I still think about that essay in the French Flair section of Canada’s MSN page that I mentioned in my previous post. I love what Jeremy Mercer says about the difference in the meaning of the word profit in French and English:
My favourite thing about Paris is the use of the word ‘profit.’ In North America, it’s a fiscal term related to making money. In Paris, profiter is a verb used to describe making the most of your life. Like, if you have an afternoon off, you ‘profit’ by having a nap, going to the beach, cooking a three-course meal with a few bottles of wine and then making love to your girlfriend. That is life.
Now how is it that I didn’t know this, despite having studied French for two years in high school? Okay, yeah, that doesn’t necessarily qualify me to fluency status, but it seems to be such a marked difference that really highlights the gulf that separates French and American culture that you’d think I’d pounce on that right away — even as a geeky high school student — and use it as an excuse to get on the first plane to France.
Anyhoo, I’m going to try and live in that spirit as much as I can, remembering that getting drunk on life’s pleasures — food, wine, sex, love, nature — can be done anywhere, whether one lives in Paris, Provence or Pittsburgh. (And I’m sure my dear husband will especially like the making love part!)
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There are many ‘faux amis’ in French…and believe you me, I have made my fair share of mistakes using them!
Exciter is one I used for a couple years. I used it wherever i use the word “excited”. Which is very often. Until someone was brave enough to tell me I was using the wrong word. In French “exciter” means to be aroused.
I think I was a deep shade of red for, oh, um, …EVER! lol
Some others I’ve used incorrectly in the past are:
Blesser=to hurt (I thought it was to bless)
Supporter=to put up with (thought it was to offer support)
There are so many others, but those are the top 3 I could think of off the top of my head.
I’m looking at my Merriam-Webster’s French-English dictionary right now, and the definition of profiter is thus:
1.-à: to be of benefit to.
2.-de: to take advantage of.
I’m disturbed that my American mind automatically assumed a fiduciary connotation. I’m going to pour myself a second glass of wine and cry in it.
I’m not sure I became aware of that usage until I lived in France. I especially hear it in the set phrase “Il faut en profiter..”
Bonjour, CC! Same with Spanish and their false cognates. I think the most notorious one is embarazada, which of course means “pregnant” but which many beginning Spanish students assume means “embarrassed.”
I can’t wait to begin taking French lessons again. I just saw this amazing movie this weekend that really sparked my desire to become fluent in the language.
Salut,
Marjorie
Randal,
And bien sur, follow it up with a champagne chaser. Although really, don’t waste perfectly good wine!
I’m shocked to look in my bookshelves and realize that I have Filipino-English, Spanish-English, and Swedish-English dictionaries, but no Francais! Weird.
Yes, I had the same surprise. I didn’t think that “profit” had any other connotation, although I guess there is that Biblical verse about a man profiting by gaining the whole world but losing his soul. But even that has a financial implication.
Salut,
Marjorie
Betty C., bonjour! I think I prefer the French usage. It seems more, uhm, human. Not to mention a heck of a lot more fun.
Salut,
Marjorie
I’m glad I’ve never used exciter when speaking in class! I know s’exciter means to get excited in the traditional way, yet it sounds the dirtier of the two! Faux amis me tueront !
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