Et voilá!

No need to pardon our French! We use these expressions every day

Image: Etienne Girardet

Did you know you’re probably speaking French without even realizing it? That’s right! From wine to wardrobes, French and its elegance have slipped into our everyday conversations, with words and expressions that make us feel très sophisticated. If you’ve ever met a sommelier, or if you’ve bought a prêt-à-porter item for that special summer holiday, these French words have had your back without you even noticing. Let’s explore these borrowed terms, uncover their origins, and see how they’ve seamlessly blended into our English chatter. Grab your beret, it’s time to feel fancy!

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Ever wondered who that poised, polished person recommending wine at a fancy restaurant is? That’s your sommelier: A wine expert whose job is to make you look like a connoisseur without lifting a finger.

The word comes from Old French, originally referring to someone who managed wine supplies. These days, it’s all about pairing your steak with the perfect cabernet. Who doesn’t love a nice pairing? Cheers to that, or to put it better, santé!

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What’s purple, pear-shaped, and sounds way fancier in French? The aubergine, of course! While Americans call it eggplant, the French (and British too) stick with "aubergine," a word derived from Arabic and filtered through French.

It’s a favorite in dishes like ratatouille, making it a star of French cuisine. Even if you’re not a fan of its slightly spongy texture, you have to admit the name gives it an air of culinary sophistication. Saying "aubergine" instead of "eggplant" just makes you feel fancier, don’t you think?

Image: Camille Brodard

We don’t know about you, but this one puts a smile on us just when reading it. A "boutique" isn’t just any old shop; it’s a small, stylish space brimming with unique finds.

The word literally means "shop" in French, but here, it’s used to describe those cozy little stores that make you want to browse for hours.

On a similar note, its use in tourism has grown popular, since "boutique hotels" are small but exclusive accommodations. You see? It only takes a French word to make it luxurious!

Image: Austin Tate

You probably use this one more than you think. Why, you may ask? Because it’s not the same to say something is small as to say something is "petite."

Used in all kinds of contexts, like a dainty piece of jewelry, a tiny home, or even someone who is of a smaller height, it sprinkles the object with elegance.

Fun fact: In French, "petite" is the feminine form, while "petit" is masculine. Either way, it’s proof that good things often come in small (and chic) packages.

Image: Joshua Rodriguez

Hiring an au pair isn’t just about childcare; it’s about cultural exchange, and it’s quite a common practice in our country.

This French term means "on equal terms," highlighting the idea that au pairs become part of the family while they’re learning the language and helping out at the house.

It originated in Europe, but the tradition has spread worldwide. If you’ve ever met an au pair, you know they’re like a babysitter, language tutor, and cultural ambassador all rolled into one. Très international!

Image: Laura Gariglio

Chauffeur is a word that screams luxury, doesn’t it? Well, it’s more luxurious than saying "taxi driver." This French term originally meant "stoker," referring to the person who kept early steam-powered cars running.

Nowadays, it’s all about a nice ride and comfort, and even if it is more commonly used to talk about a private chauffeur, it can also describe public transport drivers. So, we can say we all have one, right?

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Whether you’re stuck on a crossword puzzle or facing a tricky decision, you might need an impasse. That is, take a break, breathe in, and face the fact that there’s no clear solution at that point.

This word is French for "dead end," which feels fitting when you’re going in circles, right? Thankfully, most impasses are temporary; give it time, and you’ll find a way forward. And hey, using a fancy word to describe your predicament might just make it feel a little less frustrating.

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Prêt-à-porter is fashion talk for clothes you can buy off the rack. Literally meaning "ready to wear," it’s the opposite of haute couture (also French), where outfits are custom-made.

This term gained popularity in the mid-20th century as fashion houses began offering stylish yet accessible options for the masses.

All the clothes we buy today are prêt-à-porter; who needs a tailor when the French have already thought of everything?

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If you’ve ever been to a hotel, you’ve met a concierge. Need dinner reservations, theater tickets, or directions to the best local café? They’ve got you covered.

The word itself comes from Old French, meaning "keeper of keys," which makes sense given their knack for unlocking great experiences. Don’t forget to tip them, and your stay will go smoothly!

Image: Nathanaël Desmeules

Ever get into a playful debate and have to admit your opponent made a zinger of a point? That’s when you drop a well-timed "touché."

Borrowed from fencing, where it means "touched," this French term signals that someone has landed a verbal hit. Kind of like saying "Mic-drop," you know? When you say it, you’re allowed to feel a little smug afterward; it’s all part of the fun.

Image: Nick Fewings

In French, chapeau means "hat," but it’s also a way of saying "well done" or "kudos." And if you’re wondering what these two concepts have to do with each other, think of the tip-of-the-cap gesture we do when we want to acknowledge someone’s effort or brilliance.

Like many other expressions, using the foreign version gives it an extra something, especially if it is a compliment! Plus, it’s fun to say. Try it out, and you’ll feel like you’re straight out of a Parisian café.

The name of the game

10 things that were named after their creators

It is common for discoveries and inventions to be named after their developers or discoverers, but some products are so common that we fail to recognize them as related to a person’s name. From hot tubs to writing systems, inventors and scientists have left their personal mark everywhere. Here are ten common things that are named after the mastermind behind them.

Did you know that "Jacuzzi" is a brand and not the name of this type of hot tub? Founded in the early 20th century by the Jacuzzi brothers, the manufacturing company was initially focused on aviation and agricultural pumps. In the 1950s, Candido, one of the brothers, designed a portable hydrotherapy pump to help with the treatment of his son, who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis.

After witnessing the child’s positive response to the treatment, Candido patented the invention, which became popular as a therapeutic aid first, and later as a spa device. In the late 1960s, Jacuzzi developed the first whirlpool bath, which used jets to mix air and water.

Though similar wooden wheels already existed (but were not common), this quintessential fair attraction as we know it was designed by engineer George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, as organizers wanted a feature that rivaled the 1889 Paris Expo’s Eiffel Tower.

Ferris designed a 264-foot-tall steel wheel (equivalent to a 25-story building), weighing over 2,000 tons, with 36 passenger cars. Each car could fit up to 60 people, meaning the ride could carry about 2,000 passengers at once.

The development of the telegraph in the 19th century revolutionized the speed and reach of communications, but what the best-suited code for it was was still an ongoing discussion. In the 1830s, Samuel Morse, Alfred Vail, and Joseph Henry developed their own electrical telegraph system and looked into developing a code based on "on and off" electrical pulses.

Morse developed a system around short and long pulses (dots and dashes) that his machine would transform into indentations onto a moving paper tape. In 1844, he sent the first Morse code message from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, which read "What hath God wrought?"

Tactile writing systems already existed before Louis Braille, a blind 15-year-old French student, developed his now-famous writing system in 1824, but they were not practical. Braille had learned to use the "night writing" code, based on 12 raised dots representing letters, but he realized that each cell or group of dots was too big to be felt at once with the fingertips.

Braille spent nine years developing a new system, based on the "night writing" code, with 6 dots per cell, which allowed for each "letter" to be encompassed at once. Today, the Braille system, virtually unchanged from its development, is one of the most widely used writing systems for the visually impaired.

Before "sandwich" was the name of a beloved snack or an easy lunch choice, it was a town in Kent, England, which gave its name to the Earldom of Sandwich. Eating food encompassed in bread is as old as humanity, but sandwiches didn’t receive their name, nor were they considered a category of their own, until the 18th century.

John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, was known for his love of cards and gaming. To avoid leaving the card table when feeling hungry, he had his servants bring him roast beef between two pieces of toasted bread, which eliminated the need for a fork and prevented the cards from getting greasy. The snack became popular in London attached to his name, and the rest is history.

As many women know, Pap smears are routinely used to detect precancerous or cancerous cells that could lead to cervical cancer, but what many might not know is that the test was originally called the "Papanicolaou test," and that is named after the couple who developed it.

George Papanicolaou was a Greek physician who, while studying the reproductive cycles of guinea pigs, came up with a way of identifying malignant cells with a microscope. His wife and assistant, Mary Papanicolaou, volunteered as a test subject, and after two decades of studies and investigation, the Papanicolaou test gained wide acceptance, becoming one of the main screening tests for cervical cancer.

If you ever saw a lab, you might have noticed an abundance of small, shallow circular containers, filled with samples. These are called "Petri dishes" and are used by scientists to grow microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. The dishes and their lids are transparent, so scientists can easily observe the samples or examine them under the microscope without disturbing them.

Why are they called "Petri" dishes? They were developed by a German physician named Julius Richard Petri, an assistant to the famous microbiologist Robert Koch. Petri observed that the glass plates covered by bell jars used in the lab allowed air and germs to contaminate the samples and made observation difficult. He designed a shallow, circular, two-part glass dish with a slightly larger lid that let oxygen in while keeping other bacteria out, and allowed for easy and close examination.

Unless you speak Spanish or are familiar with common Spanish nicknames, it might come as a surprise to know that one of America’s favourite snacks and a staple in Tex-Mex cuisine bears the name of a person. In this case, "Nacho," a common nickname for someone named "Ignacio."

These fried corn tortilla chips were invented by Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya, who worked at a restaurant in Coahuila, Mexico, near the U.S. border. A group of American tourists arrived after the kitchen had closed, but Anaya decided to improvise. He cut and fried corn tortillas, and topped them with melted cheese and jalapeños, a combination that surprised and delighted the guests. When asked about the name of the dish, he called it the "Nacho special."

Are you a boysenberry enthusiast? Did you know that boysenberries are not only a hybrid of 4 different berries (raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, and loganberries) but that they owe their name to their creator, Rudolph Boysen? However, the one to name them was Walter Knott, the farmer behind the famous "Knott’s Berry Farm."

Boysen had enlisted Knott’s help to cultivate this hybrid plant, but had ultimately abandoned the vines and sold his farm. Knott transplanted some plants to his own farm and started selling the large berries in his produce stand. The fruit quickly became popular, and when Knott was asked the name of the variety, he named them "boysenberries" as an homage to their developer.

What came first, the diesel fuel or the diesel engine? The answer is neither, as Rudolf Diesel, a German engineer and inventor, came first of all. As an engineering student in Munich, Diesel attended a lecture about the issues of steam engines, which motivated him to start developing a more efficient engine.

He developed an internal combustion engine, which used the heat of compressed air instead of a spark plug to ignite fuel. The engine was patented in 1892, and Diesel named it after himself. This engine used different types of fuel but, over time, it became obvious that a specific type of oil worked best. With time, this petroleum-based fuel also became known as "diesel".