{"id":29362,"date":"2017-11-22T20:24:44","date_gmt":"2017-11-22T19:24:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=29362"},"modified":"2017-11-22T20:24:44","modified_gmt":"2017-11-22T19:24:44","slug":"to-do-the-point-fun-french-expressions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/to-do-the-point-fun-french-expressions\/","title":{"rendered":"To Do The Point – Fun French Expressions"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are some expressions that can seem really strange. Whether it’s being known like le loup blanc<\/strong><\/a> (the white wolf)<\/em> or being sick as a dog<\/em><\/a>, there is a lot of colorful language that often goes unnoticed by les locuteurs natifs<\/strong> (native speakers).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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“Point<\/a>” by John Loo on Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.<\/p><\/div>\n

Il y a une expression fran\u00e7aise<\/strong> (there’s a French expression) that really confused me the first time I heard it. It is often said au bureau<\/strong><\/a> (at the office), at least if le bureau<\/strong> speaks French, but even outside of business l’expression<\/strong> is commoly used en France<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Faire le point<\/strong>
\nTo check in, to report on progress, to review (literally: to do the point)<\/em>
\n<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thinking in English<\/a> doesn’t help with this expression fran\u00e7aise<\/strong>, and even trying to find a special idiomatic meaning doesn’t really help. A point<\/em> or a dot<\/em> doesn’t have any ties to old stories like un loup<\/strong><\/a> (a wolf) does. I understood that it generally meant talking about what we were working on and worked as a way to set up general meetings, but I wanted to be sure and was curious where cette expression<\/strong> comes from so I looked it up.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Faire le point<\/strong> <\/em>is originally a sailing term that picked up its modern metaphorical meaning in the 20th century. Before modern technology un bon marin<\/strong> (a good sailor) had to know how to naviguer<\/a> la mer<\/strong> (navigate the sea) using whatever information was available. Finding a precise position becomes very difficult when you are far from land and only have the stars and une carte<\/a><\/strong> (a map).<\/p>\n

L’expression<\/a><\/strong> refers to this process of finding where exactly la navire<\/strong> (the ship) is with whatever information is available. Le point<\/strong> <\/em>being la position du navire<\/strong> (the position of the ship) and so doing le point <\/strong><\/em>means to calculer la position du navire<\/strong> (calculate the position of the ship).<\/p>\n

While this older definition is still used by les marins<\/strong> (sailors) today, it’s easy to see how the modern meaning came to refer to checking in<\/em> and finding out where everyone is on a project sharing whatever information everyone has gathered so far.<\/p>\n

There are always des nouvelles expressions<\/strong><\/a> (new expressions) that can be hard to understand in a new language. Heureusement<\/strong> (fortunately), it’s often easy to understand the general meaning of things through context, even if it takes a long time to learn how to write it<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

There are some expressions that can seem really strange. Whether it’s being known like le loup blanc (the white wolf) or being sick as a dog, there is a lot of colorful language that often goes unnoticed by les locuteurs natifs (native speakers).\u00a0 Il y a une expression fran\u00e7aise (there’s a French expression) that really…<\/p>\n

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