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Les nouveaux mots pour 2016 devoilés

Every year, new words are added to dictionaries around the world. Normally, these words are added due to new technological advances or cultural phenomena that describe what life is like in this new year.

In France, it’s not only verbs, adjectives, nouns, and adverbs that are added, but also proper names.

This is an honour that shows that a person has achieved a certain amount of fame and recognition. For 2016, the people to be included in French dictionaries are: the philosopher Bernard Henri-Lévy, the patissier Pierre Hermé, the French actor Pierre Richard, and the British actor Michael Caine.

According to this article, there are two requirements for inclusion in the popular French dictionaries, Le Petit Rousse and Le Petit Robert:

“Chaque nouvelle entrée a dû respecter, comme pour les éditions précédentes, l’un des deux critères suivants: être populaire et souvent repris dans les médias mais aussi être en rapport avec l’actualité sans risquer de disparaître rapidement.”

Here are some more words to be included for 2016 (some are self-explanatory):

selfie

vegan

boloss(e) (slang – an insult meaning that someone is silly or stupid)

baltringue (slang – a coward)

sape (slang – clothes)

And some expressions:

partir en cacahuète (“going peanuts,” means that something is going wrong/badly)

tendu comme un string (“tight as a string,” means someone is very stressed)

This article beautifully explains the importance of and the reason for the inclusion of some of these new words and expressions:

“Ces dictionnaires se veulent aussi le reflet de leur société, parfois même de l’actualité (c’est sans doute pourquoi Le Robert admet désormais le terme de "zadiste")"

"Ils suivent aussi une tendance, comme, par exemple la féminisation des noms. Au sein de ces rédactions du Larousse et du Robert qui se penchent chaque année, comme dans un conseil d’administration, sur l’utilité ou non d’intégrer un nouveau mot, on nous a affirmé que c’est suivre l’usage que de féminiser car il faut tenir compte du fait que de plus en plus de femmes accèdent aux postes traditionnellement tenus par des hommes"

"Tous deux utilisent ce qu’ils appellent une "banque de mots" tirés des journaux ou des livres, et leurs choix sont guidés par les relevés d’occurrences engrangés par leur observatoire de la langue française contemporaine”.

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Firstly, please send our thanks to your agent for spending the day with us and letting us pick her brains! The trip was a very useful exercise and well worth the effort, even though we didn’t find anything this time.

We let you know when we are coming over again.

Thanks Mick.

Cle France will guide YOU through the French Property Buying Process!

And as several of our clients say "Follow your heart and make the move"!

Europe is famous for how easy it is to travel en train. However, les trains are often more expensive than you would think!

Thankfully there are alternatives like le covoiturage (carpooling), and l’autocar (intercity bus).

Until recently it was difficult to take un bus over a long distance in France. However, private transportation companies have created des nouveaux réseaux (new networks) for les autocars with companies like Isilines and Flixbus, and it is now easy and affordable to travel from city to city en bus !

La loi Macron, which aims to open up France’s economy, is what allowed this change. Before la loi (the law), in order for a bus to legally travel through France, it had to be a part of an international route or be a part of la SNCF (la société nationale de chemins de fer français, The French National Railroad Company).

Ceci dit (that said) international bus travel has always been an option from France, even if le train or l’avion are more popular moyens de transport (transportation methods). Eurolines is une entreprise (a company) that focuses on international bus travel in Europe and has routes from and to nearly any city in Europe!

The downside is you have to be on un bus for a very, very, very long time. It’s an experience, but I would not recommend it unless you are willing to be cramped in a small seat for over a day.

The confusing part about all these moyens de transports is how many of them are des faux amis (false friends), and the similarities can easily lead to mistakes.

Un bus or un autobus is a normal city bus or bus that goes throughout le département, while un autocar or un car is an intercity bus that goes between far away cities or even in between countries.

On top of that, blab-la-car is a website that helps you find people willing to share leur voiture (their car)!

Un bus, un autobus 

A local (city or county) bus

Un car, un autocar 

An intercity bus

Blab-la-car 

Website for carpooling (le covoiturage) 

The easy way to remember the differences is that un bus is a normal bus you take to get around a city, un car is like a greyhound or route-master bus, and blab-la-car is about all the talking (blah blah) you have to do when carpooling.

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

If you’ve spent any time in France, you know very well that much of the music you hear will be in English – and it’s non censuré (uncensored), mind you. It’s also no secret that the French are proud of their language, and this is one of the reasons the government began imposing a law on radio stations starting back in 1994 requiring at least 40% of their songs played be in French. To comply with the laws but only play hits, some stations are playing the same 10 titles over and over, which can cover up to 75% of the required quota.

In September, some radio stations began a 24-hour boycott against the law. Fleur Pellerin, the current Ministre de la Culture et de la Communication (Minister of Culture and Communications), disagrees with the message the stations are trying to convey. They say it infringes on their broadcasting freedoms, but Fleur says playing more tracks won’t infringe on anyone’s “fundamental liberties.” The stations replied by saying the law isn’t applicable to streaming sites such as Pandora and Spotify, and du coup (as a result), these services now hold an unfair advantage.

The truth of the matter is, according to the radio stations, the production of French-language albums has dropped 66% between 2003 and 2014 as many of these artists prefer to branch out into a more international market. Stromae featured Kanye on a track and garnered exposure in the USA. Ariana Grande’s “One Last Time” received the French treatment when Kendji Girac released a French version called “Attends-moi” (Wait for Me). David Guetta has worked with countless artists. The list goes on and on!

Despite the drop in French-language albums, there are still some gems being produced. NRJ (pronounced like énergie, or energy) is a popular private radio station that first aired in 1981, and these days, you’ll find all the biggest and most current tubes (hits). The station also runs a yearly award show to recognise and honour the best in the music industry. Each category except Clip de l’année (Video of the Year) and DJ de l’année is separated into two branches: francophone and international. Each of the 13 categories has 5 options, and the winner is decided through an online vote and a selected NRJ jury.

The French know our music, but how well do you know their music? Below I’ve listed the francophone categories from the 2015 award show, the nominees, and the winners. Click any link to visit artist pages or hear the songs. Do you agree with the winners?

Les Palmarès (prize list) 

Winners are marked with an asterisk.

Artiste féminine française de l’année 

Christine and the Queens 

Cœur de pirate 

Indila 

*Shy’m

Artiste masculine française de l’année 

Black M 

Kendji Girac 

*M. Pokora 

Soprano

Révélation française de l’année 

Marina Kaye 

*Louane 

Nekfeu 

Lilian Renaud

Groupe / duo / troupe français de l’année 

Cats On Trees 

*Fréro Delavega 

La légende du Roi Arthur 

L.E.J.

Chanson française de l’année 

click the title to hear the song 

Christine – Christine and the Queens 

Avenir – Louane 

*Conmigo – Kendji Girac 

Homeless – Marina Kaye 

Est-ce que tu m’aimes ? – Maître Gims

DJ de l’année 

Avicii 

DJ Snake 

*David Guetta 

Calvin Harris 

ok, this is an international list, but I included it because of the French winner !

So, there you have it. The best of 2015 according to the NRJ jury and the online voters. What are your initial impressions to the music? J’avoue (I admit) it’s a little funny that the French song of the year is sprinkled with Spanish, and one of the other nominated songs is completely in English. Kinda makes that 40% even more difficult to reach.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Dear David and Sharon,

Just a quick line to thank you so much for helping us sell our little house in the Mayenne, we have had a great time over the last 10 years in France.

Your service has been so helpful and being quite shocked at how quickly you found a buyer for the property and putting us in touch with your currency partner, which also saved us a substantial amount of money.

All the best for the future.

Kind Regards, Steve and Pam.

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