Ever noticed some French phrases hidden among English words?

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It is well known that English (as well as other languages) borrows words and uses them later. What you might not know is that some current day words are pretty much French phrases. Here’s a list of a few of them:

Vinegar: It pretty much is “sour wine” n’est-ce pas? so, it makes sense that the words come from the French “Vine Aigre”.

Curfew: Actually goes back to a medieval regulation when the church would ring the bell to signal everybody that they should put out their fires. Therefore “Cover fire” or “Couvre Feu”.

Dandelion: Has petals that reminded (someone) of lions teeth. That’s where the word comes from “Dent de lion”.

A similar one is porcupine: The word comes from the description of the animal a “porc épine” (a spiky pig).

Denim: This very popular textile actually got the name from a 12th century southern French city known for textile manufactiring. “Denim” is “from Nimes” or in French, “de Nîmes”.

One of my favorite ones, however, is a mortgage: it basically is a pledge. If the loan can’t be paid, the lender gets the property, however, if the loan is paid off, the property is of the borrower. When either of those things happens, the pledge effectively “dies”. Therefore the mortgage is a “death pledge” or, in French “Mort Gage”.

And finally a well known one, the word Mayday: a distress signal for when you really need help. It comes from the French “Venez m’aider!” or “come help me”.

Interesting, huh?