Every weekday The Local publishes a French word or phrase of the day. We try to focus on colloquialisms, slang, sayings (and a bit of swearing) – the type of French you won’t learn in the classroom but will hear all the time in France.

This daily habit means we have a very extensive back catalogue – find it here – and we’ve picked out eight of our recent favourites.

Girouette

When a weather vane doesn’t necessarily mean what it apparently indicates.

Girouette – roughly pronounced gee-roo-ett – is the French word for a weather vane. It can be used, however, colloquially to describe someone who is inconsistent with their views or opinions. Changeable, like the wind, see..?

Read more, here. 

Il pleut comme vache qui pisse

Another weather-related one. Il pleut comme vache qui pisse – roughly pronounced as eel-plur-com-vash-key-pees – directly translates as “it’s raining like a pissing cow”. This phrase is therefore used to describe, or more aptly, complain about, very heavy or oppressive rainfall.

For obvious reasons, the word pisse (piss) may make this saying inappropriate to use on a work call, but it’s right at home in everyday conversation with friends or family members. As we explain…

Achète-toi une vie

Achète-toi une vie – roughly pronounced ah-shet wah oon vee – technically translates as ‘buy yourself a life’. 

If someone says this to you, then you have every right to be offended – it is the French equivalent of ‘get a life’.

Equally rude in both languages, this expression should be reserved for jokes or situations where you really want someone to leave you alone. We explain how to use it, here.

Zizanie

Here’s a good one – an activity so French that it’s been the title of both an Astérix book and a Louis de Funès film.

Une zizanie – roughly pronounced oon-ziz-a-nee – is usually translated as discord or argument but it’s not just a simple exchange of views, it’s more of a mass dispute or (verbal) brawl in which everyone is shouting at once and no-one is listening to anyone else. 

Use it when a Christmas family gathering gets overheated. Whether anyone hears it, however, is another question. There’s more about une zizanie, right here.

Culte

This is one of those ‘faux ami’ words that French and English share – you think you know what it means. But it goes ahead and fools you.

Culte, pronounced as you’d imagine, does not mean cult – exactly. At least not in the modern anglophone sense. In fact, it is defined in French as ‘religion’ generally. It can also mean ‘worship’ – or ‘homage, honour paid to God or beings deemed to be divine’.

For more information on the cult of culte, click here…

Pisse-froid

Definitely not safe for polite company, this insulting French phrase is pretty straightforward to translate directly, but ‘cold piss’ doesn’t necessarily give an indication of its definition. 

In fact, pisse-froid – roughly pronounced peace-fwahd – is the rough equivalent of the English expression ‘wet blanket’ or ‘killjoy’. 

To find out more about a phrase that has little to do with a full bladder in freezing temperatures, click here.

Écœurant

Not a word you want to hear from your French in-laws if you’ve spent ages slaving over a hot stove for a family meal, this. 

Écœurant – roughly pronounced ay-cure-ahn – is technically defined as something that “lifts the heart” (qui soulève le cœur), which might sound positive, but in reality it is referring to a different sensation altogether: heartburn.

Confusingly, however, sometimes this is good. So maybe you do want to hear it. But only in certain circumstances. Don’t worry, we explain, here.

Amateur

Amateur – roughly pronounced ah-mah-tur – is another ‘false friend’, meaning the English version is very different from the French even though the words look alike.

It is defined in French as “a person who has a marked or exclusive preference for a certain kind of thing”. It therefore has a totally different, and sometimes even opposite, meaning than the English version, which means that someone is unpaid or inexpert. 

The French version would more accurately translate as “fan”, “enthusiast” or even “connoisseur”. Definitely, a false friend… Find out more.

To see more French words of the Day, click here