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.

Mot du jour: chantonner

Definition: to hum
Synonym: fredonner

Amélie aime chantonner en faisant la cuisine.
-Amélie likes to hum while cooking.

Variation dialectale?

Bilingual packaging in the States tends to lean toward Québécois as opposed to Metropolitan French. I always enjoy reading packages to find differences or mistranslations. I was reading a bottle of conditioner the other day and I saw that it was translated into French as revitalisant, while I have always seen it labeled in France as après-shampooing. 

I did a little research and found that many Canadian online stores and blogs refer to conditioner as revitalisant. I'm not sure if this is unique to Québec, but I suspect that this may be the result of the effort in Québec to use more French words in situations where English words have been readily adopted in France. 

Mot du jour: canicule

Definition: heat wave

Today in New York we are experiencing une canicule, as an article today on France-Amérique points out:

Premier jour de l'été et première canicule sur la côte est des Etats-Unis

-The first day of summer and the first heat wave on the east coast of the United States

Check out the article here: http://www.france-amerique.com/articles/2012/06/21/premier_jour_de_l_ete_et_premiere_canicule_sur_la_cote_est_des_etats-unis.html

Mot du jour: buraliste

Definition: tabacconist, clerk

Un/une buraliste is typically the clerk at a tabac, but also at places such as the post office.

Among the many services offered at a tabac, you can buy phone cards or recharge the minutes on your mobile phone with the buraliste. I saw an ad in 20 Minutes the other day for Buzz Mobile instructing prospective clients to do just that.

Part of the ad reads: Disponible dès maintenant chez votre buraliste et votre boutique spécialisée.
-Now available at your local tabaconnist or specialty shop.

Mot du jour: tronçon

Definition: piece, section

The word tronçon is used to talk about a piece or section of something, usually something long, for instance, a road. A perfect example of this came up in the news this week as the first section of the Grands Boulevards transitioned into a two-way street.

Le premier tronçon est passé en double sens ce lundi matin et la totalité des Grands boulevards (du bd de Sébastopol à la rue de Richelieu) sera à double sens fin 2012.
-The first section became two-way this Monday morning and all the the Grands Boulevards (from Boulevard de Sébastopol to rue de Richelieu) will be two-way at the end of 2012.


Read the story (en français) from France 3 here: http://paris-ile-de-france.france3.fr/info/les-grands-boulevards-parisiens-a-double-sens-74572879.html

Mot du jour: ensevelir

Definition: to bury
Synonyms: enterrer, enfouir, cacher

Ensevelir can mean to literally bury something, as in a body, or have more of a figurative meaning of burying or hiding something.

Rivière pense aux trésors ensevelis dans les profondeurs de la nuit comme dans les mers fabuleuses...(Vol de Nuit par Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)
-Rivière thinks about treasures buried in the depths of the night, as in fabulous seas.


One can be enseveli in one's mind, as in the expressions être enseveli dans sa rêverie (to be deep in thought or be buried in daydreams) or être enseveli dans le chagrin (to be buried in sadness).


Another expression is s'ensevlir sous les ruines d'une place, literally to be buried under the ruins of a place, or, in other words, to die defending a place or idea until the last minute.

Mot du jour: écorce

In light of spring approaching, I'm taking a nature theme this week. Stay tuned for nature related words all week!

Definition: bark

The main definition of écorce is bark, as in the expression:
Il ne faut pas juger de l'arbre par l'écorce.
-You shouldn't judge a tree by its bark.
This phrase is quite similar to the saying "Don't judge a book by its cover."

Écorce can also designate the skin or peel of citrus fruits. For example:
Une écorce d'orange
-An orange peel

In addition, écorce is used when talking about the earth's crust: l'écorce terrestre.

Mot du jour: brosse adhésive

Definition: lint brush , lint roller

Ce matin, j'ai enlevé la poussière sur mes pantalons avec une brosse adhésive.
-This morning, I used a lint roller to remove the lint on my pants.

Mot du jour: le carême

Definition: Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday (le mercredi des Cendres). But did you know the French word for Lent?

Je me prive de chocolat pendant le carême 
-I'm giving up chocolate for Lent.