Américain in France [Secret Life of an Expat]
After recently learning that the French term for brass knuckles is “an american fist,” I decided it was time to share my growing list of objects and ideas that involve the word américain. When you think about it, there are a good many American terms that involve the word french. The door swings both ways.
un sandwich américain - a sandwich with french fries in it, other contents vary by region
un poing américain - an american fist ... also known as brass knuckles
nuit américaine — american night ... the film technique that American filmmakers call "day for night"
un frigo américain - a fridge with freezer included, and ice maker (what a luxury!)
un filet américain - a specific type of steak tartare, the recipe is actually from Brussels
le quart d'heure américain - the american quarter hour .... a fifteen minute period at a party during which the music becomes suitably slow for dancing
la sauce américaine - I've mentioned this one before (click on the pic for that post), it's actually quite good, and apparently has a lobster base, though you can't taste it in the Heinz version
un plan américain - an american shot ... filmmaking term for a medium shot where (according to some sources but not verified in the big book of slang) the guns are showing
There’s also the apparently derogatory term “to be american” which means you spend lots of money. For example, I worked in a production house where a supervisor walked around saying “we are american” to a new guy who was impressed that they had actually bought the special computer set-up including fancy 3D monitor you need to digitally put video into 3D (the kind with the glasses). When I first heard it, I interpreted it as “we are well equipped to do the job properly” which I would consider a good thing, rather than “we spend copious amounts of money, we over-buy” which is a bad thing. I guess that’s just the americaine in me.
Does anyone know of any other French terms involving the word American? How about in other languages?
I know that in the UK they call those fridge freezer combos US as well.
In Canada, an American stop is when you roll through the stop sign, slowing down but not fully stopping. In the U.S. I’ve heard it referred to as a California stop.
haha love it — here the driving system involves very little stopping (in my opinion), but lots of rolling. I learned California stop too
Great blog! It has got to be sort of hilarious discovering these things!
But how sad to know that the truth of Americans spending a lot of money is our rep. I guess that’s better “we hate those idiots!!”
My old land lady in Santa Fe pointed out the French Drain which took the water from our downspout into the ground and commented – (as this was a land of spanish influence) “anything mildly perverse – we refer to as French!”
Somehow I never paid enough attention to pick up any “American” words in Japan. But I lived with a combination of 6 British, Canadian, Australian and Japanese roommates, both male and female. One day our water heater broke, and when my British roommate called, our apartment manager said that they’d get to it when they could. It might be a week or two.
Me: What!!!
Brit: I’m not happy about it either. But there doesn’t seem to be anything he can do about it.
Me: [already pulling out my cellphone] That’s unacceptable. I’m sure there’s got to be laws.
Brit: I don’t think there are in Japan.
What followed was me screaming at the apartment manager for like a straight 30 minutes about how we just weren’t going to give him our rent, because what are paying for if we can’t shower. It’s the middle of winter. Blah, blah, blah. Lots of f-bombs.
Our water heater was fixed in two days, even though, I think the Brit might have been right about there not being laws.
After that whenever the other apartment mates had a complaint, they’d ask me to relay it, because apparently, “Americans are so much better at complaining.”
They were only basing this opinion on me, but I can’t say that they’re not right about that.