7 English Words that Don’t Exist in French

Bonjour, The way I would say “anal” in French is “maniaque”.
A bientôt.

I have trouble distinguishing family in French. Parents verses relatives. Stepmother verses mother-in-law. Grandchildren verses little children. Mom verses mommy.

Other words I can never finds equivalents for are sibling, cupcake, to be excited, a drop-out, soccer mom.

I’m living in France and working with children – two words I’d like to use but that don’t seem to exist are ‘sensible’ (something we tell children to ‘be’ a lot of the time in England!) and ‘tantrum’, used as shorthand for describing an episode of hysterical angry behaviour from a child, usually stamping feet or lying on the floor! ‘Raisonable’ seems the closest word to sensible, but it’s still not quite the same I don’t think – I’m told that if you left a child for a moment you wouldn’t say ‘sois raisonable’ although perhaps it fits with the use of the word when speaking about (for example) trying to eat sensibly? (‘je vais être raisonable’) Would love to know if there’s a closer word for either of these!

The English word that I have not found in French is “block” to measure from street to street…”he lives five blocks from here.” The closest I can think of is “quelques pas d’ici” ou “quelques rues d’ici.”

I never get good suggestions for words that mean “yard” (the grassy space surrounding a house–sometimes enclosed by a fence but often not enclosed). There are front yards and backyards in the U.S. These spaces are not equivalent to “jardin” or “patio”, though they may include both garden and patio spaces. Another puzzler is the word “deck” (a wooden platform that serves as walk-out space behind a house for casual meals, sunbathing, or light entertaining at a level slightly or greatly higher than the “lawn” (pelouse?). Both yards and decks are common in the U.S. but I can’t find equivalents in French or Spanish. If someone has suitable translations for these words, please add a comment.

I don’t think there is a French word equivalent to “sibling(s)”. You have to say my brother(s) and sister(s).

Things get stranger with the term “rendez-vous” in the USA. To have a rendez-vous with your boss would mean something far different to a Frenchman than an American. People at the office would certainly talk.

Yes, I feel that “vanilla” can mean conventional. But I tend to use it as bland or boring/commonplace.

Coucou! What about the English word “sleepover”??? 🙂

Gaslight with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer is about a man who tries to make his wife appear insane. Every night he goes off saying he’s doing some work and then he sneaks in a window of a closed-off part of the house to look for some jewels that are rumored to still be there. When he gets in he turns on the gaslight causing all the lights in her part of the house to dim. No one acknowledges it so she thinks she’s imagining it all.

Hi Geraldine – great video as always!
Helicopter Parenting – as a native English speaker I had a different understanding of this phrase. I thought it referred to money-rich and time poor-parents who relied on others to perform most of their child-care. They just drop in on their children from time to time as and when they see fit – much in the way a helicopter can land anywhere at any time.