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FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French word of the day: People

Did you know that this word means something slightly different in France?

French word of the day: People
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Why do I need to know people?

Knowing people is good for your mental health since loneliness is… Oh, you mean why do you need to know the French word people? Well, to avoid misunderstandings like that.

What does it mean?

People in French is a false friend – a word which seems identical to an English term but which has a different meaning.

More specifically, it’s an example of the French adopting an English word but changing its meaning – another example is the word basket, which in French refers to a trainer or sneaker.

Because in French, the word people does refer to, well people, but only those in a specific category. Namely: celebrities.

It’s very often used in the phrase presse people, which refers to gossip magazines like Closer and Voici.

It leads to sentences which can sound funny to Anglophone ears, like this recent headline from local newspaper Sud Ouest: Bassin d’Arcachon : mais où sont passés les people ? (Arcachon Bay: where did all the celebrities go?)

Be sure to properly pronounce the L when using the word in French – it’s very occasionally written as pipole, which signals to native French speakers how to pronounce it phonetically.

Use it like this

En été, j’aime bien lire des magazines people à la plage – In the summer, I like reading gossip magazines at the beach

J’ai vu beaucoup de people pendant mes vacances à Cannes – I saw lots of celebrities while I was on holiday in Cannes.

J’aime pas la presse people, elle ne respecte pas la vie privée des gens – I don’t like gossip magazines, they don’t respect people’s private lives

Member comments

  1. “which refers to gossip magazines like Closer and Voici” and perhaps “People” magazine here in the US (LOL),

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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.

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