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'Faux amis' and irregular idioms/expressions list

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It's nothing near a definitive list, but here's some essay phrases:

et ainsi de suite – so on and so forth
dans l’ensemble – overall
tout compte fait – all things considered
on ne peut pas nier que – it can’t be denied that
il me semble que – it seems to be that
en comparaison avec – in comparison with
en revanche – on the other hand
au lieu de – instead of
malgré – in spite of
tout d’abord – first of all
réfléchissons d’abord à – let’s first consider
en principe – in principle
petit à petit – gradually
soi-disant – so called
bref – in short
en outré – besides
à telle point que – to such an extent that
d’ailleurs – moreover
de plus – furthermore
du moins – at least
en moyenne – on average
tandis que – whereas
par la suite – subsequently
en définitive – in conclusion
il s’ensuit que – it follows that
à en juger par – to judge by
en fin de compte – when all is said and done
il faut bien reconnaître que – it must be recognised that
en guise d’introduction – by way of an introduction
cela met en doute – that calls into question
tout semble indiquer que – everything would seem to point to the fact that
il se peut que – it is possible that

And just a few random phrases I seem to use...

c’est une politique vouée à l’échec – it’s a policy that’s bound to fail
pour que a fléau cesse de s’étendre – to stop this scourge from spreading
ce n’est que la partie visible de l’iceberg – this is just the tip of the iceberg
il faut mener une action d’envergure nationale – we must act on a national scale
nous vivons dans un monde où – we live in a world where
avoir une portée mondiale – to have a world-wide affect
tout est en train de se transformer – everything is changing significantly
une question qui provoque bien des controverses – a controversial question
la situation ne cesse de se dégrader – the situation keeps getting worse

Reply 41

blondemoment

my new fav word = chouette [adj]

cool/nice etc

http://www.wordreference.com/fren/chouette

Reply 42

alexjoh1

et patati et patata - and so on and so forth...i'm really not sure on which register this should be used, but i just like it!

Reply 43

-beeboo-

a few random ones-

'c'est trop laid' - that sucks
'un coup salaud' - a bad joke
'c'est nickel' = 'c'est parfait'
'avoir les nerfs' - to 'have the muchies' ie. to feel peckish!
bouffer = manger
il est canon = he's hot
une cloupe = une cigarette
faire la gueule - to be in a bad mood
schlinguer - to stink

they're all pretty much slang- i have a LOT more! a french friend of mine spent hours writing as many down for me as possible, but i hope i copied them out right as her writing was quite tricky to read at times!

Reply 44

no1mohsin

-beeboo-

That's a great little list lol, especially "schlinguer" - it's such a cool sounding word, great for the French lessons ("ohh ca schlingue!!...anyone?)

Althought I think cigarette is "une clope" but feel free to correct me on that one; memory's a bit hazy you see, what with the holidays :p:

Reply 45

brimstone

une meuf - a woman (femme turned backwards)
un flic - a cop
baissé-toi - eff you.

I did pick up a couple more in Montpellier...

Reply 46

Gooner

Gâcher le métier - to spoil things for others :biggrin:

Reply 47

no1mohsin

brimstone

une mef - a woman (femme turned backwards)
un flic - a cop
baissé-toi - eff you.

I did pick up a couple more in Montpellier...

I like that 'flic' one, got it off District 13 :cool:

. I thought the slang for girl was une 'meuf.' Not exactly sure though; a guy by the way is "un mec."

Reply 48

Gooner

wesetters

Yeah, femme becomes meuf in Verlan.

What is Verlan exactly? Is it the old, archaic way of speaking in French? :confused:

Reply 49

Piggsil

gooner1592

What is Verlan exactly? Is it the old, archaic way of speaking in French? :confused:

Haha, no it's a modern slang invented in the suburbs of big cities where you kind of switch words round, not exactly sure how it works though!

Reply 50

Piggsil

wesetters

Yep. Verlan is itself a Verlan word.

Verlan = à l'envers

Haha, I suspected that, but I didn't say in case I made a fool of myself. It's not something I've ever really studied, so a lot of people know more about it than I do! :biggrin:

Reply 51

Gooner

wesetters

Yep. Verlan is itself a Verlan word.

Verlan = à l'envers

Oh right, see that's the kind of thing that keeps my language learning alive :redface:

I don't know why, but I find this stuff interesting :p:

Reply 52

Gooner

wesetters

You might find this interesting : http://cobra.le.cynique.free.fr/dictionnaire/

A bit like urbandictionary.com.

Ahh, merci beaucoup pour ca, Will :smile:

Je te donnerai un rep demain, ou quand je peux :biggrin:

Reply 53

brimstone

no1mohsin

I like that 'flic' one, got it off District 13 :cool:

. I thought the slang for girl was une 'meuf.' Not exactly sure though; a guy by the way is "un mec."

Yeah, I spelt meuf wrong :redface:

Reply 54

brimstone

Becca

Haha, no it's a modern slang invented in the suburbs of big cities where you kind of switch words round, not exactly sure how it works though!

The dog of a French assistant in my school gave us a whole lecture about Verlan :\

Reply 55

felixlechat

brimstone

baissé-toi - eff you.

I'm pretty sure this only has one s, so baise-toi. We got a lecture between the importance of pronouncing "Baisser" (to decrease) and "Baiser" (to... kiss, in old French :wink:

)...

Oh, and also:

un type - a bloke
c'était bon enfant - it had a really good atmosphere, like, "La fête? C'était bonne enfant.", i.e. no one spewed and everyone got a bit merry.

Does anyone know if "étant donné que" takes the subjunctive? I can't quite get my head round it.

Thanks

Reply 56

city_chic

Useful one:

Ca ne me fait rien = I don't mind

Reply 57

liquidmetalrob

I don't think anyone's covered this one.
The french words for hair and horses are similar: cheveux, chevaux
so don't get them mixed up.

Reply 58

Jasmine*

What a great place for me !!!
I am French and what I find here is the complete correspondance of what YOU find !!
This is pretty amazing... :rolleyes:

And i also can help you to understand in some hard cases such as :
sucrer les fraises = to shake (as in Parkinson's disease)
Yes but not exactly : it is part part of it, the major thing is to stress the age of a person and the fact he/she is too old to do something else: so old that you can do nothing but "sucrer les fraises": when you want to do something, you shake from everywhere and you look like you gonna collapse on your next move:
if you try to do something accurate, you will anyway "sucrer les fraise" : when you put sugar on fruits, you put sugar everywhere on your plate, this is what you wanted, this is what the old person only can do.
Sorry for the looooog reply, i'm trying my best to learn english and to shorten my answers...
Thanks for you patience :wink:

Reply 59