from pp. 272-275

allô hello (as in calling on the phone, or getting attention in a conversation). This French word is from English hello, more likely from its early variant hallo, without pronouncing h.

mandat mandate (n.) (cognate), official command; term of office; money order. To remember “term of office”, imagine the government official constantly issues administrative mandates in his term. Examples, un mandat de cinq ans (“a five-year term of office”); mandat d’arrêt (“arrest warrant”).

machin gadget, thingy, whatcha-ma-call-it, thingamabob, truc. Short from machine. But machine is fem. while machin is masc., as if changing gender to masculine makes the meaning fuzzy. This word is more frequent than truc. Example, tu me prêtes ce machin? (“can I borrow this thing from you?”, literally “you lend me this thing?”).

gâter to spoil (a child), to pamper; (reflexive) (said of food) to go bad. Cognate with waste and note the change of as to â in history. The w-g change is a rare case in which the initial consonant changed; for more information, see the entry for gâcher (“to spoil”, “to mess up”; note the difference in meaning). If you prefer a mnemonic, imagine a spoiled child grew up to become a gate keeper or security guard at the gate. Examples, un enfant gâté (“a spoiled child”); la viande se gâte / s’abîme vite (“the meat goes bad quickly”); le temps se gâte (“the weather is getting bad”). See also gâcher.

claque slap (n.), gifle; a group of people hired to applaud or boo at a show. Cognate with clack (clacking sound). Clapping hands as in an applause makes such sounds. The word in the second sense has entered English vocabulary.

abuser to do or use too much, to go too far, to be excessive (at); to take advantage of (someone), to exploit; to abuse (cognate), to misuse; to mislead. The first two meanings, different from the meaning of English abuse, are relatively common. Think of using too much of something as one bad way of using something. Examples, il abuse de l’alcool (“he binges on alcohol”); il abuse de / profite de sa naïveté (“he’s taking advantage of your naivety”).

lambeau shred (n.), scrap, rag. Cognate with label, lap (originally “loose part of a coat or garment”, but now “front upper part of leg when sitting”). A label is likened to a scrap. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “an amazing video of a Lamborghini literally shredded into pieces in a crash”. Example, mettre / tomber en lambeaux (“to tear / fall apart”).

jouissance enjoyment. From jouir (“to enjoy”). To remember the suffix-like ending -ssance, think of nous jouissons (“we enjoy”). See also jouir (“to enjoy”).

gerbe sheaf (of grain), bouquet (of flowers), bundle. Cognate with grab if traced to Proto-Indo-European. Or use a mnemonic such as “Gerber baby food for the bundle of joy”. If you know the genus of plant Gerbera, a.k.a African daisy, that would be the ideal mnemonic. Examples, une gerbe de blé (“a sheaf of wheat”); une gerbe de roses (“a spray / bouquet of roses”).

fourchette fork (utensil) (n.) (cognate). Pretend to pronounce ch as k (as in Christmas) to remember this word. Suffix -ette means “little”. Example, la fourchette et le couteau (“the fork and the knife”). See also fourche (“garden fork”, “pitchfork”).

chandail sweater, jumper, pull-over, pull. The word is a contraction from marchand d’ail (“garlic-seller”), referring to the sweater worn by the merchants in a food market in Paris. If you can’t think of the omitted mar-, use a mnemonic such as “a Chanel sweater”.

tricot knitting; knitwear. tricoter to knit. This word has entered English vocabulary. Etymology hardly helps; it’s cognate with strike. Use a mnemonic such as “knitting is tricky” or “knit a pattern of a tri-color French flag”. Examples, aiguille à tricoter (“knitting needle”); un tricot de corps (“an undershirt”); tricoter un chandail / un pull (“to knit a sweater”).

scolaire of school (adj.). Cognate with school. In spite of cognation, this word does not mean “scholar”, which would be érudit or savant in French. Examples, les vacances scolaires (“school holidays”); la rentrée scolaire (“return to school”, “beginning of the new school year”).

nain dwarf. Cognate with prefix nano- as in nanometer, nanotechnology. Prefix nano- means “very small”, or scientifically, “one billionth”. From Latin nanus, where -anus changed to -ain, just as Latin humanus changed to humain among other examples. Example, Blanche-Neige et les sept nains (“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”).

fosse pit (hole in the ground), hole; grave. Related to fossile (“fossil”), from which English fossil is derived. This word is fem. and should not be confused with the etymologically related fossé (“ditch”, masc.). To help remember which is which, as a mnemonic, note the one-syllable word fosse denotes a pit or hole which is a dot while the two-syllable word fossé a ditch which is a line. See also fossé.

croupe rump or buttocks of a horse; hill top. Cognate with croup (the same sense, not in the sense of “infection of the larynx and windpipe”). Or as a mnemonic, think of the shape of the top rear of a coupe model car. Example, il y a un vignoble sur la belle croupe (“there is a vineyard on the beautiful hilltop”; une belle croupe said of a person means “a nice butt / rump”). See also accroupir (“to crouch”, “to bend down”).

enseigne shop sign; conjugated form of enseigner (“to teach”). The root is cognate with sign, signal. Examples, enseigne lumineuse (“neon sign”); une grande enseigne (“a big brand”, figuratively).

affaler (reflexive) to drop, to sink, to slump, to slouch. The root is cognate with fall (as in fall down). Example, fatigué, il s’est affalé dans le fauteuil (“tired, he sank in the armchair”).

recroqueviller to curl up, to cower. The root, cognate with crook (“bend”, “turn”), is probably from croc (“hook”). Example, se recroqueviller sur soi-même (“to curl up on oneself”, “to cower in on oneself”). See also accrocher (“to hook”, “to hang”).

feutre felt (n.) (cognate); felt-tip pen. feutré felt-like; muted, muffled. From Old French feltre, where el later changed to eu. Also cognate with filter (filtre in French). Felt makes a good filter. Not to be confused with foutre (“to do”; “to fuck”). Examples, un chapeau de feutre (“a felt hat”); à pas feutrés (“quietly”, literally “in felt steps”; imagine you wear such footwear and walk, or a cat walking).

flamber to flame (cognate), to burn. French flamboyant (literally “flaming”) has entered English vocabulary.

platane planetree, sycamore. From Latin platanus (a genus including species such as sycamore). As a mnemonic, imagine planetrees grown on a plateau.

durcir to harden. Cognate with durable, with the root of endure. Example, la sécheresse durcit le sol (“drought hardens the soil”).

éventail fan (hand-held wind-inducing device); range, gamme. The root is cognate with vent, ventilate. Prefix é- means “out”, while suffix -ail means “device”, “tool”. Unrelated to event. Example, un éventail / une gamme de sujets (“a range of topics”).