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FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

Word of the day: Autodérision

This word is often used to describe a very British sense of humour.

Word of the day: Autodérision
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Why do I need to know autodérision?

Brits and Jewish Americans might be particularly fond of this, but it doesn’t always go down well in France.

What does it mean?

It might sound like you’re making fun of somebody’s car, since auto in French refers to everything related to driving, but the auto here means “self”. So autodérision means “self-mockery”, and labels the ability to laugh at one’s own expense. It’s usually written as autodérision but you will sometimes also see auto-dérision.

Self-deprecation is one of those subtle habits which doesn’t always translate well, and can lead to a fair amount of confusion when misinterpreted, so it’s useful to be able to label it.

The success of the England football team at Euro 2020 has put the concept back into the spotlight. People have accused England fans of arrogance for singing, “It’s coming home”. But others point out that the famous 1996 anthem Three Lions is making fun of the team’s lack of success over the years.

In a recent article about the chant, France Info said the song featured une pointe d’humour et d’auto-dérision à l’anglaise – a touch of English humour and self-deprecation.

During the 2018 World Cup, Le Monde wrote that English football fans were the champions de l’autodérision – champions of self-deprecation.

Autodérision may not be as common in France, but it is still seen as something public figures in particular should be capable of. The popular Netflix series Call My Agent! relies heavily on well-known actors playing capricious and unflattering versions of themselves.

READ ALSO REVEALED The French in-jokes from TV series Call My Agent

Autodérision is one of several French words and phrases using the prefix auto. Others include:

Auto-entrepreneur – a self-employed person

Auto-évaluation – self-assessment

Auto-stop – hitchhiking

Autodestructeur – self-destructive

Auto-dépistage – self-testing (Covid tests for use at home are autotests)

Use it like this

Quand on est célèbre, il faut être capable d’autodérision – When you’re famous, you need to be able to make fun of yourself.

L’homme politique a fait preuve d’autodérision – The politician engaged in self-deprecation.

L’humour britannique est plein d’autodérision – British humour is full of self-deprecation.

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FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French Word of the Day: Métropole

This French word might come up when learning about why France has 12 time zones.

French Word of the Day: Métropole

Why do I need to know métropole?

Because you might be curious about this distinction that is sometimes made before talking about France.

What does it mean?

Métropole – roughly pronounced may-troh-pole – translates as ‘metropolis’ in English. 

Most of the time, you will hear this word from public figures, local officials and the French press when discussing the urban area encompassing a city. As such, you could talk about la métropole de Bordeaux or la métropole de Lyon – this is a defined area that includes both the city and its suburbs or sometimes even a neighbouring town.

Explained: How French métropoles, départements and communes work

It is also the term used to distinguish mainland France from its overseas territories, as such you might hear people say la France métropolitaine, or just la Métropole. This is similar to how people might use L’Hexagone to refer to mainland France, which is sort of shaped like a hexagon.

You may hear people discuss the situation in la Métropole to draw comparisons with France’s overseas territories (referred to as les DOM, départements d’outre-mer), particularly when it comes to issues of inequality. 

Use it like this

Le taux de chômage est plus élevé dans les DOM qu’en métropole -The rate of unemployment is higher in the overseas territories than in mainland France.

Elle est de la métropole, elle n’a jamais visité la Martinique. – She is from mainland France, she has never visited Martinique.

La France métropolitaine n’a qu’un seul fuseau horaire, mais si l’on considère les territoires d’outre-mer, il y a 12 fuseaux horaires français. – Mainland France is only under one timezone, but when you consider the overseas territories there are 12 French time zones.

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