Improprieties, clichés and other oddities of the French language

As with all languages, the French language has evolved in line with trends and cultural influences, whether on social networks, in the media or in everyday conversations. To decipher these linguistic trends and usages, Optilingua has put together a small overview of barbarisms, improprieties, clichés and other oddities and curiosities of the French language.

The improprieties of the French language

Impropriety refers to the incorrect use of a word or expression.

Here are some examples of common improprieties in French:

• “loin s’en faut” (instead of loin de là or de tant s’en faut)
• “faute d’attention” (instead of faute d’inattention)
• “tous et chacun”(instead of tout un chacun)
• “en tout et partout” (instead of en tout et pour tout)

Among the incongruities of the French language, we would like to also mention barbarisms and solecisms.

A barbarism is an unusual error, linked to the alteration of the form of a word, to its morphology (whether lexical or grammatical).

Here are some examples of curious barbarisms in the French language:

• “aréoport” (instead of aéroport)
• “enduire en erreur” (instead of induire en erreur)
• “tête d’oreiller” (instead of taie d’oreiller)
• “disgression” (instead of digression)
• “dilemne” (instead of dilemme)
• “il mourrira d’ennui” (instead of il mourra d’ennui)
• “infractus” (instead of infarctus)
• “assis-toi” (instead of assieds-toi)
• “l’eau bouille” (instead of bout)
• “asérique” (instead of astérisque)

A solecism is a syntactic misuse of a word, when the speaker does not respect the rules of syntax (as opposed to a barbarism, which only concerns the form of the word).

Here are some examples of solecisms in the French language:

• “bien qu’il est tard” (instead of bien qu’il soit tard)
• “le problème que je veux parler” (instead of le problème dont je veux parler)
• “se rappeler de quelque chose” (instead of se rappeler quelque chose)
• “aller au médecin” (instead of aller chez le médecin)
• “habiter sur Paris” (instead of habiter à Paris)
• “ce qu’il a besoin” (instead of ce dont il a besoin)

The clichés of the French language

There are also many clichés in the French language, which are used frequently by most French speakers. The term "poncif" is used to refer to the "ready-made" expressions that are overused.

Here are some examples of French language clichés that are found in everyday conversations, whether in a personal or professional context:

• “du coup”
• “en fait”
• “voilà”
• “silence radio”
• “minimum syndical”
• “pas de soucis”
• “en dernière ligne droite”
• “aller vivre sur (une ville)”
• “monter à Paris”
• “descendre à l’hôtel”
• “avoir un coup de barre”
• “chercher midi à 14 heures”
• “ça fait un bail”
• “c’est dingue”
• “être au courant”
• “se tenir au courant”
• “ça me va”
• “si ça se trouve”

There are also many clichés in the press, such as:

• “même son de cloche”
• “avoir le vent en poupe”
• “à la loupe”
• “dans la tourmente”
• “ne connaît pas la crise”

Answers to your questions about the quirks of the French language