chessfou Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Being less than 100% happy with the accuracy of my French pronunciation, I'm drawing up a list of those words I should probably try to avoid using. So far I have come up with:coeur (que..)coup (cu.)quand (co.)Which other camouflaged booby traps awaiting Anglophones have I failed to spot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Beware of mixing "pulpe" and "poulpe" or you could end up with an octopus in your orange juice instead of the fruity bits ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 eu as in "j'ai eu"vieillardMansle (the town in 16)That's just for starters. Will think up some more in a short while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnRoss Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 There are lots of faux-amis and two that have had me embarrassed are when I asked a chemist for artificial tears without a preservative in French and on another occasion when I said that the road had no soft verges, also in French. I will not repeat what I in fact said in French!........JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odile Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 avec un 'g' dans le sud!make sure you know the difference between your a...se and your neck/throat.My OH found it very difficult to say 'u' rather than 'ou'. first time he managed it was in VERY polite society dinner - he was asked how he was and he replied that he was fine apart from a very sore a..se (he did have a sore throat)! he will never make that mistake again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Definately sort your kissing out. The use of 'baisers' can get you into quite an interesting position.My written French is pants so it may be baiser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Âme Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Queue Cou Opposite ends of the anatomy. No wonder the cats hate being taken to the vet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 And when you say you are "enrhumé", be sure that you mean you have a cold and not that your pancake (crêpe) is en rhumé, that is with rum in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 [quote user="sweet 17"]And when you say you are "enrhumé", be sure that you mean you have a cold and not that your pancake (crêpe) is en rhumé, that is with rum in it.[/quote]The mind boggles [blink][blink]You'd say "crêpe au rhum" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Good fun, though, isn't it, Clair?I imagine a crêpe with snot in it!.......................................yuk!BTW, how are you feeling, are you guerie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 [quote user="sweet 17"]Good fun, though, isn't it, Clair?I imagine a crêpe with snot in it!.......................................yuk!BTW, how are you feeling, are you guerie?[/quote]Snotty pancake??????You English have strange recipes...[8-)] [;-)]Not guérie yet [:@]My voice can barely be called a voice any more... a croak, a whisper, a squeal even if my throat is dry [:-))]Pain on swallowing, cough, breathlessness...Do you think I need a doctor or should I struggle on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chessfou Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 Some of the ideas do not, to my mind, rank as really dangerous. Some of the others certainly do.cou (effectively a variation of coup but more dangerous IMHO)then there is the "backhand" un "revers" - what on earth do the French make of all those "grass verges" by the side of UK roads?and Stephen Clarke (A Year in the Merde or God Save la France) and the Parisian (15ème) street - la rue Eugène Gibez ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 A previous thread on the same topic: http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1060797/ShowPost.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chessfou Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 [quote]My OH found it very difficult to say 'u' rather than 'ou'[/quote]Yes, one of the standard Anglophone (so, me too) problems. Your example just goes to show that, even as one starts to get to grips with French phonemes, so the potential pitfalls may increase ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chessfou Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 [quote] A previous thread on the same topic[/quote]Not really - that was about "faux amis" while this is about the perils of pronunciation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 [quote user="chessfou"] that was about "faux amis" while this is about the perils of pronunciation.[/quote]Ooops! I linked to the wrong thread... (still unwell, my apologies [:$])That's the one: http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/558753/ShowPost.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 [quote user="Clair"][quote user="sweet 17"]Good fun, though, isn't it, Clair?I imagine a crêpe with snot in it!.......................................yuk!BTW, how are you feeling, are you guerie?[/quote]Snotty pancake??????You English have strange recipes...[8-)] [;-)]Not guérie yet [:@]My voice can barely be called a voice any more... a croak, a whisper, a squeal even if my throat is dry [:-))]Pain on swallowing, cough, breathlessness...Do you think I need a doctor or should I struggle on?[/quote]Clair, stay away from the doctor.You'd only catch something or other in their waiting-room.Have lots of rest, keep warm, take Doliprane or similar, drink some nice alcohol and you'd soon be guérie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Chess, just remembered one incident when I could easily have died a thousand deaths.Virtual friends on the forum who know me would know that I am mad keen on live concerts. So, you can imagine my excitement when a French lady was telling me about what I thought was a concert she'd been to in Bordeaux.Fortunately, for once I kept my big mouth shut and listened hard to see if she'd develop the conversation further. This was last year when we'd not long moved here.After a further couple of minutes, I realised she was telling me about her cancer treatment in Bordeaux. Concert and cancer.............phew, narrow escape there, I can tell you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 bouche andbucheDespite having my pronounciation regularly corrected by my neighbours, I still get it wrong and it still sends them in to hysterics. Think of the context - I'm usually trying to talk about logs!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbles Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 la plus belle and la poubelle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chessfou Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 [quote]bouche andbuche[/quote]Nice one (bûche = blockhead, clot, clod, lump as well as log) although probably not too dangerous (maybe one could "ramasser une bûche" with it)[quote]Ooops! I linked to the wrong thread... (still unwell, my apologies )That's the one: http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/558753/ShowPost.aspx[/quote]Ooh yes, that's more like it, I must definitely add:chattemoule (I didn't know that one - neither moules marinières nor moules frites will ever be the same! Aarggh, and what about une tarte aux moules, not to mention moules aux poireaux. Fortunately, I don't think I've ever seen the last two anywhere other than in a recipe book).Incidentally, not dangerous but the other day I was trying to think of "une lime" (pour limer pas pour ajouter à une boisson) and the word that kept popping into my head was "limace" ... my brain was definitely a bit sluggardly that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odile Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 for me it is the other way round! When I first met my OH, I told him that I still sucked my thumb - (I don't anymore!!) - but I got my 's' and 't' the wrong way round. He did wonder what a sumb was!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 ' habite' as in the joke about the ascenceur'tu mets ta main où t'habite'more seriously I have problems with making the difference between nasalised vowels, such astente/tante "démonte sa tente" could be misunderstood.vin/ventalthough down here it sounds more like veng et vang I can't do those either.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odile Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 not even in pu.......aing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre ZFP Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I can never get to grips with words that have a leading 'p' which would normally be silient in English (silent P as in swimming? [+o(] )My attempts at 'pneu hiver' send my French colleagues into gales of laughter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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