Summer doesn’t just mean extreme heat! It also means finding fun ways to escape la canicule and profiter du soleil (enjoy the sun), often with a relaxing barbecue en terrasse (outside)!

“brochettes faites maison” by heroesbed on Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

I saw a tweet from Transparent Language about a word that had recently caused me some trouble:

Un barbeuc

I had recently heard le mot (the word) when un ami (a friend) invited me to un barbeuc. The only problem being I had no idea what un barbeuc actually was. I was too afraid to for an explanation and pretended to understand after I had been asked:

On va faire un barbeuc mercredi prochain, tu peux y aller ?
We’re having un barbeuc next Wednesday, can you come?

I agreed to go because I wanted to have fun with mes amis, but the mystery of le barbeuc remained.

I tried to use English to figure it out, but that didn’t work, and as the conversation continued it became pretty clear that I didn’t know what I was talking about.

Tu sais c’est quoi un barbeuc ?
Non… Pas vraiment…

Do you know what a barbeuc is?
No… not really…

After a round of laughter, mon ami said to me:

C’est un autre mot pour un barbecue !
It’s another word for barbecue!

I tried to act like I had known all along, but it was obvious I was lying. At least I knew I could bring de la bière (some beer) and it would be fine!

Voici un vocabulaire du barbeuc :

Le barbeuc – Barbecue
Le barbec – Barbecue
Le barbecue – Barbecue
Le hot dog – Hot dog
Le hamburger – Hamburger
Le cheeseburger – Cheeseburger
La brochette – Shish kebab
La sauce barbecue – Babecue sauce
La sauce piquante – Hot sauce
Le ketchup – Ketchup
La moutarde – Mustard
Le condiment – Relish
Le condiment – Condiment
Le condiment aux cornichons sucrés – Sweet pickle relish
Le gril – Grill
Le feu de camp – Bonfire
Le feu de joie – Bonfire
Les ailes de poulet – Chicken wings
Les côtes – Ribs
Les travers de porc – Spare ribs
La crevette – Shrimp
La saucisse – Sausage
Le saucisson – Dry sausage