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The Penguin Guide to Plain English

Anglicization, in respect o f French accents, is happening all the time,

if very slowly. W here role, w hich came in in the seventeenth century,
has lost its accent during the last few decades, cliche, w hich came in
last century, still keeps its accent. The w ord cortege we sometimes see
nowadays w ithout its accent. Yet tete-a-tete (a confidential conver
sation, literally head to head), w hich came in during the seventeenth
century, keeps its accents. The w ord cafe, a nineteenth-century im porta
tion, has preserved its accent and its pronunciation hitherto.

Haute Cuisine and Haute Couture

Cafe is just one am ong many French words from the w orld of eating
and drinking w hich have now established themselves in regular English
usage. We use the French terms gourm et, gourm ande and bon viveur,
for those w ho relish the delights of the table. No doubt the French
preeminence in the w orld of w hat we call haute cuisine (high-class
cookery) is responsible for this influence o f the French language. At the
restaurant we study the a la carte (according to the list) menu, from
w hich we are free to select as we choose, and the table d ho te (literally
the hosts table) m enu w hich contains a series o f courses planned by
the establishment at a quoted price. The first course may be called
the hors d oeuvre (outside the w ork) and is supposed to consist of
preparatory appetizers. If the w ord starters seems now to be replacing
hors d oeuvre, other French expressions at the table seem to hold their
own. There are dishes such as pate de foie gras ( pate of fat liver), and
a beefsteak cut from between the ribs is called entrecote. Our sweet
dishes include a souffle. They also include a sorbet and, accustomed
as we are to adapting our pronunciation to suit the French, w e give the
w ord the French treatment, though in fact it comes from Turkish and is
really the same w ord as sherbert. There is a dessert called creme
caramel, and a liqueur called creme de m enthe ( cream o f m int).
We may add that the expression creme de la crem e ( cream o f the
cream ) takes us right out of the restaurant. It stands for the very best o f
the best. Our inherited respect for the French as social superiors and
arbiters of taste applies beyond the dining-room . Just as we speak o f
haute cuisine so also w e use the expression haute couture for high-class
dressmaking, another sphere o f French preeminence. We used to call
high society the haut m on de (the high w orld) and the w orld o f fashion