Je Ne Sais What?: A Guide to de rigueur Frenglish for Readers, Writers, and Speakers [Mass Market Paperback]

Jon Winokur (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1996

Countless apt locutions from French have entered the English language, some becoming everyday phrases, others tossed around recklessly by film critics and gourmets. Until now there hasn't been a single handy source a non-French speaker could turn to for explanation - or riposte. In Je Ne Sais What? Jon Winokur, author of The Portable Curmudgeon, explores the French expressions, maxims, and literary allusions that grace English. With his customary finesse, Winokur offers definitions and often brief etymological notes and illustrative quotations for such Gallicisms as cherchez la femme, savoir vivre, nom de guerre, demi-monde, sang froid, and c'est la vie. Unlike Franglais, the hybrid of French and English which has the French Academy in a furor over phrases like les chicken nuggets, Frenglish, as Winokur defines it, is grammatically correct French that enriches English discourse. A nonpareil companion to Eugene Ehrlich's Amo, Amas Amat and More, which helped make Latin a living language once more, Je Ne Sais What? is both a practical reference and a word lover's bon ami. The perfect browsing antidote to ennui, the perfect gift for Francophiles, armchair linguists, and crossword addicts, this delightful guide to the language of love, fashion, food, and diplomacy explains the French everyone uses but few fully understand.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Do you feel that your vocabulary is too passe and wish it displayed more elan? Winokur (The Portable Curmudgeon, LJ 6/1/92) has compiled a dictionary of French expressions that have become common to everyday English. The text includes pronunciation guides, definitions, a brief list of place names, and, frequently, the origin of the work and an example of its use in a quotation. Winokur also offers an explanation of the difference between Franglais, a hybrid of French and English (e.g., le drug store and le blue-jeans, terminology that deeply chagrins the Academie Francaise), and Frenglish, French words and phrases that have been readily absorbed, untainted, into the English language. This title will be helpful to serious writers and speakers. Recommended for public libraries.
Cathy Sabol, Northern Virginia Community Coll., Manassas
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English, French --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 162 pages
• Publisher: Plume (October 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452272009
• ISBN-13: 978-0452272002
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,649,683 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and Fun, May 23, 2000

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This review is from: Je Ne Sais What?: A Guide to de rigueur Frenglish for Readers, Writers, and Speakers (Mass Market Paperback)

Any devotee of the French language will enjoy this book. There's an alphabetical list of French expressions that have crept into the English language. I can't say I had heard of all of them before reading the book but, in several cases, the author includes a blurb in which the expression has been used, often a rather esoteric review in the arts. There's an interesting piece on the opposite phenomenon, the dreaded fear of franglais and the attempts to eradicate all remnants of English in the French language (an impossible task). The book is very amusing...a quick read that you can come back to from time to time.