jurer (zhew-reh),

1. to swear, vow, certify
2. to cuss, (utter obsenities)

To promise or swear to something place your hand flat on the top or your head (as if it were a Bible! ) and say, "Je le jure!"

sourire (soo-reer), noun (masc.), verb

1.noun: a smile
2.verb :to smile
3.verb: to be favorable to something or someone

« On peut changer le monde, un sourire à la fois ! » -anon.
One can change the world, one smile at a time !

« La fortune sourit aux audacieux. » -Virgile
Luck (fortune) smiles on the daring (audacious). –Virgil

Joan Miró. Bouquet of Flowers. Smile of My Blond. (Sourire de ma blonde). 1924. Tempera on canvas. 88 x 115 cm. Private collection.

« Mesdames, souriez afin que plus tard, vos rides soient bien placées. » -Madame de Maintenon, 2nd wife of Louis XIV

“Ladies, smile so that later your wrinkles may be well placed.”

... as related to its cousin, rire (to laugh)

Happy cousins they are!
To smile is human, but to laugh is divine!

Just like sourire, rire is both a masc. noun and a verb.

rire jaune (to laugh yellow), means to give a forced laugh.
mourir de rire to die laughing
pour rire for fun
fou rire uncontrolable laugh
tu veux rire (you want to laugh) you must be kidding!

"Elle rit de tout ce que vous dites. Pourquoi ? Parce qu'elle a de jolies dents." -Benjamin Franklin
"She laughs at everything you say. Why? Because she has pretty teeth."

sagesse (sahzh-ess)

1. wisdom, prudence, discretion
2. steadiness, good behaviour ; quietness (of horse)

Dent de sagesse, wisdom tooth
Immense sagesse, infinite wisdom
Prix de sagesse, good-conduct award (School)
Sagesse populaire, folk wisdom
Sagesse pratique, practical wisdom


« La clé de la sagesse, c'est de révérer l'Eternel » Proverbes 1 :7, BDS
The key to wisdom : it is to revere the Eternal One.

« Le doute est le commencement de la sagesse. » -Aristote
The question (uncertainty, doubt) is the beginning of wisdom.


As the wise man says - before you can stand up you must be seated.

dresser, (drehs-eh), verb

1. to erect, set up, raise (mast, monument, etc.); to set (trap), set or lay (table)
2. to prepare, draw up (plan, contract); to make out (check, invoice); to draw up (list)
e. to adjust, arrange, trim, (piece of wood); to square, (stone)
4. to train (person or animal)

Américains dressant le drapeau ... Americans raising the flag…

dressant, pres. part.
dressé, past. part.

Dresser la tête, to hold up one’s head
Dresser les oreilles, to be attentive (lit. “to hold up the ears”)
Se dresser sur la point des pieds, to raise on tiptoe.
C’etait faire dresser les cheveux, It was enough to make one’s hair stand on end.


dresseur, -euse , noun, sing.
1. erector
2. trainer (of animals); Desseur de chevaux, horse breaker

dressage, nom masculine
1. the act of training (animal)
2. act of raising, erecting, installing, etc.

poisson (pwah-sohng)

Vertébré aquatique à branchies se déplaçant dans l’eau à l’aide de ses nageoires.
Aquatic vertebrate with gills, which moves about in the water with the help of it’s fins. A fish.

Comme le poisson dans l’eau
like a fish in the water, at ease, right at home

Comme un poisson sur la paille
like a fish out of water (lit. on the hay/straw)

Le poisson d’eau douce
freshwater fish

Noyer le poisson
To drown the fish. This expression is from the 20th century meaning to confuse or bamboozle someone into yielding or forgetting something; comparable to when a fisherman who has hooked a fish lets it jump in and out of the water in order to wear it out, making it easier to land.

Poisson d’avril
First of April joke

Théâtre - Comédie & humour

LA FEMME SANS L'HOMME EST COMME UN POISSON SANS BICYCLETTE
"Woman without man is like a fish without a bicycle." - title playing in theaters this spring in France. :)

Re: poisson

One must be sure to pronounce it correctly! You must emphasize the "ss" or else you end up with "poison", which is pronouced the same except for less "s"

poisson- pwa-'SSON = fish

poison- pwa-'zon = poison

You wouldn't want to invite your buddies to go out poisoning!