4 Fructidor CCXXI

Today's date in the French Republican Calendar is 4 Fructidor CCXXI.

Today's symbol is escourgeon, or six-row barley.

3 Fructidor CCXXI

Today's date in the French Republican Calendar is 3 Fructidor CCXXI.

Today's symbol is Lycoperdon, or vesse-de-loup, or puffball fungus.

2 Fructidor CCXXI

Today's date in the French Republican Calendar is 2 Fructidor CCXXI.

Today's symbol is millet, or millet.

1 Fructidor CCXXI

Today's date in the French Republican Calendar is the 1st of Fructidor, year CCXXI.

Today's symbol is prune, or plum.

Bonne Action de grâce!

Today in the United States is Thanksgiving, or le jour de l'Action de grâce in French.

In celebration, here are some of my favorite Thanksgiving-themed words in French:

Turkey: la dinde

Pumpkin pie: la tarte à la citrouille

Stuffing: la farce

What are your favorite Thanksgiving words in French?

In addition, if you feel like doing some reading in French today, Réponse à Tout! has a nice exposé on the origins and history of Thanksgiving here:
http://www.reponseatout.com/insolite/culture/connaissez-vous-les-origines-de-thanksgiving-a108746

Mot du jour: dégonfler

Today's word has quite a few meanings depending on how it's used.

Definition: to deflate, to let the air out (Also, in the sense of swelling of a body part subsiding)

1) Dégonfler un matelas pneumatique
    -To deflate an air mattress

2) When used as a pronominal verb (se dégonfler), it carries the literal meaning of something losing its inflation, but also is used figuratively as to become afraid, to hesitate, to have second thoughts, to chicken out, etc.

On est toujours libre de se dégonfler.
-You can always chicken out. (Alternatively: Anybody who's afraid can go home.)


3) When the past participle is used as a noun (un dégonflé), it means a coward.*

Il n'avait pas envie de passer pour un dégonflé.
-He didn't want to seem like a coward. (Alternatively: He didn't want anyone to think he was afraid.)


*Funny sidebar: When I looked this up in my Petit Robert to see the example they gave, it was the sentence that I saw in the short story that I'm currently reading (Les bottes de sept lieues by Marcel Aymé) that inspired me to do a spotlight on this word!  

Mot du jour: délaver

Definition: to fade, to wash out, to waterlog

I was reading a short story by Alain Robbe-Grillet called La Plage and came across this word in the description of the children's clothing.

Ils sont habillés tous les trois de la même façon, culotte courte et chemisette, l'une et l'autre en grosse toile d'un bleu délavé.
-They are all three dressed alike; shorts and shirt, both of a coarse, faded blue linen.