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FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French Expression of the Day: Que dalle!

French people use it all the time and it's one of those snappy expressions that shows you've cracked it when it comes to speaking like a local. Plus its origin is pretty unusual.

French Expression of the Day: Que dalle!
Photo: Depositphotos
Why do I need to know que dalle?
 
You'll hear it all the time and unless you know what it means, it could be very confusing as the expression has nothing to do with the French word dalle meaning 'slab' (as in a slab of stone).
 
But once you know what que dalle means, you'll find using it very straightforward and it's an easy way to make your spoken French sound native.
 
What does it mean?
 
Que dalle is a French noun meaning 'nothing', 'very little' or 'not very much'. You can use it literally to mean 'nothing' or 'none', or in a more figurative way to mean a very small amount of something as in 'pittance' or 'peanuts'.
 
For example:
 
Qu'est-ce que tu as fais ce weekend? Que dalle. – 'What did you do this weekend? Nothing.'
 
Quelles sont tes perspectives de boulot? Que dalle. – 'What are your job prospects? I have none.'
 
Combien as couté ton repas? Que dalle. – 'How much did your meal cost? Peanuts.'
 
Where does it come from?
 
Que dalle has interesting origins. The expression is widely thought to come from the romani (the language spoken by Roma people) word 'dail' meaning nothing at all.
 
Surprisingly, a few dozen romani words have weaved their way into French slang, but out of them all, que dalle is by far the most commonly used. 
 
Some more examples:
 
Ton travail est bien payé? Non, que dalle – 'Is your work well paid? No, it pays very little.'
 
J'ai compris que dalle à son discours! – 'I didn't understand anything about his speech!'
 
Elles s'attendaient à un gros changement, mais finalement, il n'y a eu que dalle.  – 'They were expecting a big change, but in the end, nothing happened.'
 
For more French Expressions and French Words of the Day you can CLICK HERE to see our full list.
 

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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.

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