Wednesday, May 13, 2015

FRENCH KIDS EXPRESSIONS THAT COME IN HANDY

1. Tien / Donne (Tenez / Donnez): Here
In English, putting your hand out and saying “here” works both ways: when you’re handing someone something and when you’re offering to take something from them. In French, you’d use donne / donnez (give) and tiens / tenez (take), respectively.


2.Bien fait pour toi: Told you so / Good job
 

Translating more or less to “well done (by) you” it’s not hard to complete the end of this snarky thought: “I told you what would happen and you did it well. Way to go.”

3. Minute papillon: Hold your horses / Not so fast / Just a minute

 

Literally “(one) minute, butterfly,” the sarcastic implication here is to quit impatiently fluttering around and wait. Though you might assume papillon to be a sweet nickname, the idiom can range in tone from neutral to sticky with sarcasm and irritation.
Variations: Like pouêt-pouêt Camembert, the phrase can be shortened, where either of the two words is used independently to mean the same thing.


 4. Avoir envie d’aller aux toilettes: To need to go to the bathroom
As far as literal translations go, in French you don’t “need” (devoir) to use a restroom. You “want” (avoir envie) to.



5. Un bout: A piece
“Piece” is one of those words that has a number of translations in French (un bout, un morceau, une tranche, une part) depending on the specific meaning you’re trying to get across. Un bout has it’s own more specific translations back to English, but in this case it refers to bits of something: accepting just un bout of the apple or the croissant someone offered to share with you, for example.

Or for a teeny tiny piece of that boudin noir (blood sausage) on your French friend’s plate that you’re hesitant to try,* tell them you’ll take un tout petit mini bout.

6. Dodo: Bedtime
Of course you can say je vais au lit or je vais me coucher, much the same way you can say “I’m going to bed” or “I’m going to go to sleep” in English, but when you’re good and tired, yawning out the child’s derivative of dormir as you heave yourself out of the couch cushions to go turn in is a handy thing to know how to do.