C'est cool, je vais manger un steak ! English words in the French language
C’est cool, je vais manger un steak ! It’s cool, I’ll eat a steak!

Most used English words in the French language

In a previous post, we talked about French words that are used in English – the opposite also exists i.e. English words in French.

Many English words are used by the French daily. The influence of the French language on English is not unique. There are still some people in France who refuse to adopt these words, but without realizing they use them every day.

For the most part, there are some words that there is no real translation in French. Here are some examples of English words that are regularly used in the French language.

  • Barman
  • Chewing gum
  • Cocktail
  • Cowboy
  • Fan
  • Hamburger
  • Match
  • Pullover
  • Steak
  • Toast

As for French words in the English language, there are words that don’t have the same meaning in France

One such word: star, is used in French which only means celebrity. The influence of English is not only in simple words, some words were Frenchified.  These words don’t really exist in English, but are very similar with or without the same meaning.

The following are some examples with an English translation …

  • Parking: car park
  • Smoking: suit / dinner jacket
  • Rugbyman: rugby player
  • Babyfoot: table football

It’s also worth noting that most popular sports are kept in their original English names: football, handball, basketball, tennis etc.

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