Premier Jeu de Mots Trivia Quiz

Answer: route

Faire banqueroute is bankruptcy or liquidation, (see also faire faillite), Une route rurale is one of the most difficult things to pronounce in French for "anglo-saxons" except perhaps for "Henri Grenouille", Mme de la Bruyère could live in France for fifty more years and still not be able to pronounce it! All it means is a country road. "Faire fausse route" means to take the wrong way, even figuratively.

Answer: mere

Belle-mère : mother-in-law and also stepmother, there's only one word now. An older form is used for stepmother of the wicked variety, "la marâtre" one wouldn't use it now or the stepmother might become a marâtre. You did want to know if mothers-in law appeared in jokes as often as they do in English, didn't you? Of course they do! A popular expression for something really heavy to eat or digest is "étouffe-belle-mère" aka "étouffe-chretien". Maison mère is the main or head office of a company, as in Saint-Gobain is the maison mère of Certainteed. Maison mère comes from the convent which leads religious order. Grand-mère is grandmother, the most common way of addressing a grandmother in the nineties and two thousands, is "mamy" though that sounds odd to us! Always makes me think of Al Jolson! Une mère poule is a mother hen type.

The père poule is however a father who exhibits the same behavior, not a père-coq. Now, I did put the accent in there, but technically it might not register if you're using accents with a different keyboard. I preferred to warn you though.

Answer: mal

Mal de tête is a headache, but you say « J'ai mal à la tête » as well as « J'ai un de ces mal de tête, une vraie migraine. » Mal au ventre, stomach ache, same distinction as in English, it's rarely our stomach but our abdomen that hurts. Le moindre mal is the lesser of two evils. Mal means evil in that context. Mal de mer is seasickness. "Mal au Coeur" is nausea, not heartburn, that would be brulures d'éstomac. Mal du pays is homesickness, or nostalgia for one's native land or home.

Answer: barbe

Barbe à papa=cotton candy, (candy floss ?), barbe blanche is white beard, often designating an older man (one hopes!), Barbe bleue is a pirate, or Bluebeard by any other name, La barbe is a gesture or phrase meaning boring as sin...as all get out...one generally scrapes ones cheek to indicate how boring it is. Boring is "barbant".

Answer: chaud

Chocolat chaud is hot chocolate, un plat chaud is a hot dish, tu as eu chaud! You narrowly escaped, you missed it by that much! That was a close one! Un réchaud is a chafing dish with a gas burner beneath it.

Answer: point

Un rondpoint is a roundabout or a circular intersection. These are being converted gradually, there are fewer and fewer four way stops. The biggest rondpoint is the Place de l'étoile at the end of the Champs Elysées and that requires nerves of steel and wits. No lanes are marked!
Un point de vente is a point of sales. Un point noir is a blackhead pimple. Sorry you need to know these things. Faire le point means to evaluate a situation or assess it with others. Un point c'est tout! Is a phrase to put an end to an argument. Period! In American English. "Non, tu vas porter cette chemise pour diner chez les grand-parents, un point c'est tout!" "no, you are going to wear that shirt to eat dinner with your grandparents, and no more discussion!"

Answer: para

Parachute is obvious, para meaning against and chute is a fall. Parasol is to avoid sun, parapente, is a parachute you go down in and avoid the big hill beneath you! Paratonnerre is a lightning rod or a device to prevent you from thunder or tonnerre. Parapluie is an umbrella, to avoid the rain on your head.

Answer: contre

Contre vents et marées is remaining strong against everything that you get, tides, waves and wind on the sea. Used figuratively mostly.
Le pour et le contre are the pros and cons. Contre nature, against nature. Not natural. Contrebasse is the instrument.

Answer: main

Sleight of hand is un tour de main, main-d'oeuvre is labor as in labor costs for a job and also used for workforce. Un coup de main, is to give someone a hand, la mainmise is a term for the grip and used for the "grip of foreign capital on French industry", de main propre is in person, to request someone's hand in marriage is demander la main. As you might have learned in another quiz of mine, le Coeur sur la main is a term for generosity.

Answer: pour

pour cent is percent, pourparleur is a spokesperson, pour et contre, pros and cons, un pourboire is a tip.