Common Foreign Words and Phrases in English

Part 1: The French Legacy

According to a famous paraphrase of a quote by James D. Nicoll, "English doesn't borrow from other languages. English follows other languages down dark alleys, knocks them over, and goes through their pockets for loose grammar." And loose vocabulary, we might add. Lexicographer and etymologist John Ayto has remarked that English is "an inveterate borrower from other languages." It has been estimated that more than two-thirds of English vocabulary can be traced back to foreign loanwords.

Throughout its history, English has been shaped and enriched by words and phrases of French, Scandinavian, Italian, Latin, Greek, Spanish, German, Russian, Dutch, Yiddish, and Japanese origin. Some of these words have been "naturalized". For example, we don't stop to think that the "very English" word "kitchen" is ultimately derived from the Latin verb "coquere" (to cook), or that good old "anger" was originally borrowed from Old Norse and is also related to the Latin and ancient Greek verbs for "strangle".

On the other hand, several lexical borrowings into English flaunt their non-English origin. The following list is a sampler of commonly used French phrases in modern English.

aide-memoire (literally: help-memory): a mnemonic device

ambiance (literally: surroundings): mood, character, atmosphere (e.g. of a location)

au courant (literally: in the current; and yes, the English word "current" is of French origin): up-to-date, fashionable

au naturel (literally: in the natural state): served plainly; nude

au poivre (French for "with pepper"): as in steak au poivre (served with a lot of ground pepper)

avant-garde (French for "the front guard"): a progressive artistic movement

bon voyage (literally: good journey!): farewell

bourgeois (French for "townsman"): member of the middle class

compte rendu (literally: account rendered): review, report, statement of account

cul-de-sac (French for "bottom of the bag"): blind alley

double entendre (literally: double meaning): ambiguity; an expression open to two interpretations, one of which is usually indecent