List of French words of English origin
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This is a list French words, terms and phrases of English language origin, some of a specialist nature, in common usage in the French language or at least within their specialist area.
English is rarely considered a source language as it is itself a mixture of other languages. Culturally, the creation of new words is widely accepted and there is no official body that is treated as the guardian of the language. Each dictionary producer makes their own editorial decisions and there is a slight impetus towards adding new words as this often results in media coverage and public discussion.
Conversely, the Académie française as an institution absolutely guards the French language. This hurdle in the creation of new words allows time and space for English neologisms to enter common usage in the French language. In many cases, l'Académie publishes French alternatives or creates French neologisms, however these words often fail to achieve the public traction which, by definition has to have been achieved by the English word for it to be noticed by l'Académie in the first place.
In nearly all cases the words in this list are not sanctioned by the Académie française.
- Le Brexit[1]
- Le selfie
- Le bulldozer
- L'email
- Cool
- Supercool
- No stress
- Le dressing. A dressing room or walk-in closet[2]
- Le footing. Running or jogging
- Black. In reference to the black market or black economy
- Le box. Typically a room sized storage unit
- Le lifting. In reference to plastic surgery
- Le drive. In reference to drive-through food takeaway services
- Le flipper. A pinball machine
- Baby foot. Table football / foosball
- Les baskets. Sports shoes
- Le relooking. In reference to a makeover
- Le smoking. A dinner suit / tuxedo
- Le zapping. Channel surfing on a television
- Le rugbymen. Rugby players
- Faire le buzz[3]
- Dans l’open space
- Booster. To boost, as in "booster ma carriere"
- Bruncher. To brunch
- Skyper
- Tweeter. To tweet.
- Forwarder. To forward an email
- Liker. To like an update or posting, typically on Facebook
- Voyager low-cost. Low-cost travel
- Le hashtag
- Blog[4]
- Supermodel
- Take-away
- Chewing gum
- Le Parking. A car park
- Le weekend
- Shadow-boxing
- Coach. In a sporting context
- Corner. The footballing term
- Versatile. Interestingly, a word with slightly different meaning in French and English. The English usage, meaning 'with a variety of uses' has crept into common French usage.[5]
- Infotainment
- Past. Used in the context of former. For example, past président.
- Come back. In the sense of a celebrity, sportsperson or entertainer making a come back.
- Switcher. To change or swap.
- Wine maker
- After-shave
- Hot spot. In terms of wifi availability.
- Step by step
- Biopic
- Scoop. In the context of a news story or as a simile based on that context.
- High tech
- Success story. An interesting example of an English phrase made up of words of French origin being reinfused into the French language in the English context.
- Situation room
- Le dealer. Specifically of illegal drugs.
- Le shampooing[6]
- Le punch line
Further reading
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References
- ^ Pflimlin, Edouard (1 July 2016). "Le Brexit et l'avenir de la City londonienne" – via Le Monde.
- ^ "Top 12 English words reinvented by the French The Local". thelocal.fr. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
- ^ "'English words are invading French like never before'". thelocal.fr. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
- ^ "French say 'non' to the term hashtag in battle to stop English words violating their language". Daily Mail. 26 January 2013.
- ^ "Néologismes & anglicismes - Académie française". academie-francaise.fr. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
- ^ "SHAMPOOING : Définition de SHAMPOOING". cnrtl.fr.