5 French Words Used In Canadian English: Job Vocabulary, Part I
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Canada is a country that is linguistically divided; in eight and a half provinces and three territories (Anglo-Canada) English is the official language and in one and a half provinces (French Canada / Franco-Canada) French is the official language. Despite this division, there is much crossover between the two tongues, where English influences the French language and French influences the English language.
In this article, we will explore five influences that French has had on the English language, particularly as it relates to types of jobs:
ENTREPRENEUR
Arguably one of the most common professional terms that English has borrowed from French, “entrepreneur” typically means:
(countable noun) a person who creates businesses; a business owner or multi-business owner
FUN FACT
While “entrepreneur” shares the same meaning in both English and French, this word comes from the French verb “entreprendre,” meaning “to undertake,” or “to begin doing” something.
EXAMPLE
“Some people say that if you see a person with ‘entrepreneur’ as their job title on their dating profile that that’s a red flag. Why don’t they be specific? Maybe it’s because they don’t actually have a job, so they are just selling whatever they can to get by and that is their ‘business.’ Because of this common lie–or exaggeration–the word, ‘entrepreneur,’ is getting a bad rep in North America.”
Photo courtesy of Microsoft 365 on Unsplash.
HOTELIER
In Canadian English, this word typically means:
(countable noun) a hotel owner
FUN FACT
In the French language hôtelier serves as both an adjective and a noun. In many contexts it means the same thing as the English definition, but in some contexts it can refer to hospitality.
EXAMPLE
“Business mogul Paris Hilton is the great-granddaughter of one of the most famous hoteliers of America, Conrad Hilton, founder of global brand Hilton Hotels and Resorts.”
Photo courtesy of Gabriel GhnassiaonUnsplash.
CONCIERGE
On the topic of hotels, this word typically has the following meaning in Canadian English:
a front desk secretary of a hotel, condominium, or apartment building
FUN FACT
This is where meaning can sometimes get lost in translation. In the French language, concierge typically refers to a housekeeper or janitor. Due to service staff having held a reputation for being gossipy throughout history, this word has also come to informally mean “a gossip” or “a gossiper,” in the negative sense.
EXAMPLE
“I seem to have lost my keys. One sec, I’m gonna see if I can snag another copy from the concierge before we go. I don’t wanna get locked out.”
Photo courtesy of Zoshua Colah on Unsplash.
RESTAURATEUR
With business still in mind, North American English typically uses this word to mean:
(countable noun) a restaurant owner
NOTE
Since this is a French loan word, Canadian English will observe grammatical gender rules in French when this word is used in English. This means that in Canadian English restaurateur refers to a male restaurant owner and restauratrice refers to a female restaurant owner.
FUN FACT
Once again English loses some of the French meanings of the word it borrows. In the French language, restaurateur can be both an adjective and a noun. As a noun, it refers to two professions: a restaurant owner or a person who restores things (AKA a restorer). As an adjective, depending on context, restaurateur can be translated into English as “reparatory,” “restorative” or “reconstructive.”
EXAMPLE
“Some of the most well known restaurateurs of the anglosphere include Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver and Guy Fieri.”
Photo courtesy of Zakaria Zayane on Unsplash.
SOMMELIER
In Canadian English, this word typically means:
a wine expert
a person who is passionate about wine
FUN FACT
Indeed, French shares the first Canadian English definition here, but there is more meaning to this word in its original language. The French language’s sommelier does not only refer to an expert on wine but also to a server of wine in a fine dining restaurant setting.
EXAMPLES
“We had a fantastic time in the Okanagan! We spent most of our vacation visiting vineyards, learning all about wine from the sommeliers there. It was a blast! At least, I think it was… My memory is a little foggy on some parts…”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m not much a sommelier; I don’t really care for wine. I’m more of a beer guy.”
Photo courtesy of monica di loxley on Unsplash.
Which of these French words did you already know were used in the English language? Are there any other professions that you can think of that originally come from the French language in English? Let me know in the comments below.
