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FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French Word of the Day: aïe

More of a sound than a word but still very common... although hopefully you won't need it too often.

Published: 25 April 2019 17:03 CEST

French Word of the Day: aïe

Photo: Depositphotos

Why do I need to know aïe?

Aïe is a sound you will hear a lot around France and it may be one that moves you to ask the person who utters it if they're ok.

One thing you can be sure of is that you definitely don't want to be in a position where you're saying it a lot.

So, what does it mean?

The action that goes with this word is a deep frown or perhaps even a wince of pain, because it is the French equivalent of 'ouch!' or 'ow!' in English.

So for example you might say: Aïe! Je me suis piqué le doigt. – Ow! I pricked my finger.

Or Aïe! Aïe! Aïe! Je viens de me couper. – Ouch! I just cut my finger.

It can also mean 'oh', 'oh dear', 'oh no' or 'oh my'.

In this case, you might say: Aïe! Que se passe-t-il? – Oh my! What's happening?

How is it pronounced?

This one's a little hard to put into words, but luckily here's an example of how to pronounce it online.

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: 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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