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FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French Word of the Day: La rentrée (is it that time already?)

Because today's the day.

French Word of the Day: La rentrée (is it that time already?)
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Why have we chosen la rentrée?

From news sites to adverts, this word is hard to escape at the moment. 

In France, la rentrée doesn’t only refer to a specific time of year, it is also something of a tradition and a cultural moment in France.

So, what does it mean?

La rentrée – pronounced lah ron-tray – literally means ‘the return’ and is the term used to mean the start of the school year and the return to work after the summer holidays during the first week of September.

But as you’ll know if you live in France, it takes on a greater sense of importance than the English translation might suggest. 

In France, with many people – especially those with children – taking three weeks off over the summer and with school children on holiday for a whopping two months during July and August, getting back to work after the break is a big deal.  

It is almost seen as a substitute for New Year and in France la rentrée is seen as a fresh beginning, which doesn’t only apply to school children – adults return to work, governments usually launch a new programme of policies and there’s a flurry of new books published.

Why ‘la rentrée’ means so much more in France than a new school year

La rentrée scolaire – the school return, traditionally on September 1st

La rentrée littéraire – the peak of the publishing year, as new books are published in September, hoping to catch the eye of the judges of France’s book prizes.

La rentrée politique – the restart of parliament after its summer break and the launching of new policy programmes 

Examples

La rentrée scolaire aura lieu début septembre – The start of the school year will take place at the beginning of September.

In headlines:

Les 100 choses à faire à Paris à la rentrée – One hundred things to do in Paris at the beginning of term.

Le coût de la rentrée scolaire de plus en plus cher – The cost of the start of the school year gets more and more expensive.

Bonne rentrée à tous !

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FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French Word of the Day: OKLM

This abbreviation might come up when chatting with a young French person.

French Word of the Day: OKLM

Why do I need to know OKLM?

Because you might have assumed this was just a typo.

What does it mean?

OKLM – is an abbreviation for the phrase ‘au calme’ and pronounced the same, so roughly “oh kalmm”.

Most of the time, the word calme refers to peace and tranquillity. After political tension or protests, you might hear a politician appel au calme (call for peace).

A person could also use it literally to say that they want to be in a quiet environment (ex. Je veux lire mon livre au calme, I want to read my book in peace and quiet).

However, in colloquial language, you might use it to describe a nonchalant activity. You can use it to refer to something as ‘no big deal’ or as a way to describe your own relaxed mood. 

A synonym might be tranquille.

As for the abbreviation OKLM, this came into popularity in 2012 and grew to greater heights in 2014 thanks to the French rapper Booba’s hit song titled OKLM.

After Booba’s song, the expression was very popular and it has fallen off a bit these days, but the abbreviation is still regularly used among young people when texting or chatting via social media. 

Use it like this

Non, je ne vais pas réviser, je vais juste passer l’examen OKLM.  – Nah, I’m not going to study, I’ll just take the test as is. No big deal.

Il n’y avait pas trop de bouchons. Nous sommes rentrés à la maison en moins d’une heure, OKLM. – Traffic wasn’t too bad. We made it home in under an hour, no biggie.

Je comprends que tu sois stressé, mais moi ? Je suis OKLM. – I get that you’re stressed, but me? I’m chilling.

On se retrouve à la gare à 10h? / OKLM – We’ll meet at the station at 10am? / Yep. All good.

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