Monday, December 12, 2005
C’est francais
From wordsmith.org:
The great humorist Mark Twain once said, “In Paris they simply stared when
I spoke to them in French; I never did succeed in making those idiots
understand their language.” Well, that’s the pitfall of learning a foreign
language away from its natural habitat. We might become proficient in the
grammar but there is never a certainty about the nuances of the language.No matter. Some of the terms we borrow from French have become an integral
part of the English language. They often help us convey a whole idea
succinctly, in just a word or two. This week let’s see five such terms from
French.degringolade (day-grang-guh-LAYD) noun
A rapid decline, deterioration, or collapse (of a situation).
[From French, from dégringoler (to tumble down, fall sharply),
from Middle French desgringueler, from des- (de-) + gringueler
(to tumble), from Middle Dutch crinkelen (to curl).]-Anu Garg (gargATwordsmith.org)
“Even before the latest degringolade, Mr Duncan Smith’s position
had been disintegrating.”
Bruce Anderson; This is Duncan Smith’s Last Stand; The Independent
(London, UK); Feb 24, 2003.
Update: More from Wordsmith:
qui vive (kee VEEV) noun
Alert, lookout. (Used in the phrase “on the qui vive”).
[From French qui vive, literally, “Who lives?” implying “Long lives who?”
or “Whose side are you on?” It was used by a sentry to challenge someone
approaching the gate. A proper response might be “Vive le roi!” (“Long
live the King!”) or “La France!”]Today’s word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=qui+vive
-Anu Garg (gargATwordsmith.org)
“Are there some more subtle signals a man ought to be on the qui vive
for?”
James Ahearn; Ask Mr. Manners; The Record (Bergen County, New Jersey);
Oct 23, 1991.