It’s been a long month! Time to sleep it off. Happy Holidays everybody!
Xmas is a short version of the word Christmas. As Christmas actually means the mass of Christ, some people believe that the word Xmas is a means of removing the religious meaning from the word. However it appears that Xmas… Continue Reading →
One of the great things about the Christmas period is visiting and visitors. Family, friends, neighbours, people like to visit each other for drinks or meals, or maybe even just a wintry walk. Christmas day itself is usually reserved for… Continue Reading →
Mistletoe (du gui) is a plant often used as a decoration at Christmas time. It used to be considered as bringing good luck to the household and warding off evil spirits. Nowadays it is attached to the ceiling or to… Continue Reading →
Christmas ornaments (décorations de Noël) are everywhere at this time of year. In my house we used to make a lot of our ornaments and the best ones would be kept from year to year so that the house and… Continue Reading →
Have you ever seen a traditional English Christmas cake? It is usually decorated with white icing (glaçage) and may have little Christmas figures or decorations on it. Helping mums to make the Christmas cake was always an important time for… Continue Reading →
For sure, everybody knows Gin & Tonic. But do you know how it was invented? The British armies in India discovered that quinine could help prevent malaria (paludisme). They began adding quinine to tonic water but, to hide the horrible… Continue Reading →
Christmas Crackers (Papillote surprise en français) are a staple at the Christmas dinner table. They are pulled apart with a resounding « cracking » sound at the beginning of the meal and usually contain a small toy, a joke and a colourful… Continue Reading →
Advent (Avent en français) is the Christian period of waiting before the arrival of Jesus Christ. Traditionally Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas but people now tend to consider the 1st of December as the starting date.
A l’hôtel, le soir même du mariage, la mariée a été trouvé au lit avec le groom ! Shocking isn’t it? Well, maybe we shouldn’t « jump to conclusions ». En anglais « the groom » = « le marié » (ça peut être… Continue Reading →
Hier on m’a demandé « Comment tu traduirais le mot light ? », et comme souvent, j’ai répondu « c’est quoi le contexte ? ». Mes interlocuteurs ne se rendent pas toujours compte des problèmes potentiels d’une traduction sans contexte…. Continue Reading →
Aujourd’hui je vous explique les faux amis « injure » et « injure » ! En anglais « injure, injury, injured » parlent de blessure « to injure somebody/oneself », « to have an injury », « to be injured… Continue Reading →
Un petit conseil d’anglophone… si vous achetez un vêtement (ou autre objet) avec un slogan en anglais, vérifiez d’abord que cela veut vraiment dire quelque chose. Vu l’autre jour sur un t-shirt dans mon village « The life is what… Continue Reading →
Aujourd’hui nous parlons des Anciens. Vous arrivez en réunion dans un pays anglophone et tombez sur un ex-collègue un peu plus âgé que vous… content de le revoir, vous expliquez aux participants que « this is my ancient colleague ». Ils ont… Continue Reading →
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E – Evergreen
Evergreen (sempervirent ou feuillage persistant en français). The Christmas tree or fir tree is an Evergreen. This means that it remains green all year round. Trees that lose their leaves are known as deciduous.