Other uses: In French, c’est la vie isn’t always a fatalistic expression. It can also be used to talk about a necessity of life or a way of life. Par exemple… Le pain, c’est la vie. Bread is life. C’est la vie conjugale. That’s married life (for you). Simplicité, c...
Such Is Life; the French and Their Gun Laws
While you might have guessed the literal meaning of this expression, the reality that it expresses might not be so clear at first.If you hear this expression, someone is probably describing being in a bad mood or describing someone else who’s sulking. If you hear it in relation to yourse...
But under the same circumstances, I’ve seen many French people shrug and say C’est la vie (such is life) – or some variation of that. C’est la vie is an expression you might have heard, too, even outside of your French lessons or travels. It’s one of those terms that’s ...
Today's column is in French and English and is written by Barbara (who tells me, regarding yesterday's story, that the French do have an equivalent expression for "bird bath"... "Une toilette de chat"--"a cat's lick" means to: "se laver d'une façon succinte, au lavabo par ex...
of the French language has declined steadily since World War II, with the rise of American markethegemonyand, especially, with the rapid spread of decolonization. French is still, however, the preferred medium of creative expression for many inSwitzerland,Belgium,Canada, France’s former colonies ...
was to dominate his life for the next 20 years. Jeanne would inspire Baudelaire’s most anguished and sensual love poetry, her perfume and, above all, her magnificent flowing black hair provoking such masterpieces of the exotic-erotic imagination as “La Chevelure” (“The Head of Hair”). ...
like so many French words. It had a pleasant ring to it though, sounding almost like ‘polished’ to my English ears. Given his teacher’s expression I sensed it was no compliment but it was hard to be sure. Marie-Dominique had been blessed by nature but ruined by life. She wore a ...
have avoided if her private life had been more satisfactory. Her mostintimatefriend from this time onward was theprincesse de Lamballe. It was ultimately her husband’s personal weakness and political nullity that forced Marie-Antoinette to play such a prominent political role during the Revolution....
This is a great expression for when the person you’re talking to doesn’t understand what you’re saying and you’re tired of trying to explain… which can happen frequently when you’re learning a language! This expression has become so common in French that some prefer to use it inver...