Calling A Cat A Cat

Abstract

Of course the French have some slang words and expressions borrowed from English or translating the English: tu parIes (you said it) or avoir deux cordes a son arc (to have two strings to one I s bow). But really to know a language is to be able to come up with the appropriate word and that may not be the one they taught you in school. Find someone who claims to speak French fluently as well as English, and ask them for the French word for each of the following. If they get most of them right, they know colloqu ia 1 French. Tra nsla ting the French litera lly back into English may also give you an insight into the French character: our fresh as a daisy corresponds to their frais comme une rose, and to call a spade a spade is appeller un chat un chat!