Learning French
Understanding French cycle signs and property lingo
The literal meanings and historical roots of some commonly used terms
Pied à terre literally means ‘foot to the ground'
Annaliza Davis
Have you ever seen a sign instructing: ‘Cyclistes pied à terre’?
It translates as ‘foot to the ground’ and means that any cyclist should dismount and walk their bicycle, as this is a pedestrianised area.
Dating from 1636, the phrase originally required horse riders to dismount to sound a trumpet.
However, by the late 1700s the saying had evolved to refer to temporary accommodation where soldiers could stop with their horses and their bags.
Even today, English-speakers on both sides of the pond use the expression pied-à-terre as a noun to refer to a small holiday home, a weekend pad, or simply somewhere to stay.
The Dictionnaire de l’Académie française defines it as “a small lodging that is not permanent, only occupied occasionally”, and reminds us that it should be pronounced as if with a T in the middle: ‘pee-yetta-tair’.
Nowadays, the term pied-à-terre has a certain snobbery attached to it, partly because of the type of English-speaker who sprinkles French into conversation, but mostly because you need a certain level of wealth to afford a second home.
A similar phrase you may notice in estate agent descriptions in France is plein pied, which is actually a spelling mistake that has taken root.
The correct phrase is plain-pied and dates from almost the same era as pied-à-terre (1611).
It denotes that everything is on the same level, so in property terms it describes a single-storey home (maison de plain-pied) or two things on the same level (la cuisine est de plain-pied avec le jardin).
This leads to one final idiom: entrer de plain-pied dans le sujet. This means to broach a subject directly, or to get straight to the point, suggesting someone who is resolute and forthright.
It is always good to have a bit of plain speaking, after all.
