Broken Wing (44 page)

Salut, mon vieux:
Hello, old friend.

Enchantée, mademoiselle:
Enchanted, miss.

Mon amour, chère amie
:
My love, dear friend.

À la victime:
In the style of a victim (refers to those who were guillotined during the revolution).

Entrée into the beau monde:
Entry into fashionable society.

Vingt-et-un:
Twenty-one (card game similar to and pre-dating blackjack).

Mon ami:
My friend (masculine).

Mon amie
(feminine).

Ancien régime:
The old order of pre-revolutionary France.

Bienvenue, mon frère:
Welcome, my brother.

Chevalier:
Literally a horseman or knight. A rank within the French nobility including members of families of ancient nobility, even when untitled.

Ma fois:
An exclamation of great surprise. My faith!

Oui, c’est moi:
Yes, it’s me.

J’y suis, j’y reste:
French saying ‘here I am, here I stay.

Et bien, mon frère:
All right, my brother.

Mais c’est charmant!:
But how charming!

A votre santé:
To your health (a toast).

Chacun à son gout:
Each according to his taste.

De rien, madame:
It is nothing, madame.

Touché:
Touched, a term from fencing, acknowledging a point was scored.

C’est la vie:
That’s life.

Congé:
Leave, permission to depart, term sometimes used in French and English when a lover has been discarded and told they aren’t wanted anymore.

Il faut d’argent:
Money is required, one must have money, it takes money.

Une vie manquée:
A misspent life.

À la bourgeois:
In the style of the middle classes, conventional etc.

Je ne sais quoi:
An indescribable something, I don’t know what.

Laissez faire:
Easy going, non interfering.

Sang-froid:
Cold blood, cold-blooded.

Affair d’amour:
Love affair.

C’est un embarras de richesses:
French expression “It’s an embarassment of riches”.

Croix de Dieu:
Cross of God! Sacrilegious French expression.

Affair d’honneur:
A matter of honour.

Noblesse oblige:
Expression meaning those in high positions are obliged to act responsibly.

Sou:
A penny.

Arriviste:
Social climber, a person with money but no ancient gentility.

Demimondaine:
Woman who lives on the fringes of society, a women of questionable repute.

Bon soir:
Good evening.

Pardonnez moi:
Excuse me, pardon me.

No, merci:
No thank you.

Je suis de trop:
French expression meaning I am one too many, superfluous, not needed, sometimes unwanted.

Sans pareille:
Matchless, without match, without parallel.

Nom de Dieu:
In God’s name, Name of God.

Mes enfants:
My children.

Je suis désolé:
I am sorry, desolate, heart broken.

Bouleversé:
Overwhelmed, staggered, deeply moved, bowled over, etc.

Grande passion:
Overwhelming passion, all consuming love affair.

Grande amour:
Great love, (a person) love of one’s life.

Latin words and phrases
Veni, vedi, vici:
I came, I saw, I conquered (attributed to Caesar)

Spanish
Querida:
My dear, my love.