All These Little French and American Words…

H

Welcome to the A to Z Challenge!

One word today for the letter H

*One French word used in France and in the USA, with almost the same meaning and almost the same spelling in both countries.

 

 

HORS D’OEUVRE

Hors d’oeuvre aux USA correspond à l’apéritif en France. Le mot hors d’oeuvre aux USA n’est pas invariable et ne s’écrit pas avec un trait d’union.

In contemporary France the word hors-d’oeuvre is a synonym of “Entrée,” or the first dish that starts a meal (appetizer in the USA).

The French use apéritif or apéro in casual French to refer to the time before a meal and the drinks and finger food consumed during that time.

Unlike its Americanized version, the French word Hors-d’oeuvre never takes an S at the end, regardless of the quantity of food served, and is also hyphenised.

 

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Do you know of another French or English word starting with the letter H that has a different meaning whether it’s used in France or in the USA?

Connaissez-vous un autre mot français ou anglais commençant par la lettre H qui a un sens différent selon qu’il soit utilisé en France ou aux Etats Unis?

 

See you on Monday for the letter I.

Enjoy your weekend!

 

Comments

  1. Either way, I like them and I am hungry now 🙂 Enjoy your Sunday off!

  2. Oh, this one is funny! You know, the way we pronounce “hors d’oeuvres” (avec un “s” à la fin!) in American English is so far off the mark, and nobody says it the same way! In fact, when I first moved here to Colorado, I had a friend who just couldn’t say it at all, so she said “hoober-doobers” instead, which got shortened to just “hoobers” and now my husband and I still say “hoobers” when we mean “hors d’oeuvres” by which I really mean “apéritif”. Whew! 😉

    • This is funny! Actually the first time I heard the word, here in the States, I didn’t get it. It sounded so different from the French pronunciation that I had no clue we spoke about the same thing. That’s what I tried to highlight with this little challenge. Thank you for yoru interest and support. See you.

  3. Over the years we have a had a number of French guests stay with us. At meal times, they ask what is the English/Irish equivalent to wishing someone, ‘ Bon Appetit’. I honestly don’t think we have an equivalent. In more recent time, ‘enjoy’ seems to have crept in, but I think it is an Americanism. Sorry this is not really a ‘h’ observation. Your post just put me in mind of food related things! Hope you have a nice blog day off!!

    • Bon appetit is now entered in the US and many people will use it as well. Often pronunciating the T at the end, giving to the French expression a cute American touch.
      Otherwise I think ‘enjoy’ is great and we also say in French ‘Régalez vous’, which is close to ‘enjoy’. Thank you for stopping by and commenting. I definitely enjoyed the day off, although I’ll need to catch up soon! See you.

  4. Does homage/hommage carry differences in interpretation ? And yes I’m peckish too

  5. Same meaning to me, at least based on my knowledge and experience. Different spelling, though, like you know. Ha these hors d’oeuvre thingy made everyone hungry, including me. See you and thanks again for commenting.

  6. This makes me think Evelyne, just how many French words we commonly use in the English language 🙂

  7. Bhawna Saini says:

    I really really like your theme for the #atozchallenge, what an interesting way to increase vocabulary and learn more about languages!
    @bhawnasaini_yml from Yellow Mellow Life

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