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French Phrases used in English

Guess these French words and phrases that are used in the English-speaking world.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: December 16, 2019
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First submittedMay 24, 2011
Times taken41,366
Average score50.0%
Rating4.27
5:00
Enter word or phrase here:
0
 / 22 guessed
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Clue
Answer
"Enjoy your meal!"
Bon Appétit
Limo driver
Chauffeur
Snails as food
Escargot
Young woman introduced
to society for the first time
Débutante
The illusion of having experienced
the same thing before
Déjà Vu
The wealthier class of commoners
Bourgeoisie
Dead-end of a street
Cul-de-sac
Goose liver
Foie Gras
On the contrary
Au Contraire
The newly rich
Nouveau Riche
The joy of life
Joie de Vivre
Clue
Answer
Artistic vanguard
Avant-Garde
Morale of the troops
Esprit de Corps
Thawing of political tensions,
such as in the Cold War
Détente
Military overthrow of the government
Coup d'état
"Hands-off" system of government
Laissez-Faire
Refers to separately-priced menu items
À la Carte
Dangerously charming woman
Femme Fatale
Lacking in social graces;
Literally "left"
Gauche
Wine steward
Sommelier
A fancy shindig
Soirée
Appetizer
Hors d'œuvre
+4
Level 59
Jun 19, 2014
What about "camaraderie" for "Morale of the troops"?
+1
Level 60
Jun 19, 2014
Rapprochement could also work for Detente: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rapprochement

I also tried aperitif for appetizer although it specifically refers to wine served as an appetizer.

+2
Level ∞
Jun 19, 2014
Yes, except that it was specifically referred to as détente during the Cold War.
+1
Level 50
Jun 20, 2014
Yes, I tried rapprochement too.
+5
Level 57
Jun 19, 2014
I'm French and I can say "esprit de corps" doesn't mean "morale of the troops" in English... It means rather "corporate spirit" .
+4
Level ∞
Jun 19, 2014
Yes, but in English it means "morale of the troops".
+3
Level 68
Jun 29, 2016
Morale and esprit de corps are definitely different things, although related. Also, the current meaning applies to businesses just as much as the armed forces. Morale is the collective emotional condition with regard to things like confidence, contentedness, optimistic outlook, etc. Esprit de corps has more to do with group identity, loyalty, camaraderie, pride, etc.
+5
Level 57
Mar 3, 2018
Reference?

Wiktionary defines it as we do in French:

"(idiomatic) A shared spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion to a cause among the members of a group, for example of a military unit."

+4
Level 69
Mar 13, 2019
Absolutely! Collins define it as "a feeling of loyalty and pride that is shared by the members of a group who consider themselves to be different from other people in some special way." Esprit de corps means exactly the same thing in both French and English, and it definitely does not mean "morale of the troups". This needs to be changed.
+3
Level 69
Dec 13, 2021
It really doesn't have anything to do with morale. It's closer to "team spirit", and in a military context could be strong in times of high or low morale.
+1
Level 75
Jun 20, 2014
I think it is more general, meaning feelings of loyalty, allegiance, devotion towards a particular group of people by the members of the group. Could be military troops, a sports team, a club, whatever.
+2
Level 78
Oct 12, 2020
The closest English phrase is team-spirit, in my opinion.
+1
Level 56
Aug 24, 2016
I'm pretty sure that 'cul-de-sac', which definitely means 'dead end' in England and the rest of the UK, although not necessarily the rest of the English speaking world, is also not used for this purpose in France, where it literally translates to 'arse of the bag' as a teacher once gleefully informed me in a school French lesson.

The quiz is not about translation, it's about common English use of French phrases, regardless of their literal meaning.

+5
Level 86
Sep 10, 2017
In french, "Cul-de-sac" means... "dead end" ;).
+2
Level 29
Jun 22, 2023
In France we say "Cul-de-Sac" or "Impasse" for a dead-end
+2
Level 37
Oct 11, 2017
You may be French, but you are taking a rather narrow view of the matter. Yes, it may have that meaning if your in the business world

but to the rest of us slobs, it merely means a feeling of fellowship shared by members of a particular (ANY particular) group.

+1
Level 83
Jun 19, 2014
12/22 I would have had 5 more if I could figure out how to spell things in French.
+3
Level 25
Jun 20, 2014
Knew all but one. Couldn't spell most of them.
+1
Level 78
Jun 21, 2014
Yes - got 22 out of 22 with 1:38 left on the clock, thank you for being forgiving of slight spelling errors on this one!
+1
Level 48
Jun 22, 2014
It should be laisser-faire, not laissez-faire which addresses the 2nd person.
+7
Level 38
Sep 27, 2019
It is definitely Laissez-faire in French.
+7
Level 78
Oct 12, 2020
Do your homework before "correcting" people. It is laissez-faire.
+2
Level 74
Mar 31, 2015
An hors d'oeuvre is not an appetizer, it's something served with the apéritif. The French word for an appetizer is entrée, and the English for the course served before the main dish is appetizer. Also, if you're going to say "the" newly rich, which implies plural, the French should be nouveaux-riches.
+3
Level ∞
Apr 1, 2015
This quiz isn't about proper French grammar. It's about the way the phrases are used in English.
+1
Level 75
Oct 18, 2016
There may be a limit to the way the phrases are used in English. I still laugh when I remember overhearing a man at a wedding reception ask a server if there were any more "horse doovers".
+1
Level 72
Feb 6, 2020
I am English and I spelt it nouveaux riches.
+2
Level 78
Oct 12, 2020
In that case Fad, you are spelling it wrongly.
+1
Level 79
Jan 26, 2023
In that vein I thought that canape or amuse bouche would have been more appropriate
+1
Level 82
Oct 4, 2016
you're lucky "entrée" is not on the list
+1
Level 78
Oct 12, 2020
dasubergeek, you are wrong with pretty much all of what you have said there.
+1
Level 34
Apr 21, 2015
Finally a word quiz that's not biased towards US players. More please! Only missed two and would have got those if the clues had been better. "Laissez faire" doesn't only apply to government, and "shindig" definitely bears no relation to a soirée.
+2
Level 66
Jan 14, 2019
How is it not? Unless you mean Us opposed to Uk. Because for non english speaking (native) people it is still hard. Most of these terms arent used in other countries.

PS not a complaint, but just pointing out that this quiz (obviously) is still in favour of englishspeaking countries.

I think we only have: chauffeur ( but we use it as driver in general like in busdriver it is bus chauffeur) dejavu, alacarte (but mainly in french restaurants so not sure if that counts..) femme fatale, though I havent really heard anyone say it. I think it saw it written somewhere once though. And I guess some say bon appetit.

+1
Level 72
Feb 6, 2020
And again there is no way I would have called a 'shindig' a 'soiree'
+1
Level 56
Sep 16, 2015
How about "coquette" for "a dangerously charming woman"? I guess a coquette isn't quite as dangerous...
+1
Level 37
May 22, 2017
a Cquette would be a flirt, n'est pas? Not a femme fatale, which conjures up something far more serious in my mind. Same goes for Entrée. It literally means begin with or or first, which would not translate into the main course, even in English.
+1
Level 56
Dec 16, 2016
why is there a picture of charles de gualle?
+1
Level 44
Dec 16, 2016
My spelling is awful. Foie Gras!
+3
Level 54
Jul 4, 2020
I had to look up the spelling - I thought it was fois gras.
+1
Level 69
Jan 23, 2017
you could add double entendre and rendez-vous
+1
Level 75
Sep 5, 2020
and 'bra'
+1
Level 70
Aug 30, 2017
I know a lot of allowances have been made, but do you think you could loosen the spelling just a little more? Like for newly rich, took me a while
+2
Level 75
Sep 5, 2020
They're French words - maybe don't go for quizzes with French words if you can't spell French words... (french words)
+3
Level 82
Sep 6, 2017
The French are horrible spellers
+1
Level 68
Nov 27, 2023
Cry
+1
Level 36
Jan 20, 2018
I kept putting in Petite Bourgeois, but it wasn't working.

The clue made it seem like they were richer than bourgeois

+1
Level 82
Jan 26, 2024
The bourgeoisie are richer than the petite bourgeoisie. Petite ("little") bourgeoisie would be like someone who owns and runs a single restaurant, whereas true bourgeoisie would be like someone who owns a chain of restaurants that are run for them by managers or franchisees.
+1
Level 76
Apr 17, 2018
Is anyone else having a déjà vu regarding not one French person you meet understanding what déjà vu means?
+1
Level 18
Apr 26, 2018
can you add col de sac for cul de sac?
+1
Level 55
Jun 14, 2018
anders, surely a cotillion is a dance??
+2
Level 61
Aug 31, 2018
I didn't even know what a shindig was... I thought it was an offence aimed at someone, like a kick in the shins :)
+1
Level 37
Oct 10, 2018
^ LOL! You're absolutely right! - It's a misnomer in any event. My first thought when seeing "Shindig" was "Fete". A soiree conjures something much more formal.
+1
Level 69
Dec 13, 2021
Fete is accepted now - it was my first thought also.
+1
Level 66
Jan 14, 2019
I thought it was a "house" like welcome to my shack, welcome to my shindig. I guess i thought that since there is an overlap. the party is at the house. ANd cool shindig when someone arrives at a party, when you dont know it he could ve meant nice place.
+4
Level 54
Jul 4, 2020
It would be nice if amuse-bouche, canape, or apertif worked for "appetizer".
+1
Level 75
Sep 5, 2020
I tried amuse bouche too
+2
Level 75
Sep 5, 2020
Grr I was left with so many hanging e's in this quiz...!
+1
Level 78
Oct 12, 2020
Thanks QM, it is a good, light-hearted fun quiz.
+2
Level 59
Nov 28, 2020
I think dead end of a street should be changed to circlular dead end of a street
+1
Level 73
Feb 7, 2021
It's almost like the French have a different word for everything.
+1
Level 76
Jun 8, 2022
Hors d'œuvre is literally impossible to spell even remotely correctly
+2
Level 42
Jul 2, 2022
it should accept "la joie de vivre" for the joy of life instead of only joie de vivre because of the word "the"
+1
Level 65
May 30, 2023
I know it's not how the word is used in the US, but could entrée be an acceptable answer for appetizer?

It's what came to mind first for me (Irish and British native English speaker), and once that was in my head it was more difficult to think of a different answer. In my experience, entrée is often used as another word for starter or appetizer in the UK or Ireland.

+2
Level 76
Dec 10, 2023
This quiz has a certain, as the French say, "I don't know what."