This is the Business English Podcast, episode 223.
Don't get tongue twisted by these French words in English.
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Hey, Lindsay, how's it going? Hey, Aubrey.
I'm feeling great. How are you today? Excellent.
I'm excited for this because it's part two of a really interesting series.
Part one was over on the All Ears English podcast.
That was an amazing episode. That was a great one.
That was episode last week, 2138 of All Ears English.
Are you making these French pronunciation errors?
So if you did not catch that part one, you may actually want to go back Follow Allers English and listen to 2138 and then come back here and continue this episode.
Right, Aubrey? Yes, absolutely. Because all of the ones we shared over there, we have a tendency to pronounce these incorrectly.
And we also use them in business English.
But the ones we're focusing on today in part two are used almost exclusively at work.
Right. So the interesting thing is today we're talking about French, but we're not talking about French.
We're talking about business English. Exactly.
Words that we have loaned from French, loan words from French that we use at work in business English.
But some of them are a bit of a tongue twister.
They're a little difficult to pronounce.
Tongue twister. Aubrey, what is a tongue twister?
Yes, anything, any word that is a little difficult to pronounce, which I feel like just at the top of this episode, I've stumbled over a couple of words.
So those could be considered tongue twisters.
Some words are just more difficult to say, like entrepreneur, hors d'oeuvres, like a couple we're going to focus on today.
A lot of people, when they go to say it, even native English speakers will stumble on it a little bit.
So an example of a tongue twister, Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Or what else, Aubrey? What else is a tongue twister?
She sells seashells by the seashore. There are some fun tongue twisters.
It's a sentence that intentionally has words that will make you trip up. or how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood oh yes i think i got that one actually well done i have a response for that one my kids are always really impressed i say i would chuck would chuck all the wood chuck could chuck if it would chuck could chuck wood and they're like wow they are super impressed i love it as we are too i love that so good guys if you love our style here dollars english hit that follow button and remember go back and get part one of that episode of this series so let's get into part two today of this topic many french words are often used in business english we want to make sure that you're able to pronounce them correctly and that doesn't mean that you pronounce them in french or can speak french we anglicize these we take them in english and we have our ours and they sometimes are pronounced a little differently in the uk than in the us we're focused on american pronunciation today and just to help you sometimes these you'll have to drill because they are difficult to say you'll need to repeat them a few times before you are no longer stumbling over them yeah super interesting and we're going to get into it in just a minute guys but we did have a poll and we think the results of this particular poll are interesting guys remember if you listen on spotify you can respond to our polls and participate make your voice heard yes what's our poll question This one had a record number of responses.
A lot of people responded. So you guys were clearly very interested in this and wanted to share your opinions.
The question was, does your manager give you the big picture at work?
I can understand why we're passionate about this, especially because the results were pretty split.
Right, Lindsay? Interesting. And we talked about how important that is to understand the context of why we're your managers asking you to do things, they should give you the big picture.
But yeah, the results were yes was 57%. Yes, you do get the big picture from your manager.
And no was 43. So there's still a good chunk 43% of our listeners are kind of being given tasks, but not quite knowing why or how it fits into everything. which is not good.
It's not good. I can imagine some frustration from everyone who clicked no there.
And I know we said in that episode, if you missed it, it was 205 here, the Business English Podcast, Don't Be Simple in Business, Linking Phrases for Complex Grammar.
And we gave some strategies and some phrases of what you could say to a manager or a CEO, a boss, if you feel like you don't have the big picture and you need it in order to be successful with the tasks you're given.
Yeah, we're going to come back to that topic.
We're going to flag that one as being really interesting for you guys in the business world.
And maybe we'll build a course around that topic or something related this spring.
Let's just see what we get into. All right, let's dive into our vocabulary here.
We have four French words that we use in business English.
All of them can be a little difficult to say.
So the first one is repertoire. How do you say it, Lindsay?
Yours might be a little harder. I have a hard time not just saying it in French.
It's because you're fluent in French. It must be hard for you, right?
We've touched on this before. Hard to say it with the, as you said, anglicized kind of accent.
So I say repertoire. Repertoire. Perfect.
So your R in the middle is also still quite soft, right?
Repertoire. In the middle, yeah. I don't really, I don't take, it's because I say it fast, right?
Taking the time to say repertoire, it takes too long.
Repertoire. I almost take out the R in the middle.
Exactly. So you might have trouble spelling this word if you're hearing native speakers say repertoire and you don't hear that R in the middle.
You might see this word spelled and have no idea how to even go about saying it.
So this is a pronunciation and vocabulary episode today, right?
Repertoire. And what does this mean, Lindsay?
Totally. So this, I like this use of the word stock, a stock of skills or types of behavior that a person habitually uses.
So like a set of skills is something else we could say, right?
Creating a slide deck is definitely in your repertoire.
So we'll assign that to you for this project, right?
Yes. A set of skills or a stock of skills.
Exactly. Something that you're good at. We'll say this is in your repertoire.
Yeah. I mean, you added last quarter to your repertoire, Aubrey, the ability to create little videos in Canva for TikTok and for Instagram, right?
You were doing some stuff where you built some new skills around that, social media, that kind of thing.
Right. Those clips you guys see on social media where you have text and then voiceover, maybe background.
We did some amazing, fun ads for Rosetta Stone and I was able to create, yeah, I get a little creative and add that to my repertoire making these little social media videos hey guys so that's a great use of that right there perfect example right exactly and someone if they're given a skill that they haven't done before they don't feel strong in that skill you could say that's not exactly in my repertoire but i'll give it a shot this reminds me of an episode you and michelle did recently about ways to say you'll try something right to give it a go to give it a shot this is so positive even if you don't feel like it's in your set of skills to say i'll try well and this is definitely our recommendation pretty much wherever you work don't say that's not my job exactly especially especially if you work in a small company because if you work in a small company every job is your job okay right everyone's filling in the gaps learning the skills they need to yeah to help push the needle forward as we say right If you work in a Fortune 500 or a huge company, then your job does become a lot more narrow.
So that would be maybe a different conversation.
But I would definitely be open to learning things and show that in your words, guys, right?
Absolutely. This is a great phrase for that.
Oh, that's not in my repertoire, but I'm going to learn how to do that. there you go everyone likes that attitude right love it yeah all right is liaison i think i did that the correct anglican way you have to unlearn your french accent exactly right in english we say liaison and this is a person who establishes and maintains communication between two either people or companies so we have we're creating like a mutual understanding or cooperation and the liaison is the person who does that Yeah, and there are a lot of ways this gets used.
For example, we need someone to be a liaison between our company and this client.
Or can you speak to the press liaison? And this means there's some kind of representative from the press that you would need to give some information to.
And just to expand our use of this, I know that sometimes classroom liaison, like a parent liaison between the teacher and the kids or the classroom.
I also know that in the court, like my mom, when she was a professional, she was a child psychologist, like a developmental psychologist.
Right. And she served for a few years as a volunteer court liaison for kids that were like, didn't have homes and you know, like we're in foster care.
She was the liaison between the kids and the court helping them.
Yes. That's such a perfect example, right?
Anyone who is creating better communication between two other entities, whether that's individuals or companies, that person is liaison that creates that better relationship.
Exactly. See details online. okay let's get into it my favorite word entrepreneur yes this is a good one and you will hear a few variations on this you might hear exactly like lindsay just said i also will hear more entrepreneur have you heard that oh yeah you hear lots of iterations on this word it's really interesting actually even from just native speaking people in the u.s people have their own spin on this word you're right i've heard entrepreneur i've heard entrepreneur, what else?
Right. Entrepreneur, I don't know. Yes. And so one good thing to keep in mind is you're not alone if you have trouble pronouncing this word.
As long as you're getting close and you're understood, that's the goal, right?
And of course, you wouldn't want to correct someone if you hear entrepreneur and you're like, I think it's entrepreneur.
No, no. Our advice is generally avoid that.
Exactly. Don't be that person. We talked about this before, right?
So for example, the CEO was an entrepreneur from a very young age, right?
This is just a person who organizes, manages, assumes the risks of a business, right?
Someone who is entrepreneurial minded is often thinking about their next new startup, their next new business.
Right. Yes. Right. Exactly. I used an adjective there, entrepreneurial, which is how we use this word to describe a person.
We could say, she has always been entrepreneurial or entrepreneurial-minded.
Yeah. And sometimes this word, it's even more interesting for our listeners at the super high level to take the word entrepreneurial and apply it outside of business.
You can be entrepreneurial in a lot of different areas, right?
Exactly. Even if you're not... owner of a company you can be entrepreneurial in the way you think as an employee or in your community i think we could stretch this word a little bit and have some fun with it don't you think yes that's true that's an interesting way to think about it right it's not just about starting an actual business you know the kids on the corner with the lemonade stand they're entrepreneurial or the bake sale right they're just thinking of like how can i do something to um create a product or or sell something yeah Yeah.
So good. So good. All right. Number four is fun.
Yes. This is interesting. It's hors d'oeuvres.
That's how we say it in the US. I looked up the British pronunciation.
It's much closer to how you say it in French, hors d'oeuvres.
So they say of instead of the herbs like we say.
Makes more sense because British English is often a softer R.
Right. And it just makes more sense for, yeah, it works.
So this is appetizers that are passed around by servers at fancy events.
Or this could be like, you know, I think when you host a party, you might use this word at home, at your house, even if it's not super fancy, you might say, what should we have for hors d'oeuvres?
Exactly. Right. To just mean appetizers.
Yeah. We're wanting to just kind of be fancy.
But as far as at work at a work event, that's when you say, would you like an hors d'oeuvre?
And it's likely someone showing you to the appetizers or maybe passing them around.
I had a work event. Yeah, that wouldn't be our work event.
That's for sure. But yes, I have been to holiday parties with my partner and there we get, we do get, you know, or sometimes there are hors d'oeuvres, fancier things.
It reminds me of the scene on Love Actually, if you guys have seen it, when he's the server and he's passing them around and then he starts making fun of them accidentally to the caterer.
And she's like, I made that, I cooked that.
I love that scene. I love it. So funny. Oh my God.
Okay. Good stuff. So guys, yeah, watch out for this.
So the way we pronounce this hors d'oeuvres, which the main thing that's tricky here is when you look at it spelled, spelled in French, hors d'oeuvres, it looks nothing like how we pronounce it.
So it might be, if you're reading it, you might struggle a little bit there, but if you've heard it spoken quite a bit, then you'll know you can just say hors d'oeuvres in the U.S.
All right, so let's ask our listeners a poll question.
Send them to the polls right now. Go to the polls, guys, right?
Go answer in Spotify. We want to know, which do you find more difficult to pronounce, entrepreneur or hors d'oeuvres? interesting question i love it go over vote for that poll and you will hopefully see the results at some point in the future we'll let you know what the results are with you yes what was the result okay in this role play aubrey what are we doing you and i just ran into each other at a gala which is usually like a big fancy fundraiser yes all right here we go so we're probably in heels walking around all right no heels i'm in flat I can't wear flats.
I'm too short. Yeah, right. You're in heels.
Yeah, I'm in heels. I'll start us out. With painful feet.
Yes, exactly. These hors d'oeuvres are delicious.
Oh, they really are. So what are you doing these days?
I heard you're an entrepreneur. I did start a company, yes, but I'm actually in the process of selling it.
Luckily, my attorney is a great liaison for the buyer.
Exciting. Always good to have an attorney that has it in their repertoire.
That's exactly right. What about you? What are you up to these days?
Nice. Great conversation. Very native and natural, don't you think?
Absolutely. Yes. I love this to start the conversation by commenting on the hors d'oeuvres.
When in doubt, just say they're delicious, even if you hate them because you might be talking to the caterer. yeah as as that guy learned in love actually yeah um so you said those you know these are those are delicious right and then and then i transitioned right and i agreed with you and i said yeah yeah they are so what are you doing these days and using so as a transition point is interesting right that could be a great episode the future that our listeners won't want to miss maybe we we go into that aubrey another day exactly because it would be a little harsh to just stop and say they really are what are you doing these days right so transitions into i'm going to ask you something else here we're transitioning to a new topic Yeah.
So then I said, I heard you're an entrepreneur, right?
Yes. And then I mentioned I'm selling my company and my attorney is acting as liaison.
Nice. And then I said, exciting. Always good to have an attorney that has it in their repertoire, meaning what is it?
Yeah. Has that in their repertoire. I saw that and I said it.
That would be weird to say, has it in their repertoire?
It was weird. Has that, because you're referring to them being a liaison for this sale.
Right, exactly. And I also want to note for a bonus tip for our listeners today, I said, exciting, always good to have XYZ.
What did I leave out there? I left out, it's always good, right?
You just went into always good. Right. You're dropping the subject and the verb, right?
You don't need to say it's or it is always good to have an attorney, even though this is clearly a work event.
It's clearly a very fancy party. Our conversation is still going to be a little more informal because whenever we have those in-person conversations, this is how we speak.
Of course. We're dropping subjects and verbs.
We're still using contractions. Right, right.
And that's real English right there, guys.
Native, natural English. Of course, we know, even if we're at a very fancy event, your small conversation of two or three people, if you know them well, could be more casual, right?
Absolutely. Yeah. And even if you don't know them well, that's what's really fascinating about English.
You could meet someone for the first time and you still might say, always good to... You might still drop the subject verb.
You might still use a little slang or a contraction because this is just how we speak and spoken English.
It's fascinating. And I think there's a time element here too.
I think this is just the way English is kind of progressing, that people are dropping that subject and verb more and more often.
I'm even seeing it in ads, not in this exact way, but written on billboards in places.
Like it's just time going on in English developing, I think, becoming more casual.
Yeah. At least in the US, maybe not quite as much in other English speaking countries or might be happening there as well.
It's interesting to think about. Where should we leave our listeners today?
What's the takeaway? Well, we definitely don't want you to be intimidated by French words in English.
Keep in mind that we also don't pronounce them with a French accent.
Even me, I'm fluent in French. I know that this should be hors d'oeuvre, but I'm still going to say hors d'oeuvres because I'm in the US and that's how we just anglicize it here.
Okay, nice. I like it. And you know, maybe another day we'll bring in other words that we have before.
We'll do that again. Bring in words from other languages too, guys.
But we've talked about French today. And Aubrey, thanks for hanging out with me on the show.
Yes, so fun. We'll see you next time. Talk soon.
Bye. Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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