Learn how to use expressions that don't make any sense
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: I'm Eric. |
| Yasmine: And I'm Yasmine! |
| Eric: Expressions That Don't Make Any Sense, Part 3. In this lesson, you'll learn the last set of Expressions That Don't Make Any Sense. |
| Eric: These are very old expressions that are still used nowadays, but when they are translated literally, they don't make a lot of sense, which can be confusing for French learners sometimes. |
| SLANG EXPRESSIONS |
| Eric: The expressions you will be learning in this lesson are: |
| Yasmine: faire gaffe |
| Yasmine: le bruit court que |
| Yasmine: il pleut des cordes |
| Yasmine: laisser tomber |
| Eric: Yasmine, what's our first expression? |
| Yasmine: faire gaffe |
| Eric: literally meaning "to make blunder.." But when it's used as a slang expression it means "watch out, be careful." |
| Yasmine: [SLOW] faire gaffe [NORMAL] faire gaffe |
| Eric: Listeners, please repeat. |
| Yasmine: faire gaffe |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| Eric: Use this slang expression when you want to ask someone to be careful. The expression has the same meaning as |
| Yasmine: faire attention. |
| Eric: Don't confuse it with |
| Yasmine: faire une gaffe, |
| Eric: meaning "to blunder," which has the opposite meaning. |
| Eric : Now let's hear an example sentence. |
| Yasmine: [NORMAL] Fais gaffe! [SLOW] Fais gaffe! |
| Eric: "Watch out!" |
| Yasmine: [NORMAL] Fais gaffe! |
| Eric: Okay, what's the next expression? |
| Yasmine: le bruit court que |
| Eric: literally meaning "the noise runs that." But when it's used as a slang expression it means "rumor has it." |
| Yasmine: [SLOW] le bruit court que [NORMAL] le bruit court que |
| Eric: Listeners, please repeat. |
| Yasmine: le bruit court que |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| Eric: Use this slang expression when you talk about a rumor. |
| Eric : Now let's hear an example sentence. |
| Yasmine: [NORMAL] Le bruit court qu'elle va se marier. [SLOW] Le bruit court qu'elle va se marier. |
| Eric: "She is rumored to be getting married." |
| Yasmine: [NORMAL] Le bruit court qu'elle va se marier. |
| Eric: Okay, what's our next expression? |
| Yasmine: il pleut des cordes |
| Eric: literally meaning "it's raining ropes." But when it's used as a slang expression it means "it's raining cats and dogs." |
| Yasmine: [SLOW] il pleut des cordes [NORMAL] il pleut des cordes |
| Eric: Listeners, please repeat. |
| Yasmine: il pleut des cordes |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| Eric: Use this slang expression when you talk about bad weather, when it's raining heavily. |
| Eric : Now let's hear an example sentence. |
| Yasmine: [NORMAL] Le pique-nique est annulé comme il pleut des cordes. [SLOW] Le pique-nique est annulé comme il pleut des cordes. |
| Eric: "The picnic is cancelled since it's raining cats and dogs." |
| Yasmine: [NORMAL] Le pique-nique est annulé comme il pleut des cordes. |
| Eric: Okay, what's the last expression? |
| Yasmine: laisser tomber |
| Eric: literally meaning "to let fall." But when it's used as a slang expression it means "give up." |
| Yasmine: [SLOW] laisser tomber [NORMAL] laisser tomber |
| Eric: Listeners, please repeat. |
| Yasmine: laisser tomber |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| Eric: Use this slang expression when you want someone to let go of, or to forget about something. |
| Eric : Now let's hear an example sentence. |
| Yasmine: [NORMAL] Laisse tomber. [SLOW] Laisse tomber. |
| Eric: "Forget it." |
| Yasmine: [NORMAL] Laisse tomber. |
| QUIZ |
| Eric: Okay listeners, are you ready to be quizzed on the expressions you just learned? I will describe four situations, and you will choose the right expression to use in your reply. Are you ready? |
| Eric: You hear about a rumor. |
| Yasmine: le bruit court que |
| Eric: "rumor has it" |
| Eric: You cross the road even if the traffic light is red for pedestrians, but you carefully look left and right and make sure there is no car before you go. |
| Yasmine: faire gaffe |
| Eric: "watch out, be careful" |
| Eric: You don’t manage to do something and decide to let it go. |
| Yasmine: laisser tomber |
| Eric: "give up" |
| Eric: It rains so much that if you go out for 5 seconds, you get completely wet. |
| Yasmine: il pleut des cordes |
| Eric: "it's raining cats and dogs" |
Outro |
|---|
| Eric: There you have it; you have mastered four French Slang Expressions! Thanks everyone, and see you next time! |
| Yasmine: Au revoir! |
Comments
Hide