{"id":1999,"date":"2010-10-26T08:44:29","date_gmt":"2010-10-26T08:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=1999"},"modified":"2017-10-18T12:17:01","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T10:17:01","slug":"outdated-french-expressions-to-avoid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/outdated-french-expressions-to-avoid\/","title":{"rendered":"Outdated French Expressions to Avoid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Il y a quelques ann\u00e9es <\/em>(A few years ago), one of my very good old\u00a0American friends, who by the way will\u00a0have no hard time\u00a0recognizing herself when reading this,\u00a0went to France<\/strong> for the first time of her life, only to discover there\u00a0that\u00a0whenever she\u00a0used the\u00a0interjections<\/strong> she had painstakingly\u00a0learned\u00a0at her French class back in the States -expressions like\u00a0sacrebleu<\/strong> (not our “(sacr\u00e9s<\/em>) bleus<\/em><\/a><\/strong>“), “sacr\u00e9s chats<\/em><\/strong>“,\u00a0and “zut alors<\/em><\/strong>“- it immediately drew\u00a0around her a few\u00a0perplexed\u00a0stares, a\u00a0good deal of\u00a0half-concealed smiles,\u00a0and\u00a0even at times, she swore again and again,\u00a0a\u00a0non-negligible number\u00a0of\u00a0outright hysterical laughs!<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nVoil\u00e0 des<\/em> “Sacr\u00e9s Chats<\/em>” (“Holy Cats”, Will Bullas<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Est-ce bien vrai ? <\/em>(Is it really true?)<\/p>\n

Maybe\u00a0her somewhat\u00a0“conspicuous\u00a0American accent” -let’s put it this way-\u00a0had something to do with it? In all fairness, I don’t think so.
\n
\nMais alors, pourquoi ces r\u00e9actions ?\u00a0<\/em>(But why these reactions then?) She wondered.<\/p>\n

Tout simplement <\/em>(Simply)because most of these interjections and\u00a0expressions, as the French would say, “sont<\/strong> tomb\u00e9es en\u00a0d\u00e9su\u00e9tude<\/strong><\/em>“, or, if you will, “have grown very old”, or\u00a0“have done their time.”<\/p>\n

So\u00a0why are they still being taught\u00a0in your French class, you may be right to ask?<\/p>\n

Should these expressions be completely ignored when teaching the new generations of students\u00a0learning the\u00a0new\u00a0French of the 21st century<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Should we simply\u00a0expedite\u00a0these “vieilleries<\/em>”\u00a0(“oldies”)\u00a0on a one-way au revoir <\/em>ticket\u00a0to where they belong:\u00a0Le mus\u00e9e des archa\u00efsmes<\/strong>?<\/em><\/p>\n

The answer is:\u00a0Absolument pas<\/strong> ! <\/em>(Absolutely not!)<\/p>\n

Even though you are\u00a0more and more\u00a0unlikely to hear nowadays\u00a0anyone in Paris,\u00a0Marseille or Lyons\u00a0interject “Bigre !<\/strong><\/em>“, “Fichtre !<\/strong>“<\/em>\u00a0or “Saperlipopette<\/strong> !<\/strong><\/em>“, it is still important for anyone studying the French language to know them and what they mean, because\u00a0la langue <\/strong>fran\u00e7aise<\/strong> <\/em><\/em>is by far not limited to its\u00a0<\/strong>aspect familier<\/strong> <\/em>(colloquial aspect) in its daily\u00a0spoken form, like in the argot<\/strong><\/em><\/a>,\u00a0but also -what should be\u00a0seen as\u00a0paramount above all-\u00a0includes une<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>dimension intellectuelle<\/strong> <\/em>as well as\u00a0un<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>apport litt\u00e9raire et culturel<\/strong> <\/em>(a literary and cultural benefit.)<\/p>\n