order to make yourself sound more cosmopolitan, or give you that certain je ne sais quoi.
LetThemTalk went to London to find out if English speakers know the top ten French phrases used in English, and the test results were B- at best. Funny enough, while filler phrases like bon appétit or au contraire topped the charts (not surprising, given their glaring English cousins), these British pedestrians had a little more trouble with sayings like joie de vivre or coup d’état. (Though there’s one pedestrian in particular who was so good with the words, he upped the challenge by making most of his example sentences about soccer player Wayne Rooney.)
Do you know these ten phrases? It might be time to study up. You don’t want to be caught in a linguistic faux pas the next time that cute French guy in class wants to have a tête-à-tête.
