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Platisme, masculinisme: The French words added to Larousse dictionary
The 2025 edition includes some words that come straight from English, as well as many environment-related terms
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Funny you should say that – the language of French laughter
Humour can be a challenge to talk about in any language – how do you put into words that ephemeral feeling which makes you spontaneously laugh or smile?
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Map of French accents: which do you prefer?
From the major division between north and south to the departments split in two - everywhere has one
Convivere, coureurs à vélo: New French words for our modern society
Times change and that requires language to evolve too. We look at some recent additions to the French vocabulary.
Whatever your political proclivity, a major feature of this year’s French Presidential election is candidates’ ecological credentials - and with their policy proposals come associated words and phrases.
Given that ‘green’ thinking has evolved hugely – at least, it has since those of us of a certain vintage learned French at school – plus the fact that newly invented jargon and (often meaningless) slogans accompany manifestos, for many of us there is plenty of catching up to do, just to be ‘in the debate’.
Le Figaro once ran a rather sniffy round-up of some of the (albeit dafter) re-imagined expressions being employed.
In Paris and Toulouse, it said, urban “micro-forêts” (micro-forests) are being planted at the foot of buildings, while in Lyon (with a green mayor), they call a park “un espace végétalisé” (a vegetated space); a pavement is “un grand corridor” (a large corridor); and humble cyclistes (cyclists) are now “coureurs à vélo” (bicycle riders).
Inclusivity and the notion of collective living are key tenets: today, to be ecological is not merely about recycling and climate change awareness – it is also to strive to “faire société”, “faire sens”, and “faire lien” (make society, make sense, make a link).
“Convivialisme” (convivialism) encourages “convivere” (living-together) while, Le Figaro reports, we are asked to rethink how we see our fellow man/woman: we no longer live among “citoyens” (citizens) but rather “co-citoyens” (co-citizens) in order to “co-construire” (co-build) a world where every child will be “co-éduqué” (co-educated) by society as a whole.
Related stories:
Tu habites sur Paris? How to use French preposition ‘sur’ correctly
Origin of ‘le doigt d’honneur’, France’s middle finger gesture
Bouillon, soupçon: Two French culinary terms with other meanings