SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French Word of the Day: Tanguy

An increasing number of young adults are members of the 'Tanguy' generation.

French Word of the Day: Tanguy
French Word of the Day: Tanguy (Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash)

Why do I need to know Tanguy?

It’s a pop-culture reference to grown-up children who still live in the family home.

What does it mean?

Tanguy – pronounced ton-gee – is, in reality, a boy’s name. But, following the success of the 2001 film Tanguy, it has been co-opted to describe grown-up children who are slow to leave the family home, and the growing frustration of their parents.

In the film, the eponymous well-educated and working 28-year-old insists on staying in the family home, despite having the financial wherewithal to move out, to the dismay and increasing annoyance of his parents – with his mother desperately hiding murderous thoughts towards her child.

The film gave rise to the term phénomène Tanguy (Tanguy phenomenon), and to an expression to describe the age group of these young people: la génération Tanguy (Tanguy generation).

In 2019, a sequel, Tanguy, Le Retour, revisited the family home – as the title character returns home 16 years later with his daughter, after his wife leaves him.

Use it like this

Mon fils est un Tanguy: il a 28 ans ans, est célibataire et vit toujours chez moi –  My son is a Tanguy: he is 28, single and still lives at my house.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French Word of the Day: Flipper

This French word does not have anything to do with marine mammals.

French Word of the Day: Flipper

Why do I need to know flipper?

Because this anglicism is used a bit differently in French than it would be in English.

What does it mean?

Flipper – roughly pronounced flea-pay – is a colloquial French term and these days it means to be upset or overly anxious. People often use it similarly to the English expression ‘to freak out’.

As you may have expected, the term is an anglicism, and it comes from the English word ‘to flip’. 

However, in French it does not mean to literally flip something over – you would use renverser for that. It comes from a different usage of the word ‘flip’, more in line with ‘losing one’s head’.

The word started being popular in France in the 1970s, and at that time it was almost exclusively used to describe the experience of ‘freaking out’ or having a bad trip after taking LSD or other hallucinogenic drugs, according to Le Figaro.

Over time, it started to refer to the period of depression many people experience after feelings of euphoria when high, as well as the anxiety that one might feel due to withdrawal. 

Nowadays, people mainly use it to refer to any irrational response. You can also call something flippant (shocking).

A more formal synonym for flipper might be paniquer.

And if you find yourself in an arcade, you may hear the word a few times, as flipper is also the French term for a pinball machine.

Use it like this

Arrête de flipper, on va être à l’heure.  – Stop freaking out, we’re going to be on time.

Les résultats des élections m’ont vraiment fait flipper. Mes amis n’ont pas été surpris pour autant. – The results of the election really freaked me out. My friends weren’t surprised though.

J’ai flippé en regardant le film d’horreur. – I freaked out when I was watching the horror movie.

SHOW COMMENTS