French Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘Chinese’ and now look at ‘French’ – albeit many of these will have little association with our neighbours across the English Channel.

French dressing is first seen in 1860 and, as with most of these, the meaning is really ‘foreign’ (try replacing ‘French’ with ‘foreign’ for some of the following, mildly amusing).

French toast has been known since the 1630s.But just what is French toast? As a youngster we always referred to French toast as bread only toasted one side (grill or using a toasting fork) with the untoasted side then buttered. Latterly it is bread dipped in a egg and milk mixture and fried (also known as eggy bread, Bombay toast, gypsy toast, or best of all Poor Knights of Windsor), which I would argue isn't even toast.

French letter has been used since 1856 – and when I say ‘used’, I am referring to the phrase, of course.

French kiss is first seen in 1749 when it appears in the phrase ‘French novel’. Note in the late 19th and early 20th centuries a ‘French kiss’ was a kiss on each cheek.

French doors (or French windows) were first described as such in 1847.

French leave, that is to depart without informing the host, is first seen in 1771 – while the French use filer a ‘l’anglaise meaning ‘to take English leave’.

French fries appears for the first time in 1903, these originally referred to as ‘French fried potatoes’ in 1856. Furthermore, in 1944 the term ‘French frieds’ was used, although it did not catch on, unlike simply ‘fries’ which dates from 1973.

French stick might be a little dated today, we tend to use ‘baguette’, although the French use ‘unsandwich’ to describe the same thing - correctly it isn't a sandwich but a roll of bread stuffed with a filling, while a sandwich is 'sandwiched' between two slices of bread.

French maids are stereotypically wearing that black and white uniform from the 19th century, although the term did not become popular in Britain until the advent of the bedroom farce.

French beans are first described as such in the middle of the 19th century, although these were introduced to Europe and Africa by the Spanish and Portuguese.

French poodles were first bred in Germany in the 15th century for duck hunting. They are known as ‘French’ because the poodle was first identified as a distinct breed in France.

French braid is first used in the 1871 issue of Arthur’s Home Magazine, although the hairstyle was certainly known 3,500 years ago in Greece and Egypt.

French cleaner was an early term for dry cleaning, an error around 1850 by Jean Baptiste Jolly.

French knickers were first worn and known as such in the 1920s.