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TERMINOS DEL FRANCES. Interesante artículo que presenta una serie de vocablos de origen francés utilizados en el idioma inglés.
Para tu comodidad, hemos intercalado un vocabulario bilingüe a lo largo del audio-texto (términos ingleses en celeste y términos franceses en amarillo). Descarga el audio a tu reproductor portátil y practica inglés mientras viajas.
Pulsa la palabra "AUDIO" para escuchar. Para descargar acerca la flecha del ratón a "AUDIO" y con
botón derecho selecciona la opción "Guardar Archivo (o Destino) Como" y guarda el archivo en tu computadora. |
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FRENCH WORDS IN ENGLISH |
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Now, the VOA Special English
program "Words and Their Stories". |
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A listener from Venezuela
sent us a question about the
meaning of the expression
mayday. He wrote that he often
hears this expression in movies. |
sent us: nos envió; mayday: llamada de socorro; hears: oye; |
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Mayday is an emergency code word. It is used around the world in voice communications. You might see a war movie in which an airplane has been hit by rocket fire. The pilot gets on his radio and calls “mayday, mayday, mayday” to tell that his plane is in danger of crashing to the ground. |
emergency code word: código de emergencia; you might see: podría ocurrir que tú veas; rocket fire: proyectil; crashing to the ground: estrellarse, caer a tierra; |
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Mayday has nothing to do with the month of May. It comes from the French expressions venez m’aider or m’aidez which mean “help me.” |
has nothing to do with: no tiene nada que ver con; venez m'aider: vengan a socorrerme (come help me); m'aidez: socorro, ayúdenme (help me); |
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Frederick Stanley Mockford
created the mayday
call signal in the
1920s. Mockford was a radio officer at Croydon Airport in London.
He was asked to
think of a word that could be used in an emergency. The word had to be easily
understood by all pilots and airport workers. Much of the air traffic
at that time was
between Croydon Airport and Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France. So he
proposed the
word mayday. |
call signal: señal de llamado; he was asked to: le pidieron que; at that time: en esa época; proposed: propuso, sugirió; |
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Today, many groups use the word
to mean a
life-threatening
emergency. The call is always given three times
to prevent mistaking
it for some similar
sounding words. |
to mean: para expresar; life-threatening emergency: emergencia que entraña riesgo de muerte; to prevent mistaking it: para evitar confundirla; similar sounding words: palabras de sonido parecido; |
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Many other French words are
commonly used in English. One of these words is even in the Special English Word
Book. It is sabotage.
It means to damage
or destroy as an
act of subversion against an
organization or nation. |
sabotage: sabotaje (deliberate act of destruction); to damage: dañar; to destroy: destruir; act of subversion: hecho subversivo; |
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You may have heard the term
laissez-faire
to describe a kind of economic or political policy. It means to leave alone
and not interfere.
It was first used in France in the 18th century. |
laissez-faire: dejar hacer, libre cambio (política no intervencionista); not interfere: no interferir; |
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In the business world,
entrepreneur
is another French word. It means a person who starts and operates a new business
and has responsibility for any
risks involved. |
entrepreneur: emprendedor (que inicia un proyecto propio); for any risks involved: por todos los riesgos implicados (en su proyecto); |
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Many French words are used in the
arts. For example, a film
noir is a movie about murder and other crimes. These films
were popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Anything in art, music or literature which
is very modern or
ahead of its time is called
avant-garde. |
film noir: cine negro (visión cínica de la vida a través de actos de delincuencia); ahead of its time: adelantado a su tiempo; avant-garde: de vanguardia; |
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If you are looking for a job, you must prepare your resumé. This document lists all of your education, skills and experience. Something that is one of a kind and like no other thing is called unique. |
looking for: buscando; resumé: CV, curriculum vitae; lists: enumera; skills: habilidades; one of a kind: único en su género; unique: irreemplazable, único; |
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The French are famous for their food. All cooks need to know how to sauté. This is frying something quickly in a small amount of oil or butter. When you are eating at a restaurant, the server may tell you bon appétit, which means good appetite, or enjoy your meal. And if you go away, someone may wish you bon voyage or have a good trip. |
sauté: rehogar, sofreir, saltear; frying: freír, fritar; server: camarero; bon appétit: buen provecho; if you go away: si te vas de viaje; bon voyage: buen viaje; |
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This program was written by Shelley Gollust. I'm Faith Lapidus. |
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