

in the south of France might be dépaysant, or giving new friends the bise (greeting them by kissing on the cheek).Īs strange as this may seem, dépaysant is actually usually used with a positive sense. It’s the feeling you get when you’re in a new place and experiencing very new things that make you feel foreign, out of sorts and strange. Seasoned travelers have likely felt the effects of this ailment of the spirit without even knowing it!ĭépaysant, directly translated, means “un-country-ing.” A strange word, to say the least, but one that expresses a sentiment similar to homesickness. You can take not just one new piece of vocabulary from this, but three, because the flexibility of the French language means that the verb caoutchouter equals “to coat with rubber” and the adjective caoutchoutifère equals “rubber-producing.” Now that descriptive word would normally apply to trees, but see if you can shoehorn it into another sentence! 2. Caoutchouc comes from the native South American language Quechua and its word kawchu. Indeed English is the “odd one out” when it comes to this word, because the German Kautschuk and the Spanish caucho have the same origins. This rather extraordinary-looking word means “rubber,” as in the bendy substance we get from trees, and actually has a fairly straightforward history. (Download) 20 Weird French Words You Won’t Believe Exist 1.
#Obscure words starting with l pdf
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that youĬlick here to get a copy. Try using them in day-to-day conversation!
#Obscure words starting with l full
However you choose to look at it, though, some languages are just full of words that can seem strange to a non-native speaker, and French is no exception.Īdvanced learners may be amused to learn some of these words, and anyone with an interest in French will see how some of these words aren’t the cognates their spellings may have you believe they are at first glance. Linguists remain at odds as to whether the language we speak influences how we think or vice versa. Other languages have words for concepts we’ve never even thought of. They say that Innuit have hundreds of words for snow. By Elisabeth Cook, Emily Monaco, nicole and tyler Last updated:Ģ0 Weird French Words You Won’t Believe Exist!
