Say Chic: A Collection of French Words We Can't Live Without

by Francoise Blanchard, Jeremy Leven

SAY CHIC ... C'est magnifique!Ever wonder why some French words have become so common in English as to be clichés ? Or why your witty repartee wouldn't be quite so witty without them?In Say Chic , Françoise Blanchard and Jeremy Leven collect more than seventy familiar French words and phrases that have become a permanent part of the American vocabulary. In their clever, often amusing style, the authors explain the origin of each word, its meaning, and how it came to be adopted into English. Uniting the sensibilities of an American author and a French author, these surprisingly entertaining stories combine world history, pop culture, etymology, and pithy observations about Americans and the French, with no small amount of panache .Featuring delightful illustrations, Say Chic will find its raison d'être on the bookshelf of anyone who has ever longed to be an American in Paris and hankers for a bit more of that irresistible je ne sais quoi in America.

144 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 10, 2007

About the author

A pseudonym of Francoise Choi - her novel "Say Chic" has been published under both names

Reviews

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great! Now I know how to pronounce those phrases that always pop up in my "academic" reading...coup de etat, coup de grace,
trompe l'oeil, chic (I said "chick," Spanish did not help me here).

[Priscila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Witty and entertaining. It's also great to learn the origin of french words we use in english.