Salut c’est Géraldine, bienvenue sur Comme
une Française TV, Sound French, even to the French.
Reading newspapers and online journalism is
a fantastic way to learn the French language!
However, you’ll quickly find clichés: also
called un poncif or un lieu commun.
Le cliché is an expression that crops up
too regularly in journalism.
Often, le cliché is supposed to be fresh
and witty – but it’s so overused that
it loses all meaning and originality.
Today I’ll try to show you some examples
for this French word !
Let’s dive in.
La balle est dans son camp.
Our first cliché is a sports metaphor : it
literally means “the ball is in his court.”
For a tennis player, it means it’s his turn
to play : he needs to react, people are waiting
to see what he’s going to do.
“Les syndicats ont donné leurs propositions
à la Ministre, maintenant la balle est dans son camp.”
“The unions have given their propositions
to the Minister, now the ball is in her court.”
The idiom is commonly used during negotiations,
between political parties for instance, or
even states – it’s part of the game of
blame and responsibility.
Another sentence with a similar meaning could
be : “à lui de jouer !," or “c’est
à lui de jouer !” It means “it’s his
turn to play.”
Maybe it’s after he’s been épinglé,
or literally “pinned,” another cliché,
meaning “blamed for something he’s recently
been part of.”
After un dérapage for instance, yet another
poncif, literally “skidding,” meaning
he’ s said something he shouldn’t have
said, as if he was out of control.
Un silence assourdissant, a deafening silence
: When someone should talk about a subject,
but doesn’t – and the silence itself is
meaningful.
Or is supposed to be meaningful – it’s
also a good way to blame someone for something,
even if you’re not sure exactly why.
It can be used for very important issues,
for example:
“La réponse de l’Europe au problème
des saucisses mal cuites est un silence assourdissant.”
"Europe's response to the problem of undercooked
sausages is a deafening silence."
Or “Chaque jour en France, 12 personnes
mangent une saucisse mal cuite – dans un
silence assourdissant des médias et du gouvernement.”
"Every day in France, 12 people eat an undercooked
sausage – in the deafening silence of the
media and government."
You have to admit, this cliché is pretty
poetic – back when it was used for the first
time in 1956, by French writer, poet, and
politician Albert Camus.
Camus uses a figure of speech called un oxymore,
an oxymoron.
The French language’s most famous oxymoron
comes from Le Cid, Pierre Corneille (1682)
: “Cette obscure clarté qui tombe des étoiles,"
“The dark light cast from every distant star.”
I’ve already talked about Le Cid in the
video about the Classics of French theater
– and you can find the link on the blog
below the video.
Un silence assourdissant can be the answer
to someone throwing un pavé dans la mare,
a cliché meaning “a brick in the pound”
– when something has just started a stir
that will splash on everyone involved.
Les heures les plus sombres de notre Histoire,
The darkest hours of our history have nothing
to do with the complete solar eclipse of 1999
in France.
No, it’s a reference to a further past : l’Occupation
(1940-1945), when the French state was under
German rule and friends with the Nazi government.
Some French people formed la Résistance,
but the political power became a racist police state.
That’s not something we’re particularly
proud of – that’s why it’s les heures
les plus sombres.
However, people are afraid that we might fall
back into these hours, under a new name, so
they’re quick to point out a policy or methods
that reminds them of le Régime de Vichy.
It’s also an easy way to discredit your
opponent, or frame a discussion so that you
appear as the hero, in front of the ugly Nazi
collaborateur – and that’s how it became a cliché.
“Tous ces policiers qui tapent sur les manifestants,
ça rappelle des heures sombres...”
All these policemen beating the protesters,
it reminds me of the dark hours…
Affaires de corruption : le député suspecté
par les enquêteurs évoque “les heures
les plus sombres de notre Histoire” – "Corruption
cases : suspected MP refers to “the darkest
hours of our history"
It’s still widely used with a straight face,
but half the time, people use it ironically….
So, the fact that it’s a cliché may actually
be a cliché in itself.
On the same level, there is le bruit des bottes,
the sound of boots, and maybe some clothes
of color brun / brune , as an implied reference
to the uniforms and leather boots of fascism
coming to take our freedom and way of life.
Caracoler en tête : Or literally, prancing
ahead.
Polls come every few weeks, especially at
election times.
It’s a recurring topic, like Christmas shopping
or children going back to school in September
– such a topic is called un marronier : literally
“a chestnut tree."
They’re useful, you can write a template
for them and use it every year to pad your newspaper.
When it comes to polls, one of the propositions
can be leading from far ahead.
For instance,
“La meneuse du nouveau parti Bonbons et
Chocolats caracole en tête des sondages pour
la présidentielle” “The leader of new
political party Sweets and Chocolate is leading
the polls for the presidential election”
Caracoler is a nice-sounding verb ; it sounds
like cocorico, our national animal’s cry,
and no one really knows what it means – it’s
originally a horse trick, but nowadays it’s
only really used in this cliché.
When someone looks to be on the right path
to success, especially in a competition, then
elle a le vent en poupe – she has the wind
in her sails.
And if she’s also advocating for sweets
and chocolates for all, then you can add yet
another cliché : it’s the icing on the
cake – c’est la cerise sur le gâteau.
Le Pays des Bisounours, the land of Care Bears.
In France Care Bears are called les Bisounours
: it’s a mash-up of un bisou, a kiss, and
un ours, a bear, or un nounours, a teddy-bear.
In French-speaking Québec, in Canada, they’re
called Calinours instead : using câlin, a hug.
They were famous in the 80s but have mostly
disappeared since.
It’s still a useful reference, for some
! It’s only used in the negative : “On
n’est pas au pays des Bisounours," we’re
not in the land of Care Bears.
Use it when your opponent suggests a new idea
or doing something from compassion, and, voilà
! He’s automatically disqualified for being
too naive and thinking reality is a children’s cartoon.
“Je pense que ce serait bien de loger les
gens qui n’ont pas de maison.
“Je pense que ce serait bien de loger les
gens qui n’ont pas de maison. – Oh ! On n’est pas au pays des Bisounours
!”
“I think it would be a good thing to give
a roof to those who don’t have one.”
– Oh, we don’t live in Care Bear land
!”
With this magic cliché, you get to frame
yourself as “the realist one," whose healthy
dose of cynicism prevents you from ever failing
anything – it’s a dog-eat-dog world out
there, don’t you dare have faith in mankind
or in the future ! Well, you won’t try anything
new either, and you won’t allow yourself
to follow your dreams, but at least you can
feel superior ! Isn’t it great ?
So I don’t really like this cliché, but
if you feel like you need it for one reason
or another, you can also update your references
– le pays des Teletubbies maybe ?
Or stay in France, all across the country
: aux quatre coins de l’Hexagone.
Which is a cliché that used to be witty,
since we translate in every corner with aux
quatre coins – literally, in all four corners
, and France is sometimes called the Hexagon.
The shape with six corners.
Yay.
Et toi ? Where have you read these clichés?
Did you notice others that crop up regularly?
Which cliché in your own language do you
especially dislike?
Why?
Share your experience (in French if you dare!)
in the comments below.
We can all learn from your story.
The comment section is the best place to start
discussions and ask questions!
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Allez, salut !
