{"id":25962,"date":"2017-02-01T18:45:14","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T17:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=25962"},"modified":"2017-02-15T19:46:59","modified_gmt":"2017-02-15T18:46:59","slug":"is-a-french-kiss-really-french-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/is-a-french-kiss-really-french-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Are French Fries French? Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are words in English that use French<\/em> as an adjective, but is a French horn<\/em> really French? Do the French also call a French kiss<\/em> French? I started to wonder about this once when I was eating French fries<\/em> \u00e0 l’a\u00e9roport<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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French Fries<\/a> by Martin Jordan on Flickir. Licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.<\/p><\/div>\n

French Fries<\/h3>\n

Les frites<\/strong> are a type of fried food that can be found all around the world. In French they can be called les pommes de terre frites, les pommes frites<\/strong>, les patates<\/a> frites<\/strong>, or simply les frites<\/strong>. No matter how it\u2019s said they are never called French<\/em> in French!<\/p>\n

Alors pourquoi dit-on French fries<\/em> en anglais ?<\/strong>
\nThen why do we say French fries<\/em> in English?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It probably has to do with its origins in the French speaking parts of Europe. There is a controversy over whether les frites<\/strong> come from\u00a0 la Belgique<\/strong><\/a> or la France<\/strong>, but you can be pretty sure the French<\/em> in French fries<\/em> refers to its origins in la francophonie<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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French Wedding Kiss<\/a> by Chris Goldberg on Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.<\/p><\/div>\n

French Kiss<\/h3>\n

Un baiser amoureux<\/strong> is un baiser avec la langue <\/strong>(a kiss with tongue), often seen as a romantic kiss or un baiser profond<\/strong> (a deep kiss). The general association with l’amour<\/strong> (love) is probably why this particular type of baiser<\/strong> has become associated with France.<\/p>\n

In the past a French kiss was known as un baiser florentin<\/strong> (a Florentine kiss) in French. The French must have thought of la Florence<\/strong> the same way English speakers think of France today!<\/p>\n

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French Toast, Roommate Style<\/a> by kafka4prez on Flickr. Lincensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.<\/p><\/div>\n

French Toast<\/h3>\n

Le pain perdu<\/strong> is a breakfast food that mixes du pain<\/strong> (bread) with du lait et des <\/strong>\u0153ufs <\/strong>(milk and eggs). The French term pain perdu<\/strong> (litterally “lost bread”) <\/em>refers to how it\u2019s a way to use otherwise useless pain rassis<\/strong> (stale bread).<\/p>\n

Le pain perdu<\/strong> finds its origins in the Roman empire<\/a> with references to le mets<\/strong> (the food) as early as the 4th<\/sup> century!<\/p>\n

Another interesting note is how au Qu\u00e9bec<\/strong> French toast is known under a different name : le pain dor\u00e9<\/strong> (golden bread).<\/p>\n

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French Horn Besson<\/a> By BenP. Licensed under CC BY 2.5.<\/p><\/div>\n

French horn<\/h3>\n

Le cor d\u2019harmonie<\/strong> is un instrument \u00e0 vent<\/strong> (a wind instrument) and are not really French in origin.<\/p>\n

The name comes from the hunting horn or le cor de chasse <\/strong><\/em>as it was often called at the time. Les cors de chasse<\/strong> were largely manufactured in France when they started to gain more usage. This lead to them being associated with the country and gaining the French adjective.<\/p>\n

At least both French and English can agree that un cor anglais<\/strong> (an English horn) is English!<\/p>\n

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Haru In The French Press<\/a> by Christy on Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.<\/p><\/div>\n

French Press<\/h3>\n

La cafeti\u00e8re<\/strong> or more specifically la cafeti\u00e8re \u00e0 piston<\/strong> is a way to brew coffee using a mesh piston instead of un filter \u00e0 caf\u00e9<\/strong> (a coffee filter). After letting the coffee brew for a couple minutes you compress it by pushing down the mesh piston.<\/p>\n

In my experience most households do not even have une cafeti\u00e8re \u00e0 piston<\/strong>, opting more for either une machine \u00e0 caf\u00e9<\/strong> (a coffee machine) or une cafeti\u00e8re italienne<\/strong> (a moka pot).<\/p>\n

It can sometimes be a bit confusing when you ask for une cafiti\u00e8re<\/strong> as some French people may first think of une cafeti\u00e8re italienne<\/strong> before they think of une cafeti\u00e8re \u00e0 piston<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Classic French Braid<\/a> By Stilfehler. Licensed uner CC BY-SA 3.0.<\/p><\/div>\n

French Braid<\/h3>\n

La tesse fran\u00e7aise<\/strong> is une coiffure<\/strong> (a hair style) where you tresser les cheveux<\/strong> (braid hair). In simple terms la tresse fran\u00e7aise<\/strong> involves dividing the hair into trois parties<\/strong> (three parts) and then braiding it.<\/p>\n

The name comes from the fact that la coiffure<\/strong> originates from la France<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

The use of the word French<\/em> as an adjective in English can be fun, but can also lead to some silly mistakes<\/a>. A French person would be very confused if you asked for du pain grill\u00e9 fran\u00e7ais (litterally “French toast”)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Next week I\u2019ll take a look at a few more \u201cFrench\u201d words and even give an example of a “French” word that is used in French, but not in English:<\/p>\n