French

Question 1

The butterfly farm in Saint Martin is also known as “la ferme de” these, the french word for “butterflies.”

Answer 1

Papillons

Question 2

The French phrase “pret-a-porter” literally means this.

Answer 2

Ready to wear

Question 3

(1) The Duke of Richelieu’s capture of Port Mahon on the island of Minorca in June 1756; (2) The town of Bayonne, located at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers in southwest France; (3) the French verb manier (“to stir”); (4) an Old French term for “egg yolk.” These are four possible etymologies for what word?

Answer 3

Mayonaisse

Question 4

This three-word term for “face to face” is generally used in English for comparisons.

Answer 4

Vis-a-vis

Question 5

This three-word French phrase means group morale & camaraderie.

Answer 5

Espirit de corps

Question 6

This word from the French for “one who knows” is applied to those with good taste.

Answer 6

Connoisseur

Question 7

This English word, which is a combination of three French words, means “sleight of hand.”

Answer 7

Legerdemain

Question 8

Literally meaning “cat’s step” in French, this ballet move is a sideways jump with both feet brought as high as possible, knees apart, while in the air.

Answer 8

Pas de Chat

Question 9

Meaning extremely large, this adjective comes from the name of Rabelais’ giant of a 16th century character.

Answer 9

Gargantuan

Question 10

What addictive substance is named for a sixteenth-century French diplomat who is credited with introducing the product that contains the substance to France?

Answer 10

Nicotine

Question 11

German engineer Tobias Schmidt, working with French physician Antoine Louis, invented and built the prototype for a device first known as a louisette. This device was later (and is still today, perhaps unfairly) known by what other name, after another French physician and politician who proposed its broader use in 1789?

Answer 11

Guillotine

Question 12

What consonant has most likely been discarded in words where a circumflex mark, ^, appears over a French vowel?

Answer 12

If you remembered French words like hôpital or île or ancêtre, you probably figured out that there’s a missing ‘s’ in each one.

Question 13

From the French for “sliding door,” what metal grating could be lowered to protect a medieval castle?

Answer 13

This “porte coulissante” gave us the English word “portcullis.”

Question 14

Among the various types of rugs is one whose name comes from the French for “caterpillar” (which the fabric is meant to resemble). What is that name?

Answer 14

Chenille

Question 15

In August 1941, Rita Hayworth was featured in an iconic Life magazine photograph in which she posed in this form of lingerie, a see-through nightgown intended to be worn in the bedroom. If she were in soft and fuzzy sweaters, she might be too magical to touch, but to see her in this piece of clothing is really just too much. Similar to a pegnoir, what is the French-derived name of this long piece of sleepwear?

Answer 15

Negligee

Question 16

While women will typically wear a corsage, men might wear one of these floral decorations, typically a single flower, worn on the lapel of a tuxedo or suit jacket. What French word is the name of this item, usually reserved for special occasions such as proms, homecomings, or weddings?

Answer 16

Boutonnière

Question 17

In geometry, a plane figure having four equal sides, with two acute and two obtuse angles, is probably most commonly called a rhombus. It is also sometimes called a diamond, and is occasionally referred to by what other word, which comes from an Old French term for “diamond shape” and today has an alternate medical usage?

Answer 17

Lozenge

Question 18

The expression “balance ton porc” is the equivalent in France of what modern movement?

Answer 18

MeToo

(“Snitch out your pig”)

Question 19

A room at the end of the Louvre’s Grande Galerie was, beginning in 1725, the site of public exhibitions of works by members of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, and the room’s name has become the source of a general term for an art show. What is that term?

Answer 19

Salon

Question 20

Cuisses de grenouille is the name of a French culinary delicacy known in English as what?

Answer 20

Frog Legs