The influence of the French language on English is pretty strong, but it seems our ancestors didn't always choose the right words to borrow. For example, a grape is un raisin, but a bunch of raisins is une grappe. So basically, we buy a bunch of bunches.
Tonight I had dinner with some ladies who work at the school. The menu included a salad, carottes à la crème, haricots verts, rice and curried chicken, a cheese course (of course!), and homemade mousse au chocolat for dessert. Afterwards, while eight-year olds Thomas and Robin were glued to a TV show where magicians reveal their secrets, I learned a new expression to mean that something is really old: Ça existe depuis des lustres. Rachel, who works at the school, said she didn't know where that expression came from and I had to admit that I didn't understand. Un lustre, Patricia explained, is a fancy light fixture that hangs from the ceiling; long ago it had candles instead of light bulbs. Ah, un chandelier, I said, thinking it was just a synonym. But no, she went on, a chandelier usually sits on the table. Ah, un candélabre, I suggested. Mais non, a candelabra is just an older word for chandelier. Hmm. Seems that borrowing the wrong words from French...well...ça existe depuis des lustres !
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