Hi there! It’s been a while and I am sorry. Been sick, blah blah blah et patati et patata. So to make it up to you, here is a medley of words taken from today’s French newspapers headlines.

First, L’Express posts this:

Une petite amie /pteetah me/ means a girl sweetheart (girlfriend). Un petit ami /pteetah me/ is used for boys or men (boyfriend). One needn’t be “petit” nor exclusively young, it applies to all ages:

Mon petit ami /moon pteetah me/ : my boyfriend

Ma petite amie /mah pteetah me/ : my girlfriend

If you don’t like it, you may also use un copain, une copine:

mon copain  /moon cup en/: my boyfriend

ma copine  /mah cup een/: my girlfriend

In Canada, you may also use un chum, une blonde:

mon chum /moon chum/ : my boyfriend

ma blonde /mah blond/ : my girlfriend

Read the full article here.

Then, just as you were starting to feel hungry, Nord Pas-de-Calais comes up with this:

Une grenouille /gu-ruh-noo-yuh/ is what you see up here. A frog.

Feuille /fuh-yuh/: leaf

Read the rest here.

And 20 minutes wonders this:

Fainéant(s) /fay nay on/. The word comes from “fait néant” (does nothingness), and means idler, loafer. What, who? Do you ask.

Les salariés  /sah lah ryay/ : paid employees. The article puts forward an old cliché like what French workers are overpaid and under productive, then sets to debunk it point by point. You can read it here.

In more serious matters, regarding the French family kidnapped in Cameroon, Le Figaro publishes this:

Une bourde /boorduh/ is a blunder.

Tuesday, seven members of a French family, including four children, were abducted by Nigerian islamist militants in Northern Cameroon. This morning, having heard a rumour only, Veterans Affairs French Minister Fader Arif made a hasty public announcement to the National Assembly stating that the hostages had been released. Big mistake. Because they hadn’t. Opposition parties jumped on the occasion to criticize him. You can view both his statement, then his mortified apology in the video included in the article.

So here you have it, some of what is going on in French newspapers today. Enjoy!