英語中的外來詞（法語篇）
作者：滬江英語
2018-10-13 10:37
In some ways, English, French and German are almost like three brothers and sisters that grew up together. Each language influenced the other two languages in some ways, but one of the biggest influences on English was French.
從某種意義上來說，英語、法語和德語像共同成長的兄弟姐妹一樣。每種語言都在某種程度上影響了其他兩種語言。但影響英語最大的是法語。
In fact, from the 9th century until the 14th century, a form of French was even the “official” language in the courts of England! During those years, the common (non-royal) people spoke an older form of English, while the kings, queens and members of the court spoke French. And to make it more confusing, most documents were written in Latin.
事實上，從9世紀到14世紀，法語甚至是英國宮廷的官方語言！這期間，平民（非王室成員）說古英語，而國王、王后和宮廷成員說法語。而且更令人不解的是，大多數(shù)的文件是由拉丁文書寫的。
As you can imagine, there was a lot of mixing between those languages. So let’s look at some interesting English words that still “l(fā)ook French.”
你可以想象的到，這些語言之間產(chǎn)生了許多混合。所以我們來看看這些“看起來法式”的趣味英語單詞。
One more note: Be sure to listen to the pronunciations for these originally-French words. Many are probably said differently than you might expect!
要注意：聽清楚這些源自法語的詞匯發(fā)音。許多或許和你想象中的不太一樣。
1. Ballet
芭蕾
This is a form of dance that is popular throughout much of the world. Because this dancing style developed in France, many of the words that people use to talk about ballet also come from French. Non-ballet dancers would probably only know the words “ballerina” and “tutu” from that list, though.
這是一種在世界大部分地區(qū)很流行的舞蹈。因為這種舞蹈在法國發(fā)展起來，人們用來談論芭蕾的許多詞也來自法語。非芭蕾舞者或許只知道“芭蕾舞女演員”和“芭蕾舞裙”這些詞。
It’s important to note how the word “ballet” is pronounced. Here you don’t pronounce the “t” at the end. Instead, the second syllable should sound like “l(fā)ay,” with the same vowel sound as the letter “a.”
注意芭蕾是如何發(fā)音的很重要。末尾的t不發(fā)音，相反的，第二個音節(jié)的發(fā)音應該和lay相似，和字母a的發(fā)音相同。
That’s an interesting thing about some of these French loanwords: Some are pronounced like an English word, but others are pronounced more like in French.
一些法語外來詞很有意思：有些的發(fā)音像英語，而另一些發(fā)音更像法語。
Here are a few other examples of French loanwords that end in “-et” but are pronounced like an “a” at the end: “buffet,” “gourmet,” “filet,” “chalet” and even the car company “Chevrolet.”
還有一些其他的法語外來詞以-et結(jié)尾，但是發(fā)音像字母a，例如buffet（自助餐），gourmet（美食家），filet（肉片）和chalet（小木屋），還有汽車公司Chevrolet（雪佛蘭）。
例句：
My niece and nephew are in ballet class, so I watched their 5-hour ballet performance on Saturday. It was pretty long.
我的侄子和侄女在上芭蕾課，所以我周六看了他們五小時的芭蕾表演，真的很長。
2. Café
咖啡館，小餐館
In English, this is the name for a small, usually informal restaurant. It often has small tables, and sometimes there are also tables outside. It is written both with the accent mark (“café”) and without it (“cafe”) in English.
在英語中，這是小餐館的稱呼，通常是不太正式的餐廳。餐館里有小桌子，有時候外面也會有些桌子。在英語中書寫的時候可以加重音符，café，也可以不加重音符cafe。
“Cafe” comes from the French word for “coffee,” but it’s also very similar to other words related to coffee in many other languages. Usually, cafes do serve coffee. But if a place only serves coffee (and not any food), then it’s normally called a “coffee shop.”
cafe源于法語單詞咖啡coffee，但和許多其他語言中與咖啡相關(guān)的詞類似。通常，小餐館確實提供咖啡。但如果一個地方只提供咖啡，沒有任何食物，那通常會被稱為咖啡館。
Also note that there’s a similar word, “cafeteria,” that causes some confusion. Generally, a cafeteria is like a small restaurant that is for a specific group of people. You’ll often find cafeterias at schools or large companies. In those cases, the cafeterias are for the people who study or work in the building.
還要注意有一個相似的詞語，cafeteria（自助餐廳），這引起了一些混淆。通常來說，自助餐廳像是針對特定人群的小餐廳。你可以在學?；虼蠊菊业阶灾蛷d。這些情況下，自助餐廳是針對那些在此處學習或工作的人。
例句：
I’ve only got about 20 minutes for lunch, so I’ll just stop at a cafe for a quick sandwich.
我只有20分鐘吃午餐，所以我在小餐館很快吃個三明治就好了。
3. Croissant
羊角面包
Some of the most common (and best!) loanwords are related to food. That’s because many foods are closely connected to a particular culture, and other languages often don’t always have words for foods from other cultures.
一些最常見（而且最好）的外來詞都是和食物有關(guān)。那是因為許多種類的食物會和某種特定的文化緊密相連，而其他語言通常無法一直有特定的詞匯可以描述源于外國文化的食物。
A croissant is a type of pastry or bread that is light and flaky. “Flaky” means the croissant leaves lots of little crumbs on your plate when you eat it.
羊角面包是一種輕軟易碎的點心或面包。Flaky表示吃羊角面包時會殘留許多碎屑在盤子里。
A similar type of bread in English is a “crescent roll.” “Roll” is the name of a small piece of bread.
在英語中相似的面包種類是新月形面包。Roll是小面包的稱呼。
例句:
Tina really loves to make croissants because they taste better than other types of bread.
緹娜真的喜歡制作羊角面包，因為它們嘗起來比其他種類的面包更好。
4. Entrepreneur
企業(yè)家
This is definitely a word that you should hear pronounced, since it can be a little tricky even for native English speakers.
這肯定是一個你應該聽清楚發(fā)音的詞，因為對母語是英語的人來說，這個詞的發(fā)音有點難。
An entrepreneur is a person who starts their own company. Other common forms of the word include “entrepreneurship” (a noun) or “entrepreneurial” (an adjective).
企業(yè)家是一個自己開創(chuàng)的人。這個詞其他常見的形式包括“企業(yè)家精神”（名詞）或“企業(yè)家的”（形容詞）。
例句:
Elon Musk, the man who started SpaceX and Tesla Motors, is one of the most famous entrepreneurs in the world.
埃隆?馬斯克，SpaceX和特斯拉的創(chuàng)始人，是世界上最著名的企業(yè)家之一。
5. Faux pas
失禮，失態(tài)
This phrase describes making a social mistake.It has several silent letters, including the “x” and the “s.”
這個短語描述的是犯了社交錯誤。它有幾個不發(fā)音的字母，包括x和s。
If you make a faux pas, then the mistake usually isn’t very big and doesn’t hurt anyone physically, but it can make people uncomfortable.
如果你失禮了，那這個錯誤通常不大，而且不會傷害到別人的身體，但是會讓人們覺得不舒服。
例句:
I committed a pretty big faux pas last night. I kept trying to offer Maria beers, but I completely forgot that she stopped drinking alcohol three years ago!
我昨晚實在太失禮了。我一直試著給瑪利亞啤酒，但我完全忘記她三年前已經(jīng)戒酒了。
6. Genre
類型
In French, this word means “kind” or “style.”
在法語中，這個單詞表示“種類”或“類型”。
In English, it’s used to describe a category of something, especially when talking about entertainment. You’ll especially hear people using this word to talk about books, movies and music.
在英語中，它被用來描述某一類事物，尤其是談到娛樂活動的時候。你會聽到人們用這個詞來談論書籍、電影和音樂。
例句:
Roy likes many types of music, but his favorite genre is heavy metal.
羅伊喜歡許多類型的音樂，但他最喜歡的類型是重金屬樂。
7. Hors d’oeuvre
前菜
These are small bits of food that are served at special events, usually parties. They’re very similar to appetizers, but appetizers are usually served before a larger meal.
在特殊場合，通常是聚會中，會提供一些餐點零食。類似于開胃菜，但開胃菜通常在較為大型的宴席中提供。
In fact, the spelling is also very difficult. Most native English speakers generally only use it when speaking.
事實上，單詞的拼寫也很難。大多數(shù)的英語母語使用者通常只在說話的時候用到這個詞。
例句:
We were invited to Tina and Roy’s engagement party. We expected a big meal, but there were only hors d’oeuvres. That was okay, though, since we weren’t that hungry.
我們獲邀參加緹娜和羅伊的訂婚宴。我們期待一頓豐盛的餐點，但只有一些前菜。不過也可以，因為我們不是很餓。
8. Lingerie
女士內(nèi)衣
This is used to describe women’s underwear or sleepwear that is usually sexy or special in some way. It also has a tricky pronunciation.
用來描述女士的內(nèi)衣或睡衣，某種程度上比較性感和特別。它的發(fā)音也很刁鉆。
例句:
These days, before some women get married, their friends give them a “l(fā)ingerie shower.” That’s when the woman’s friends all get together and give her lingerie as a wedding gift.
如今，在一些女性結(jié)婚前，她們的朋友一個內(nèi)衣派對，那時朋友會聚集在一起，送給新娘一套內(nèi)衣作結(jié)婚禮物。
9. Renaissance
文藝復興
In French, this means “rebirth,” but in English it is often used to describe the historical period between 1300 and 1600 when art and science developed a lot.
在法語中，它表示重生，但是在英語中它經(jīng)常用來描述14世紀到17世紀那段藝術(shù)與科學飛速發(fā)展的歷史時期。
It can also be used to describe any time a person, company or country starts becoming popular again after a difficult period of time. As a funny note, some entertainment writers even described the “renaissance” of the actor Matthew McConaughey as a “Mcconaissance.”
它也可以用來描述一個人、公司或國家在一段艱難時期后重新變得受歡迎。有趣的一點是，有些娛樂記者甚至將馬修?麥康納的“復興”稱之為Mcconaissance。
例句:
I don’t know much about art, but I do know that Michelangelo and Raphael were two of the most famous artists from the Renaissance.
我對藝術(shù)了解不多，但我確實知道米開朗琪羅和拉斐爾是文藝復興時期最著名的兩個藝術(shù)家。
10. Rendezvous
約會，集合
In English, this word is used to describe either a place where people plan to meet, or the action of meeting a person at a specific time.
英語中，這個單詞用來描述人們計劃會面的地點，或者在特定的時間見某個人的行為。
例句:
We’re in a new city, and I’m sure you all want to explore it a bit. It’s 2:00 now, so let’s rendezvous back here at 6:00. Then we’ll go to dinner.
