137 - 10 Words a Day: French Words in English

It's story time! Welcome to a French coffee shop and fancy restaurant where you'll be introduced to a number of common French loanwords in English. A loanword is a words borrowed from a foreign language.American English is packed with French words; how do we pronounce them?  Well, I know a lot of you are saying we butcher them, that's okay (I don't disagree with you!) In general, the pronunciation of a words depends on how popular / common a word is. If a French word is common in American English, naturally, there's an expected way to pronounce it, even if it's not how it is pronounced normally in French. The goal of this episode is to teach you how we pronounce the common ones and what to do when you come across uncommon loanwords. Here is a sample of some of the words in today's episode. 

Patisserie

Croissants

Baguettes

Eclairs

Creme brulée

Soufflé

Crepes

Facade (less commonly spelled façade in English)

Chic

Faux pas

Maitre d’ (or also spelled maître d')

Sommelier

Connoisseur

Hors d'oeuvres (we say this word often and I guarantee most people can't spell it!)

Champagne 

Vinaigrette

Omelet (or also spelled omelette)

Faux

Cliché (less commonly spelled cliche in English)

Risqué

Chauffeur

Entrepreneur

Rendezvous

 À la mode (also spelled a la mode)

À la carte (also spelled a la carte)

C'est la vie

Déjà vu (also spelled deja vu)

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