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The modern French phrase is "à double sens". in lieu (of) "in place (of)"; partially translated from the existing French phrase au lieu (de). léger de main (legerdemain) "light of hand": sleight of hand, usually in the context of deception or the art of stage magic tricks. Meaningless in French; the equivalent is un tour de passe-passe ...
French – à la Saint-Glinglin (on Saint Glinglin's day). Glinglin is a nonsense rhyme for the French word saint. A couple of other expressions are quand les poules auront des dents ("when hens have teeth") [19] and quand les coqs pondront des œufs ("when roosters lay eggs").
(The reason I feel moved to do this is a West African colleague of mine -- after being surprised by how many words in French he asked for translations for could still be said in French while "speaking" English -- asked if I knew of a list of French expressions commonly used in English, so he can immediately augment his so-so English vocabulary.
The French are some of the friendliest and enchanting people you'll ever meet. And if you have a handful of common French phrases in your arsenal when ordering a baguette in Paris or catching a ...
L'esprit de l'escalier or l'esprit d'escalier (UK: / l ɛ ˌ s p r iː d (ə l) ɛ ˈ s k æ l j eɪ /, US: / l ɛ ˌ s p r iː d (ə ˌ l) ɛ s k ə ˈ l j eɪ /, [1] French: [lɛspʁi d(ə l)ɛskalje]; lit. ' staircase wit ') is a French term used in English for the predicament of thinking of the perfect reply too late.
As a result, people may say well-meaning—but massively invalidating—phrases to people struggling with something. Here, experts share the harm in toxic positivity and 35 phrases to think twice ...
“This phrase accompanies the visual of you showing the person the way you like something done. We are visual people, so it will have a big impact,” she says. 5.
Generally, words coming from French often retain a higher register than words of Old English origin, and they are considered by some to be more posh, elaborate, sophisticated, or pretentious. However, there are exceptions: weep, groom and stone (from Old English) occupy a slightly higher register than cry, brush and rock (from French).