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English <--> French: Faux Amis! | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| AriD2385 Groupie United States Joined 4850 days ago 44 posts - 60 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 1 of 5 22 August 2011 at 3:51am | IP Logged | ||
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There is a good deal of apparently overlapping vocabulary in English and French. However, such things can be
deceiving as it is not safe to assume that the way a word is used in one language is the same in another. These words are "faux amis" and mistakes can and will happen. Here's one I've noted well: French: excité English: excited You can't use excited in French to express mere enthusiasm. It generally alludes to the influence of drugs or alcohol, or something sexual. There are many others, and here's a site that lists a few: http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/fauxamis.htm Which ones have you encountered? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Spiderkat Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5812 days ago 175 posts - 248 votes Speaks: French*, English Studies: Russian | Message 2 of 5 22 August 2011 at 6:25am | IP Logged | ||
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That's true. We use this word to express something sexual when some context alludes to such a situation. But we also use it to express a situation when someone is thrilled or impatient about something. We even use it to describe for instance a kid who can't stay still for a second. We actually have the saying "Excité comme une puce" which refers to this kind of situation. There's also the word surexcité meaning très excité.
And I don't see how it alludes to the influence of drugs or alcohol. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6011 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 3 of 5 22 August 2011 at 12:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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Remember: there are more true friends than false friends, so it's more productive to assume that they're real friends -- you'll quite quickly find out your mistake, and a minute's embarrassment every now and then is a small price to pay for a nice big vocabulary.
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| AriD2385 Groupie United States Joined 4850 days ago 44 posts - 60 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 4 of 5 22 August 2011 at 4:36pm | IP Logged | ||
The drugs or alcohol part was something that I was told by a French speaker. I couldn't vouch for it myself. But he may have meant something more like the type of jittery-ness that comes from too much caffeine. It's also mentioned on the website I listed. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 meramarina Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5967 days ago 1341 posts - 2303 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Italian, French Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 5 22 August 2011 at 7:29pm | IP Logged | ||
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There's no end of these French/English false friends just waiting to confuse the hapless language learner. When I started reading French newspapers and websites, I was confused when I saw ads for clubs and parties for célibataires.
The English word celibate describes someone who does not have sex. So of course, before I consulted my dictionary, I was extremely puzzled, and wondered why French people had parties and special nightclubs to celebrate the condition. Was this some strange cultural phenomenon? Do French speakers actually ask each other casually, "Are you celibate?" Because, really, if you have to ask, you shoudn't! But the word, in French, only means unmarried, and when I found out that these ads were just for singles' clubs and bachelor parties, I declared myself officially stupid. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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