Les Bons Mots: How to Amaze Tout Le Monde with Everyday French

I wish to add only a single point to the excellent review, "mostly for dilettantes," which nicely covers the territory.

The so-called "literal" translations offered up by the author are often not. The author always gives us an idiomatic translation and then usually offers us something said to be "literal." These second translations are also often quite idiomatic and therefore unhelpful.

If only a single definition is provided, I personally tend to prefer a rather literal one as they are often charming and memorable (to my Anglophone ear) and the figurative meaning is usually not difficult to grasp. But if two definitions are to be given, certainly the first one should be figurative, as the author has done here. The second one, however, should be highly literal to preserve the charm and allow the learner to understand all the words and experience fully the richness of the expression.

I opened the book at random to test my notion here and came upon: "Il faut vous faire soigner," with the first definiton "better see a shrink." Then we are offered a supposedly literal translation "you need to have your head examined." Problem is that "head" is strictly implied and so, is not part of the literal expression. And, this treatment leaves the reader with no help as to what the word "soigner" literally means. Her figuratively translation is fine. A reasonable literal translation would be "you need to have yourself treated."

I bought this book after loving another book of common expressions we hear in the US (or read in books) and wonder what their exact meaning is in their native language. I didn't enjoy reading this book of phrases because most of the French expressions were far too advanced for me. I had French in high school and German in college but I pick things up quickly and thought I would be OK with this book. The book is not a good reference for flipping through because a lot of the phrases are just not something you will ever run across while reading literature or even while in France on vacation. Also, it would be impossible to memorize these long phrases and put them to use unless you are very, very advanced in French. The title, Bon Mots (good words): How to Amaze Tout Le Monde (everyone) with Everyday French is misleading. This is not everyday French.

"Les Bons Mots: How to Amaze 'Tout le Monde' with Everyday French" is another fun book from Dr. Eugene Ehrlich, coeditor of "The Oxford English Dictionary" and author of the the "Extraordinarily Literate" series and other language books. At first glance, "Bons Mots" appears to be a glossary of sorts, or a compendium of useful French expressions and aphorisms, but on closer inspection, one finds a very well presented exposition of classic French phrases and proverbs, with excellent pronunciation guides. This book is not intended to be taken on a trip to France as a guide to what French people are saying, but rather it is a reference book for either looking up something in French that one comes across in one's reading, or a source for interjecting a bit of spice into one's own prose. Dr. Ehrlich's Latin phrase books, "Amo, Amas, Amat" and "Veni, Vidi, Vici" provided a model for this book, so people who like those books will like this one too. One can either use "Bons Mots" like a dictionary or simply read it here and there for fun. Many of the entries are annotated with morsels of French history and usage notes, and there is an index, in English. Highly recommended addition for the well-stocked reference shelf!