An open list of 75 words by BrainyBabe.
- gite was added by BrainyBabe and appears on 3 other lists
- coq au vin was added by BrainyBabe and appears on 3 other lists
- dernier cri was added by BrainyBabe and appears on 14 other lists
- clique was added by whichbe and appears on 43 other lists
- hors d'œuvre was added by whichbe and appears on 1 other list
- touché was added by whichbe and appears on 30 other lists
- naïve was added by whichbe and appears on 27 other lists
- coquette was added by yarb and appears on 98 other lists
- bourgeois was added by yarb and appears on 86 other lists
- contretemps was added by yarb and appears on 82 other lists
- flâneur was added by yarb and appears on 32 other lists
- film noir was added by yarb and appears on 9 other lists
- risqué was added by yarb and appears on 28 other lists
- sobriquet was added by yarb and appears on 192 other lists
- parvenu was added by yarb and appears on 108 other lists
- sang-froid was added by yarb and appears on 60 other lists
- savoir-faire was added by yarb and appears on 18 other lists
- motif was added by yarb and appears on 49 other lists
- ingenue was added by yarb and appears on 80 other lists
- malaise was added by yarb and appears on 94 other lists
- embonpoint was added by yarb and appears on 52 other lists
- gauche was added by yarb and appears on 132 other lists
- mélange was added by yarb and appears on 18 other lists
- flambeau was added by yarb and appears on 14 other lists
- adieu was added by yarb and appears on 31 other lists
- trompe l'oeil was added by yarb and appears on 28 other lists
- laissez-faire was added by yarb and appears on 29 other lists
- coup d'état was added by yarb and appears on 5 other lists
- genre was added by yarb and appears on 47 other lists
- avant-garde was added by yarb and appears on 45 other lists
- encore was added by yarb and appears on 20 other lists
- ennui was added by yarb and appears on 400 other lists
- ménage à trois was added by yarb and appears on 13 other lists
- outré was added by yarb and appears on 25 other lists
- double entendre was added by yarb and appears on 18 other lists
- baguette was added by yarb and appears on 27 other lists
- folie à deux was added by yarb and appears on 13 other lists
- pied à terre was added by yarb and appears on 5 other lists
- rouge was added by yarb and appears on 35 other lists
- faux was added by yarb and appears on 53 other lists
- chateau was added by yarb and appears on 12 other lists
- bete noire was added by yarb and appears on 26 other lists
- mouton enragé was added by sionnach and appears on 6 other lists
- tête-à-tête was added by sionnach and appears on 16 other lists
- cause célébre was added by sionnach and appears on just this list
- maître d’ was added by sionnach and appears on just this list
- raison d’être was added by sionnach and appears on 7 other lists
- hors de combat was added by sionnach and appears on 11 other lists
- canard was added by sionnach and appears on 133 other lists
- legerdemain was added by sionnach and appears on 188 other lists
- idée fixe was added by sionnach and appears on 30 other lists
- bric-à-brac was added by sionnach and appears on 4 other lists
- vernissage was added by sionnach and appears on 20 other lists
- esprit de l'escalier was added by sionnach and appears on 14 other lists
- élan was added by rolig and appears on 56 other lists
- cachet was added by rolig and appears on 57 other lists
- entente was added by rolig and appears on 19 other lists
- détente was added by rolig and appears on 17 other lists
- billet-doux was added by rolig and appears on 38 other lists
- belles-lettres was added by rolig and appears on 12 other lists
- je ne sais quoi was added by rolig and appears on 44 other lists
- negligee was added by rolig and appears on 10 other lists
- entre nous was added by rolig and appears on 7 other lists
- en passant was added by rolig and appears on 16 other lists
- à la was added by rolig and appears on 5 other lists
- à la mode was added by rolig and appears on 6 other lists
- sans serif was added by rolig and appears on 4 other lists
- sans-culotte was added by rolig and appears on 5 other lists
- chic was added by rolig and appears on 50 other lists
- rendezvous was added by whichbe and appears on 81 other lists
- cri de cœur was added by rolig and appears on just this list
- sans souci was added by rolig and appears on 4 other lists
- belle epoque was added by BrainyBabe and appears on 2 other lists
- faux was added by pollyanna and appears on 53 other lists
- risque was added by whichbe and appears on 22 other lists
seanahan Looking up the etymologies, village is French and town is English, which is about what I expected here. Jan 1, 2009
BrainyBabe My intention was to gather words that are recognisably French, not those that have been fully digested and absorbed into colloquial English, as for instance "entrepreneur" has been. ("The problem with the French is that they have no word for entrepreneur.")
One sign of the word's relatively recent welcome into English would be, as with gite, that Anglophones make an effort to use French pronunciation. Dec 24, 2008
rolig I assume you are mainly interested in recent borrowings, from the last two hundred years or so, and not those that go back to the Norman Conquest, which would be a hefty chunk of the vocabulary of Modern English. Dec 24, 2008
taciturnyetprolix Is it fair to call them "loan" words? Is the anglophone world going to have to give these words back to the French, with interest? Dec 24, 2008
whichbe Oh, well, I don't remember where I got that from. Feel free to remove it. Dec 24, 2008
BrainyBabe "Village"? Really? I don't see it, myself. Dec 24, 2008