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FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French Word of the Day: Hurluberlu

It looks like a random bunch of letters, but this French word is fun as well as useful.

French Word of the Day: Hurluberlu
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Why do I need to know hurluberlu?

As well as being fun to say, hurluberlu is a useful word that you can use to describe people.

What does it mean?

Hurluberlu – roughly pronounced urr-loob-err-lu – looks like a random mix of letters that make little sense. Fittingly for a weird-sounding word, un hurluberlu is a way to describe a ‘weirdo’, an ‘eccentric’ or an ‘oddball’.

Although no one knows exactly where the noun hurluberlu comes from, it does appear in works by 16th century writer François Rabelais, who was known for his creative use of words and even sometimes for just making them up.

Some also think it might be related to the English ‘hurly-burly’ (defined as ‘busy’ or ‘boisterous’), although the two words have completely different meanings. 

You might hear someone say Quel hurluberlu! (What a weirdo!) about someone they have seen or met.

Obviously, there’s no polite way to describe someone as an oddball, and calling someone un hurluberlu isn’t exactly a compliment, so it’s probably best to wait until the hurluberlu you want to describe is out of earshot, however the word itself is not vulgar or offensive. 

Depending on the gender of the person you want to describe hurluberlu can be spelled without an ‘e’ for male eccentrics (un hurluberlu) or with an ‘e’ (une hurluberlue) for female oddballs.

A good alternative is un type bizarre or une excentrique.

Use it like this

Marie est un peu écervelée, une hurluberlue quoi. — Marie is a bit of a scatterbrain, basically an oddball. 

Son copain est un hurluberlu, et à cause de ça ses parents sont inquiets. — Her boyfriend is strange, and because of that her parents are worried.

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FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French Word of the Day: Bolos

The perfect word for a politician or a footballer who has just done something stupid.

French Word of the Day: Bolos

Why do I need to know bolos?

Because, with elections pending and the Euros in full swing, there are a lot of people out there trying – and possibly failing – to impress you.

What does it mean?

Bolos – pronounced boh-loss, and sometimes spelled boloss, depending on which dictionary you have to hand – is an early 21st-century term for idiot or buffoon that has its origins in the illegal drug trade: where it was originally used as a derogatory term for customers, especially those who were easy to fool.

The etymology is hard to trace. Some have suggested links to Spanish slang, while others have suggested that it’s a verlan reference to discredited neurosurgical treatment the lobotomy – which has been shortened to ‘lobos’ in France. The verlanisation (that’s a word) is obvious.

As is often the case, such a modern slang term is now slightly outdated – but it can, and is, still used in derisory terms to describe someone who has just done something stupid. Right now, with elections and the Euros heading to the knockout phase, that could be politicians or footballers.

Use it like this

Il n’a pas eu son bac ? C’est trop un bolos ! – He didn’t get his baccalaureate? He’s such an idiot

Un bolos passe en coup de vent – an idiot blows by

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