The Make-up of the English Vocabulary

the beau m onde (the beautiful w orld). We still preserve the French
pronunciation o f boudoir, massage and coiffure. In the w ider w orld
it is significant that w hen we wish to characterize an act o f patronization
and condescension we call it acting de haut en bas ( from high to lo w ).
The French language therefore, having the cachet or prestige of the upper
class, comes in useful for veiling unm entionable items and practices in
delicate terminology. W hen w om en want new underwear, they seek, it
in the lingerie department. Their undress is their negligee or their
deshabille. We describe a w om ans low -cut garment that exposes the
bosom as decollete. W hen a married couple (or a pair o f sexual partners)
choose to live in cohabitation w ith a third person, the additional sexual
partner o f one of them, we call it a menage a trois. A comparable
delicacy no doubt stands behind the now established practice o f referring
to hotel rooms that are fully equipped w ith washing and toilet facilities
as en suite (literally in sequence).

Social Niceties
Our vocabulary for the intimate and the personal is rich in French terms.
We use the expression en famille for someone w ho is at hom e w ith his
family. Another French expression, entre nous ( between you and m e) ,
serves us in the sphere o f confidential intimacy. W e even tend to preserve
the masculine and feminine spellings o f confidant and confidante for
a very special friend w ho can be let into all our secrets. A delicate way of
speaking o f a com m unication w hich amounts to a love letter is to call it
a billet doux (literally a sweet n ote). Delicacy of a different kind
encourages us to speak o f a faux pas (literally a false step) w hen
someone puts their foot in it, as we say, and we call a social blunder a
gaffe.
Somehow in the realm o f social proprieties and social indiscretions
recourse to French is habitual. We hear people use the expression com me
il faut (as it should b e) as a delicate way o f pronouncing some practice
thoroughly acceptable in the best circles. We speak of damage to a
persons self-respect and personal sense of propriety as something w hich
w ounds their am our-propre ( self-love). The French expression lese
majeste (meaning w ounded majesty) is used for suffering presum p
tuous behaviour from inferiors against their betters. We describe som e
one w ho is unconventional in behaviour and commits indiscretions as