(Or how to understand what the hell the French are saying to us in our own language)
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Hi. There are many words in both the French and English language which have been incorporated into each others' languages and used correctly. Words such as "rendez vous" and "entrepreneur" on the English side and "rock and roll" and "donut" on the French side.
I am not interested in these words.
I am however very interested in the misappropriate (sometimes bordering on psychedelic) use of the English language in daily French life. Yes, I am talking about instances where a foreign word has been incorporated so incorrectly, so weirdly, it borders on dadaist art.
In my research, and it has been copious and extensive, I could not seem to find many examples of misappropriations of French words in English. When we say "rendez vous", we mean "rendez vous". It's the exact same meaning as the original word. But when the French use English words.......All bets are off baby! And that is where it gets interesting. So buckle up!
The following will present instances of different meanings, different grammatical appropriations, even spelling and word order mutations that will no doubt provide puzzlement and wonder. Perhaps the occasional laugh, but always -- the utmost respect.
Let us begin.
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PART 1:
Planning - A victim of the ruthless addition of the "ing" word ending. The word "planning" has mysteriously become a noun when in English it was originally a verb. In English one can be planning something but never working on a "planning". Rather one is working on a plan or agenda. Verbs are verbs and nouns are nouns. Not in "Frenglish". The "ing" is chiefly responsible for this blur. So by this train of thought, one can easily be "planning a planning" which is both redundant and odd.
Fooding - Again, with the "ing's" ! What's with this?! Actually the word fooding was made up by a French chef apparently. It is an intentional combination of the words "feeling" and "food". Which sort of....kind of..... makes sense. It's a word invented in the late nineties to liberate France's concept of cuisine, to make it more lively, more flexible and more fun. Food on the go. Food experimentation. This word makes it safe for the French to eat a "burrito".
Brushing -- Advertised outside hair salons everywhere, this word means "blow dry" and possibly "to get a perm", I'm not really sure, as it seems to be an all purpose term to refer to what ladies get done at salons outside dying their hair and cutting it. And they do have different French words for those two things. But God knows how they stretched the meaning of "brushing" to mean blow dry. That's one hell of a brushing. I guess it's the friction of the brush that heats the hair when the stylist combs at super human speeds.
Jogging(s) - These are track suit pants. Or sweat pants. Once again, a verb has transformed itself miraculously into a noun with the advent of the notorious "ing" addition or transformation. Who is this French man who had a grammar orgy with the ending -- "ing"?
Footing - This means jogging! Yes. It does. Again with the "ing" and again with the verb noun confusion. And why not just say jogging? These questions only lead to more questions. It's hopeless.
Making Off - Mysteriously this modern word for the behind the scenes documentary included on film dvds has acquired a mysterious extra "f", turning a description that would normally make sense into something a little insane. You can't have a "making off", unless someone is making off with your wallet. I think this is a result of the French having difficulty pronouncing "of". After years of labor, they finally just decided to let that "f" slide off their tongue a little easier by making a fffffffff sound. It just makes everyone sound like they have a lisp.
Tennis - Sneakers or Tennis Shoes but in French English it's just "tennis" as in, "Put on your tennis, let's go play tennis."
Best of -- Curiously, the French love this phrase. Originally used in English and American circles as a means of summing up "the greatest hits" of a musician's career for a shameless album collection, the use of this phrase in France has become much more ubiquitous. And although the phrase makes sense, it is used in such a wide variety of contexts (fast food menus) that one wonders if it has retained any of its original functional value. Not everything can be "best of", otherwise one is in danger of over praising a world of mediocrity. And we wouldn't want to do that. Would we?
"Yes we can" - This political slogan from the Obama presidential campaign has taken on almost legendary status in France. Long after the U.S. has forgotten this campaign ditty, the French will be saying it to their graves and most of them won't even know why. Even though there is no hidden meaning in this phrase, I get the impression that ninety nine percent of the people uttering it, may as well be uttering "Unga bunga unga bunga" for all that is understood. I think they like the way it sounds. It has also quite curiously, become a humoristic punch line to a thousand bad jokes and permutations. Airline commercials have used it, as have posters in store front windows. Sometimes, just uttering the slogan itself in the right context can illicit hoots of laughter. I do not know why. Something about a society being a tad cynical perhaps?
Chamallow -- This is an amazing rearrangement of the American sweet the "marshmellow". And although I guess it could be argued that this is a French word, it's druggy similarity to the original makes a fascinating case of distortion. I don't really like to eat marshmellows but I could say the word chamallow for the rest of my life. It sounds like a ski resort in the Alps.
Tubes - This means "hit single". God knows why. Perhaps it goes back to people talking about the television having tubes in it, or being called the boob tube, and once more the word has evolved somehow and become oh so delicately misappropriated.
Clip - This means "music video". Sometimes it is referred to as "Clip Video". While to us, if you show us a clip, you only mean part of the video, the French say clip and mean the whole thing.
Asap - This is a curious one and a relatively new word in French office culture. The use of the word asap is the first example I can think of that involves the misappropriation of initials. Of course in English, a.s.a.p. is an abbreviation standing for "as soon as possible", but in French these initials have miraculously become a word that is pronounced. Like one is saying "you are an asap." you know, a real "asap" for making me respond "asap".
Anglo Saxon - The term Anglo Saxon to Americans and to most Brits has some kind of ancient connotation, like one were talking about Beowolf or ancient Germanic tribes fighting Roman armies. I guess one could draw up the "WASP" derogatory appropriation: white anglo saxon protestant, but this implies a kind of racial and religious categorization that is not the same as the French use of the term. To the French, "Anglo Saxon" has come to mean "anyone who speaks English" or is looking at the world from a "I speak English point of view" which let's face it -- is quite a large chunk of the globe. Asian Americans living in Portland Oregon can be Anglo Saxons according to the modern French usage. And I am just guessing but I seem to doubt they would agree with this. Anglo Saxon can also mean "wants to make the world into a mall", or "does not value welfare or socialism, or the individual" or "is a cold fish". As you can see, it is very much a negative "us against them" term and is a very convenient window into polite zenophobia. The "us" being Latin and romance language based countries, the "we cross at the red light" cultures such as (Italy, Latin America, Spain, Guadaloupe) and all that implies, versus the "they" being the Anglo Saxon hordes on CNN. At the end of the day, I feel have nothing in common with ancient German tribes.
People -- This one of my favorites as this is a word that has not only acquired meanings above and beyond its normal usage but has acquired a superhuman grammatical dexterity as well. Of course in English, the word "people" has a rather flat meaning referring to human beings in a group or plurality. But in French the word "people" has come to mean VIP's or very important "people" ie: the rich and the famous. So when gossip magazines report on the lifestyles of stars, they are reporting on "people". Very odd. It can also be used as an adjective as in "that is very people of you" or "c'est tres people" as in, you are being "snobby". The word is once again a prime example of neither being strictly a noun, nor an adjective but living in a hedonistic in between world of grammatical oblivion. This word is actually officially spelled "pipol".
A "slow" - This is cute. It means "a teenage slow dance". As in two people dancing with their arms awkwardly draped around each other while dancing to Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" from the Top Gun soundtrack.
Macdo - This is short for Mcdonalds hamburger chains. It is also a noun referring to everything that can be bought at McDonalds. So you can often hear a young person saying "Screw it, let's just get a Macdo". No one says the full name. And when they do it becomes Scottish, not Irish, as in MACDONALDS not MCDONALDS.
Super , mega, hyper - Adjectives. Descriptions. Not exactly a reversal of meaning per se but when have you ever heard an American complement something by calling it "super mega cool" or "super mega intelligent", or "super mega nice". You can also add a bunch of adjectives seemingly ad infinitum, thus "super hyper mega sexy". And on and on. It gets pretty crazy.
Rosbif - This is a vaguely derogatory term for a British person. I guess they used to eat a lot of roast beef back in the war. Or crave it. Hence the term. But personally I don't see a lot of English lusting after roast beef nowadays. Fish and chips maybe. Beer. Yes. Roast beef? Not so much. I also enjoy the spelling.
To "Smurf" -- This is amazing. This is actually a dance. And a hip hop related one at that. So some tough guy from the Bronx could actually be doing the "smurf". This is because the word for the little blue guy in the cartoon is "stroumpf" in French and not "smurf". Where the hell they got "smurf" from is a private joke someone has been playing on these kids for twenty years. For me the use of the word "smurf" effortlessly erases any manly street cred this dance stood a chance of having. All irony has apparently been thrown out the window, when they refer to LL Cool J as doing the "smurf". Maybe they mean free styling? I'm not a hip hop guy but I'm willing to bet they don't call it "smurfing" in Detroit.
Talkie, Walkie -- This means the same thing as it does in its native forward form -- An electronic two way communication device that lets you talk to your friend in his tree house. Or listen to truckers swearing. But what's with the word reversal? Walkie Talkie, Talkie Walkie.
Far West - I don't exactly know where this is supposed to be geographically but according to the French "Lucky Luke" comic book strips that everyone reads when they are a kid, it is supposed to be the Western part of the continent known as North America/Canada/Mexico/Central America. Perhaps they mean the Wild West, which perhaps, and I'm just guessing, includes Texas?, Arizona?, Utah?, Colorado?, California?, Nevada?, New Mexico? Old Mexico? Montana? Wyoming? Panama? New Orleans? British Columbia?
Finally there is the curious habit of adding "ism" or "isme" to everything. Although this is not a word in itself the phenomenon is no less beguiling. Virtually any person or thing in the English language, or the French language for that matter can be turned into an "ism", therefore creating an instant cultural or social observation. For example: during the George W Bush administration I often heard the word "Bush-ism" applied to many stupid forms of conduct or backward thinking.
Stay focused for PART 2! Coming Soon!
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