Merde!: The Real French You Were Never Taught at School [Paperback]

Genevieve (Author), Michael Heath (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Written by "Genevieve," who is identified only as living in Switzerland, this humorous look at French argot claims to be a "survival guide to understanding everyday French as it is really spoken." While there is certainly much for the casual reader to enjoy and much for lovers of France to commit to memory, the book falls flat. The fun of learning slang in a foreign language is understanding the sometimes mystifying, often amusing, literal meanings of those expressions. For example, according to Genevieve, an innocent, naive person is a oie blanche, a white goose, and to make love in a slow, conventional way is faire l'amour a la papa, make love like dad. Unfortunately this guide only erratically provides such literal meanings, making the book of full value only to those whose French is in good shape already or who are willing to paw through a conventional dictionary while reading this.
Copyright 1986 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.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (December 9, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684854279
• ISBN-13: 978-0684854274
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #258,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Slang & Idioms
  • #15 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Etiquette > Conversation
  • #26 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > French

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Going to France to enjoy yourself? You need this book!, July 22, 1999

By 

Timo Elliott (San Jose, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Merde!: The Real French You Were Never Taught at School (Paperback)

When I first moved to Paris, I could barely speak a word of French (and had no job, and nowhere to stay, but that's another story), apart from a heavily-accented "une baguette de pain s'il vous plait Madame". And I can honestly say that this book was THE most useful thing I read -- indeed, it's the only book I pored over and learnt sections of by heart. Yes, speaking proper sentences and being polite and all that is all very useful, but if you really want to enjoy yourself, and get on with the locals, then this is the motherlode. Even if you only know two words of French, slipping a few well-chosen words like "bagnole", "boulot", and "flingue" (and the choicer swear words) into your conversation will break the ice, and impress your hosts, a LOT more than knowing the subjective pluperfect ever could. I eventually took "proper" French lessons at the Sorbonne, and had many arguments with my teacher about the relative merits of "correct" and "colloquial" French. For me, learning a language is about communicating, not about grammar, and this is the perfect place to start. To this day, I make sure that none of my friends or colleagues goes off to France for any period of time without a copy of this under their arm...

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Un truc d' ouf!, September 26, 2001

By 

Esquire (PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Merde!: The Real French You Were Never Taught at School (Paperback)

Despite some serious misgivings about perhaps in some way contributing to the sin of French slang spoken with an American accent, I must nevertheless praise Genevieve for her entertaining "p'tit bouquin." From my close contact with the Frenchies I've noticed that two ways to make an impression are: (1) achieve a perfect French accent, and (2) (easier) learn some slang. Even people fluent in school-taught French, who have read Moliere, Balzac and Proust in the original, cannot and will not understand much in French Films, TV etc. without a basic knowledge of French slang. It is much more present than in American English or in German. From the few books on this topic that I've come across, Genevieve's remains the best. She covers all the basics and throws in some witty remarks on French culture as well. Of course, one must first have a good background in French in order to eventually use the expressions here, especially since phonetic pronuciations are not given; without a certain level of proficiency one runs the risk of sounding like a foreign fool. But this book is also good precisely for figuring out when you've been called a fool (or something worse!) For those interested in expressions past the essentials, check out her other book: Merde Encore.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars tres utile!, April 23, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Merde!: The Real French You Were Never Taught at School (Paperback)

This book is an excellent source of words and expressions, of varying degrees of vulgarity, that are used all the time by french speakers. I used it often during the first of my two years in France. Its real value is not for those in French 101 but for those who already speak decent french and want to learn the expressions used every day by the young and some of the french media (magazines, movies etc). Translated literally many of these words might seem offensive (e.g., connard, encule, putain), yet as the book points out, many times these are the phrases you hear the most in the metro or cafes of France. It is important to realize that even though these words do not carry the same force as their English translations, one must still pay attention to the social context in order to aviod disrespectful "faux pas"!