Franglish Untranslatables: dainty

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Monday, October 19, 2015

#7 - Dainty

Dainty! What a delightful, delectable word! And it feels so perfectly French! In fact, when we English-speakers use the word petite we often mean something very much akin to "dainty." And yet, petite only means "small" in French, and, dashingly disappointing as it may be, French has no duplicate for "dainty." (Okay, I'll stop with the alliteration now).

About Franglish Untranslatables

French and English are like step-sisters. We're not from the same branch of the language family tree, it's true, but we've grown up together and a LOT of vocabulary as been begged, borrowed, or stolen both ways across the Channel in the hundreds of years that we've known each other. Much as we might hate to admit it, we have a lot in common.

However, since I've been living in France for the past year, I've come across a lot of words and concepts between French and English that, often surprisingly, don't have a real equivalent in the other language. I thought it'd be fun to explore these and share them with you by making a kind of dictionary of these untranslatable words!

I hope you find it helpful, informative, and entertaining. ^_^