Oh la la!

Did you know the meaning of these common expressions in French?

Image: Michael McKay

At this point, it is not a secret that a part of the English vocabulary is actually French wearing a trenchcoat. Many of the words and phrases that we use on a daily basis are very similar in use and meaning to their French counterparts; take, for example, words like energy, silhouette, poetic, or machine. However, not all words and phrases of French origin have maintained their meaning or spelling. Let’s have a look at some of them!

Image: Joshua Hoehne

Let’s start with an example where only the form of the phrase has changed: English speakers use ‘in lieu of’ to talk about something done or said in the place of something else. This phrase is partially translated from the original French, au lieu de, which is used in the same way and with the same meaning.

Image: Shyam

If we visit somewhere new, chances are we will bring back a souvenir to remind us of our trip. And that is exactly the meaning of souvenir in French, ‘to remember’, although the word can also be used for a "memento" or "keepsake."

Image: Romain Vignes

This phrase could be translated as ‘with a double hearing,’ giving the idea of a thing that can be interpreted in two (usually very different) ways. Modern French uses ‘_à double sens_’ to convey this meaning, instead of the verb entendre (‘to hear’).

Image: Gaurang Alat

English shares with French the use of this phrase to mean ‘fashionable’. However, it is also used as a culinary term, but with two very different meanings: in English, desserts à la mode are accompanied by ice cream, while in French, the same term might indicate that it was cooked with carrots and onions.

Image: Or Hakim

For English speakers, this word unequivocally means a professional cook. For French speakers, however, a chef would be a cuisinier, and chef would be used to mean ‘chief’, ‘boss’, or ‘head of.’

Image: Krists Luhaers

The word "premiere" is associated in English with the first performance or screening of a play or film. In French, première simply means ‘first,’ though la première can be used for a first performance.

Image: Hugo Xie

Encore means again, so it makes sense that people use this word to request a repeat performance. However, French speakers prefer saying une autre or bis for the same situation.

Image: Tim Mossholder

Used to refer to a mix or medley of things, this word comes from the French pot-pourri, meaning ‘rotten pot,’ as it was originally used for a pot where flowers were dried for their scent.

Image: Rhamely

In English, this word is used for a fancy and delicate nightgown, robe, or dressing gown. In French, négligée would be used for a woman who neglects her appearance, and the clothing item would be called négligé (the masculine form of the word) or nuisette.

Image: David Tomaseti

Meaning ‘seating,’ this word is used by English speakers for an attempt to communicate with the dead, usually with the help of a medium. French speakers use this word to refer to a meeting or a season of any kind.

Ten bizarre inventions from the past that never caught on

Ten crazy inventions history forgot (luckily)

Ever wonder what happened to all those "revolutionary" gadgets that promised to change our lives? Some ideas were just too weird, too early, or too wonderfully impractical to survive. Let's take a nostalgic trip through the patent office's hall of shame.

Back when fresh air was considered a cure-all, London parents who lived in apartments faced a dilemma: how to give their babies outdoor time without a yard? The solution was a wire cage that hung outside the window, suspending Junior several stories above the street. Parents would just pop the baby in the cage and go about their day.

Shockingly, this didn't catch on. Perhaps it was the image of infants dangling precariously over busy sidewalks.

Imagine a giant goldfish bowl on your head, lined with cork, with only a thin slit to see through. That was the Isolator, designed to help people concentrate by blocking out all distractions. The inventor, Hugo Gernsback, thought sensory deprivation was the key to productivity. An attached oxygen tank let you breathe while you worked.

The problem? Looking like a deep-sea diver at your desk isn't exactly conducive to office camaraderie. Plus, trying to type while essentially wearing a fish tank proved impractical.

This battery-powered cone featured a small motor that rotated the ice cream for you, so you could just stick out your tongue and let technology do the rest. It was supposed to prevent drips and ensure even licking coverage.

The invention raised an important question: had we become so lazy that rotating our wrist was now an insurmountable challenge? Apparently, the answer was no. The motorized cone disappeared faster than ice cream on a summer day.

This amphibious bicycle promised to let you pedal across lakes and rivers just as easily as riding down Main Street. It featured a boat-like hull and paddle wheels instead of regular tires. The inventor envisioned commuters cycling across waterways, avoiding bridge traffic entirely.

Unfortunately, the Cyclomer was heavy, slow on both land and water, and required the leg strength of an Olympic athlete to move at anything faster than a crawl.

Dr. John Brinkley convinced thousands of men that transplanting goat testicles into humans would restore youth and vigor. For the bargain price of $750 (about $12,000 today), you could have surgery in his Kansas clinic and supposedly regain the vitality of your younger days.

Unsurprisingly, the procedure didn't work—goat glands don't function in human bodies. Brinkley eventually lost his medical license, but not before making millions.

When cars first became common, someone invented a net-like contraption that attached to the front bumper to scoop up pedestrians before running them over. The idea was that the person would land safely in the net instead of under the wheels. It looked like an industrial-sized butterfly net.

The fatal flaw? Getting hit by a car and caught in a net is still getting hit by a car. Plus, the contraption made vehicles longer and harder to maneuver, probably causing more accidents than it prevented.

Picture this: you're stuck in bed recovering from illness, and what you really need is a full-size piano suspended over your body. That's what one inventor thought, anyway. The piano hung horizontally above the patient, who could supposedly play while lying flat on their back.

Beyond the obvious safety concerns of dangling a heavy musical instrument over sick people, there was the question of who actually wants to play piano while confined to bed.

In an era when dimples were considered irresistibly charming, someone invented a face-shaping device that promised to create them artificially. The contraption used springs and knobs to press into your cheeks for 15 minutes daily until dimples supposedly formed permanently.

It didn't work, of course—dimples are genetic, caused by variations in facial muscle structure. But that didn't stop people from trying.

L. Ron Hubbard claimed this modified lie detector could measure the electrical characteristics of your thoughts and help achieve spiritual enlightenment. Users held two tin cans connected to a meter while being asked questions. A needle supposedly revealed deep psychological truths.

Scientifically, it was just a simple ohmmeter measuring skin resistance—the same principle behind mood rings. But it cost considerably more and came with significantly more baggage.

Why carry a portable radio when you could wear one on your head? This invention looked like a regular pint-sized baseball cap but contained a tiny AM radio with an antenna poking out the top. Earphones ran down to your ears, letting you listen to broadcasts while keeping your hands free.

The problem was that you looked absolutely ridiculous, like an alien trying to blend in at a baseball game. The reception was terrible, the batteries died quickly, and the whole contraption was uncomfortable.