Cops.whaL dld l [usL say?

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1he 7 m|stakes
you abso|ute|y don't want to be mak|ng
1he lrench Learnlng
1ool8ox
Maklng (a few) mlsLakes when speaklng ln a forelgn
language ls someLhlng compleLely normal. very
oen, Lhose mlsLakes are gender !"#$%"& (")*
#" +,-%.!" -/0%"$& ,1 #$ +,-%.!"2 or are Lhe resulL of a
bad con[ugauon. When converslng wlLh lrench
nauves, your mlsLakes wlll be pollLely correcLed and
Lhe conversauon wlll genLly go on.
Powever, some mlsLakes mlghL lnLerrupL Lhe ow
of Lhe conversauon and even cause some red
faces....lndeed, some pronunclauon mlsLakes or
wrong usage of a Lerm can compleLely change Lhe
meanlng of your senLence and creaLe some
awkward momenLs.
Pere are a few examples of very common 'gaes'
you really don'L wanL Lo be maklng.
Awkward? uld you say Awkward?
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!e suls chaude (for women) doesn'L
mean l feel hoL buL l am sexually
aroused...


1he correct sentence |s : I'a| chaud
(for both men and women)
- "l'm horny! "
- "ummm ok, dldn'L know Lhe heaL had such eecL on you."
lf you wanL Lo commenL on Lhe
weaLher and Lhe hoL LemperaLure,
agaln uslng a llLeral Lranslauon of
Lhe Lngllsh 'l'm hoL' ls noL a good
ldea
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- " l'm a babe! "
- " Well. yes you are buL l was [usL asklng you how you were. "

When belng asked how you are,
CommenL a va?', many learners Lend
Lo answer by uslng a llLeral Lranslauon
from Lngllsh 'l'm good'.
'!e suls blen' whlch ls lncorrecL buL
harmless buL anoLher answer could be
'!e suls bonne' (for women) whlch
doesn'L mean l'm good buL l am
sexually auracuve.
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1hls answer wlll probably be followed by
an awkward momenL of sllence..


1he correct sentence |s : Ie va|s b|en ou
a va
Colng on a hollday ls denlLely a
ume for relaxauon so lf you declde
Lo have a massage, make sure you
properly pronounce Lhe parLs of
Lhe body you would llke Lo geL
massaged.
- "l would llke an ass massage please. "
- " l'm sorry buL l'm gonna have Lo ask you Lo leave."

Ie voudra|s un massage du cou
( pronounced 'koo') meanlng l
would llke a neck massage. lf
mlspronounced, you could end
up sayl ng ' !e voudral s un
massage du cul (pronounced
'ku' ) meanlng l would llke an arse
massage!!!! ?ou mlghL [usL
be senL home wlLh no massage aL
all.
1he correct pronunc|anon for
neck |s koo
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lndeed, [oulr means Lo cllmax. lf you slmply
wanL Lo say LhaL you en[oyed someLhlng -
use Lhe verb 'almer'.

ou m|ght [ust want to say: Cu| ['a| a|m!
- "l had an orgasm"
- "WhaL? lL was an acuon movle dude!?! "
We wlll never say lL enough. LlLeral
Lranslauon oen does noL qulLe work,
worse, you could be saylng someLhlng very
dlerenL from whaL you are lnLendlng Lo.
When asked lf you have en[oyed someLhlng
( 1u as alme le lm?), you should noL use
Lhe verb [oulr ( llLeral Lranslauon for Lo
en[oy).

lf you reply by saylng, ['al [oul, you wlll
probably creaLe a very awkward sllence
wlLh people wonderlng whaL klnd of movle
you [usL waLched.
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?ou wlll probably spend a loL of ume
ln lrench resLauranLs and orderlng
your meal ln lrench would be a nlce
Louch Lo your lmmerslon experlence.

lor meaL lovers, lf you wlsh Lo Lry
some duck make sure you pronounce
lL Lhe rlghL way or you mlghL geL an
awkward smlle from Lhe walLer.

'!e vals prendre le connard' means l'm
gonna have Lhe schmuck.

1he correct pronunc|anon |s: 'Ie va|s
prendre |e cAnard' ( |'m gonna have
the duck)
- " l'm gonna have Lhe schmuck please"
- "Maybe you should have anoLher look aL Lhe menu."
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Al Lhough everyone wl l l sml l e aL you,
undersLandlng whaL you mean, you wlll feel as lf
you had sald someLhlng wrong.
Cuess whaL? ?ou dld!
LLre plelne means Lo be pregnanL buL Lhls
expresslon ls only used Lo Lalk abouL anlmal
pregnancy.

1o say I'm fu|| you may want to use :
Ie n'a| p|us fa|m (I'm not hungry anymore)
Ie su|s ca|ee ( I'm fu|| - s|ang)
- "l'm so pregnanL!"
- "CongraLulauons...Cary!?! "
?ou are slmng ln a beauuful resLauranL 8ue
MonLorguell and your lrench frlends are Lrylng
Lo LempL you wlLh a beauuful 1arLe 1aun buL
your sLomach ls abouL Lo explode.
Aer Lrylng Lo puL LogeLher your senLence ln your
head, you proudly look aL your frlends and say
!e suls pleln(e)" (l am full).
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uo you llke your food wlLhouL
preservauves?

Well, before golng shopplng or
headlng Lo a resLauranL, remember
noL Lo use Lhe word 'preservauf' as
you wlll be asklng for food wlLhouL
condoms". Cups!

1o avold any embarrasslng momenLs,
ou probab|y want to ask for food
sans conservateurs!

Cops.
- "?our [am ls dellclous, you probably haven'L used any condoms! "
- "ummm..we surely have a very dlerenL reclpe.."
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