PUTT-PUTT

Being confined to home, we might as well translate a few golfing terms into French.

Vocabulary

une balle de golf:  a golf ball

un club de golf:  a golf club

une voiturette de golf:  a golf cart

un chariot de golf:  a caddy cart

des fers:  irons

un putter:  a putter

un driver:  a driving iron

un putting set:  a putting set

un tee:  a tee
faire un trou en un; un trou d'un coup:  to get a hole-in-one
un tournoi:  a tournament


©2020 P. B. Lecron

PAUSE AND THINK

Minute, papillon!

A Scarce Swallowtail or in French, le Flambé, poses on a cherry blossom in good friend Sylvia's garden in the south of France. Sylvia's photo brings to mind the French expression

"Minute, Papillon!" Although the origin of the term is not settled, it is contended that during WWII journalists from the Canard Enchaîné popularized the phrase. The story goes that they frequented a café next to their offices where a waiter named Papillon worked. Whenever they called out for him, he would respond, "Minute, j'arrive." Human nature being what it is, they nicknamed him Minute Papillon. Another possibility is that the term has been handed down over generations as a request for patience--to think before acting, in reference to the fact that a butterfly flits about and never settles on any one spot for a long time.

Vocabulary

un papillon:  a butterfly

une minute:  a minute

©2020 P. B. Lecron

A WORD TO THE WISE

Un bon conseil...

Even A French Education's mascot, Pompon, follows the government's confinement order to the letter.

You should, too! 

Expression

à la lettre:  to the letter, exactly, precisely

©2020 P. B. Lecron

LICKITY-SPLIT BUTTER

With some help from a Thermomix, a leading multifunction European kitchen appliance that is very popular in France, I--or should I say the machine and I--made some butter!

And in no time at all!

Vocabulary

à toute allure:  lickety-split

en un rien de temps:  in short order

Expression

Faire son beurre:  to enrich oneself  (literally to make one's butter)

©2020 P. B. Lecron

MON CHOU

A term of endearment

A fresh head of cabbage has never looked so good as it does today during the current pandemic confinement. Widely cultivated, the sturdy staple has inspired a number of expressions in the French language, the simplest of which is a term of endearment:  mon chou.

Expressions

mon chou:  sweetie, honey-pie, sugar

mon petit chou:  my little darling

un bout de chou:  a small child

être chou:  to be cute

être un chou:  to be nice, kind

être dans les choux:  to have failed at something

faire chou blanc:  to miss the mark; to draw a blank

faire ses choux gras:  to take advantage of or to profit from

Time to read

Immerse yourself or your child for a moment in an original French tale! Reading an illustrated children's story is a great way to jump-start the acquisition of a second language. If you're looking for something new, we suggest our latest story or conte, Le Lapin et l'Ornithorynque, written by my daughter, Marianne Lecron, and illustrated by myself. It and its English version, The Rabbit and the Platypus, are available on worldwide Amazon sites.

©2020 P. B. Lecron