Tweedpipe

I agree DMU, the expression "c'est chouette" although still heard, has been largely overtaken by "c'est cool". But the former is now generally regarded as ringard; there was a cringe-worthy song in the early 80's entitled 'C'est super chouette', and I shouldn't be surprised if many of those 45's were used as frisbee's. Personally if I'd had one of those records I would have put it to use as a ball-trapp target years ago.
As for "J'y go", that is truly cringe-worthy! Hope Macron puts a ban on it's use........

Novocastrian

But... that's why you have l'Académie française.

Tweedpipe

.......and Jean D'Ormesson. He's brilliant! Never tire of listening to him.

patricialloydmorris

How do I meet all you fantastic English speaking ex pats? Moved to Begard in March and still can't find anyone who speaks English. Would love to meet up with other Brits, any suggestions please.

Patricia

dmu

Hi again, I'm afraid you've posted in the wrong section. But you've posted in a thread in the main section below, so will soon "meet" us all, at least virtually.
I would suggest asking at your Mairie for a list of Clubs and Associations and join a few - you'll make friends with similar interests and there may even be English-speaking ones!
P.S. For those who don't know, Bégard is in the Côtes d'Armor! (I had to look it up!)

patricialloydmorris

Hi sorry about posting in the wrong section, I'll try to do better next time. Thanks for the suggestions, apparently there are very few English speaking or ex pats in Begard. Which means I'll have to step up the French lessons.

Patricia

Tweedpipe

Broke out in a sweat for a second, I understood you were living with 'Bigard'.
For those who may not know, he's one of the best loved (or detested) French stand-up comics (+ actor), who tells the most evil jokes imaginable. Goes without saying - I like him!
To stay on topic of this 'useful French phrases' thread, seriously - it can be very useful to know a certain number of slang words, phrases and jokes, although I wouldn't especially recommended learning all those commonly used by Bigard. But for those advanced French speakers who wish to broaden their knowledge (and share evil jokes with rugby-playing friends or others in the local bistrot, check him out on YTube, XXXX rated - so at your own risk of course.
As an example, I've just posted one of his 'classics' in this forum's 'Bad Jokes' thread.

patricialloydmorris

That's what I love about ex pats, the sense of humour. I'd love to improve my vocabulary and slang words certainly would be very useful sometimes, especially down right rude ones!

Rob9422

Is that the same as : sling your hook

Rob9422

Ancient nautical phrase I think.

Tweedpipe

Which phrase are you referring to exactly?

FabRe

your phrases are not very positve, many others can be useful
- let me present you... : laissez moi vous présenter...
- I would like to visit / go to ... : j'airais visiter / aller �
- do you know a good restaurant ? : connaissez vous un bon restaurant ?

dmu

Hi and welcome to the France forum!
Sorry to be a nit-picker, but "I would like" is "Je voudrais". "J'irais visiter" is the conditional and means "I would visit" (if I were you/if I could...)

And "laissez-moi" and "connaissez-vous" take a hyphen!

Tweedpipe

Methinks you weren't paying enough attention during your French lessons......

dmu

Not really a useful French phrase, but I've just heard on French radio that some police activities are too "chronophages". Is this being linguistically pretentious? It's in Larousse, but OH has never heard it used. Thank goodness for Greek (and Latin) roots to understand some words nowadays!