A.W.A.D. - Words from Other Languages with Poor Pronunciation

with Anu Garg

The great humorist Mark Twain once said, "In Paris they simply stared when I spoke to them in French; I never did succeed in making those idiots understand their language." Well, that's the pitfall of learning a foreign language away from its natural habitat. We might become proficient in the grammar but there is never a certainty about the nuances of the language.

No matter. Some of the terms we borrow from French have now become part of the English language. They often help us convey a whole idea succinctly just in a word or two. This week we'll look at five of them.

A note about pronunciation: When we adopt words from other languages, we don't always adopt their pronunciations as well. So the pronunciation suggestions given with these words reflect how they're generally pronounced in English.
bon ton
PRONUNCIATION:(bon ton)
MEANING: noun:
1. Good form or style
2. Something regarded as fashionably right
3. High society

ETYMOLOGY: From French, literally, good tone

moue
PRONUNCIATION: (moo)
MEANING: noun: Pout; grimace

ETYMOLOGY: From French moue (pout), from Middle French moe

au fait
PRONUNCIATION: (o FAY)
MEANING: adjective: Being well-informed or skillful in something
ETYMOLOGY: From French, literally "to the fact", from Latin facere (to make or do)

clou
PRONUNCIATION: (kloo)
MEANING: noun: A major point of interest, or a central idea
ETYMOLOGY: From French clou (nail), from Latin (clavus)

pied-a-terre
PRONUNCIATION: (pee-ay-duh-TARE)
plural pieds-a-terre (pee-ay-duh-TARE)
MEANING: noun: A place of lodging for temporary or secondary use

ETYMOLOGY: From French pied-à-terre (foot on the ground)

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