The French have an appreciation for quality living. The enjoyment of fine food, wine, and life’s simple pleasures are an essential part of French culture. Hence the abundance of French terms—such as bon vivant, gourmet, gourmand, connaisseur and more—that capture this ethos. Many of these expressions have filtered into the English language, highlighting the influence of French culture and values. 

Some of these terms are loanwords and are left as is. In France people who enjoy food fall into two broad categories, gourmet and gourmand. Both words convey the idea of enjoying food but in a slightly different way. A gourmet has a more refined taste than a gourmand, who may not have the same knowledge or might enjoy food to excess, especially sweet food:

Ou que vous soyez gourmet ou gourmand, je vous propose aujourd'hui de faire des crêpes

Or whether you're a gourmet or gourmand, today I propose that you make crêpes

Captions 2-3, Le saviez-vous? Comment faire des crêpes

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As a noun, when referring to people, "gourmand" and "gourmet" are considered loanwords and are usually not translated. However, when used as adjectives, they take on different meanings in English depending on context. In this video, la Bretagne gourmande refers to “the foodies of Brittany," which is a more specialized meaning:

Difficile alors d'échapper au Marché des Lices à Rennes; c'est comme si toute la Bretagne gourmande s'y retrouvait.

It's difficult then to escape the Lices Market in Rennes; it's as if all the foodies of Brittany were there.

Captions 4-5, Le Journal Gourmet en Bretagne

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Usually though, the adjective gourmand/gourmande simply refers to someone with a sweet tooth:

Je suis pas très gourmand...

I don't have much of a sweet tooth...

Caption 12, LCM Recette: Crêpes

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In addition, the adjective gourmand can also apply to food itself to mean “delicious.” In his cooking series Whoogy’s, Hugo uses the word gourmand to describe one of his tasty creations, une crème méga gourmande (a mega-tasty cream): 

Pour une crème méga gourmande, on va utiliser de la crème.

For a mega-tasty crème, we're going to use cream.

Captions 34-35, Whoogy's Crème brûlée facile & ultra-onctueuse

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In another video, Hugo describes his mushroom gnocchi dish using this simple phrase: C’est gourmand. Interestingly, gourmand translates as “gourmet” in English here, conveying the idea that Whoogy’s dish is not only delicious but refined:

C'est bon. C'est gourmand.

It's good. It's gourmet.

Captions 9-10, Whoogy's Gnocchis maison faciles (champignons & parmesan)

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Speaking of delicious food, each region of France offers its own variety of gourmandises (treats or delicacies). In this video, a shopkeeper will tempt you with une gourmandise called a madeleine: 

À savoir, une gourmandise, un magnifique gâteau qui est déjà assez ancien et qui se nomme la "madeleine".

Namely, a sweet treat, a magnificent cake that is quite old already and that is called the "madeleine".

Captions 23-25, Lionel La boutique de madeleines de Liverdun - Part 1

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Une gourmandise can also mean a “delicacy” that is not necessarily sweet:

Des gourmandises de toutes sortes vous attendent dans cette épicerie fine.

All kinds of delicacies await you in this delicatessen.

Une gourmandise has a synomym, une friandise. Une friandise more often describes a treat for grownups, although that’s not always the case. In this video, Saint-Nicolas is in charge of giving out friandises to good children:

C'est pour ça qu'il fait le tour, euh... -Des écoles -Des écoles pour donner... des friandises.

This is why he is doing a tour of, uh... -Schools -Schools to give... treats.

Caption 3, Grand Lille TV Focus: la tradition de Saint-Nicolas

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Here is an interesting quote from Mazouz Hacène contrasting the word gourmandise (gluttony) and friandise (delicacy):

Ne sois pas la gourmandise des hommes mais la friandise d’un homme.

Be not the gluttony of men but the delicacy of one man.

Indeed, the word gourmandise spells pleasure and indulgence. When discussing different types of wine in France, this winegrower makes an interesting distinction between vins de garde (wines to keep) and vins de gourmandise (wines to indulge in):

Et ça, c'est plus un vin de garde alors que le "Dentelle" était plus un vin... de gourmandise à boire rapidement.

And this is more of a wine to keep, while the "Dentelle" was more of a wine... to indulge in, to drink quickly.

Captions 17-18, Provence Domaine Rouge-Bleu - Part 1

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Speaking of indulgence, the term "guilty pleasure" comes to mind, but the French prefer to call it a “cute sin” (un péché mignon), sans guilt:

Ça a toujours été mon péché mignon, avec le vin et le fromage.

It's always been my guilty pleasure, along with wine and cheese.

Caption 22, Le Village de la Bière Ceci n'est pas un bar!

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In fact, there is a special word in French and English for people who know how to enjoy life to the fullest. They are called bons vivants (literally, "good living"). According to Merriam-Webster, a bon vivant is "a sociable person who has cultivated and refined tastes especially with respect to food and drink.” According to this video, there is no shortage of bons vivants in the Burgundy region:

Dijon est l'une des capitales de la gastronomie française. Et ses habitants sont réputés pour être de bons vivants. On adore manger ici en Bourgogne.

Dijon is one of the capitals of French gastronomy. And its inhabitants are known for being bons vivants. We love to eat here in Burgundy. 

Captions 73-78, TF1 Info Week-end à Dijon, capitale des ducs de Bourgogne - Part 1

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And people who know a lot about food and wine especially are connaisseurs (with an a—don't let autocorrect change it to the English spelling “connoisseur” when writing in French!). In this humorous video, wannabe cook Isabelle leaves it to un connaisseur to judge her dubious entry in a cooking competition:

C'est un connaisseur, lui.

He's a connoisseur.

Caption 78, Mère & Fille Cuisine Monster

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Finally, here is one expression that is often used in anticipation of a delicious meal:

On va se régaler.

We're going to enjoy it [It's going to be delicious].

Caption 57, Sophie et Patrice Les ustensiles de cuisine

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Sample some of Yabla's food-related videos and learn how to prepare some gourmandises (delicacies). In no time, you will become a connaisseur! Régalez-vous! 

Oldelaf’s latest song featured on Yabla, “Vendredi” (Friday), is a sort of satirical ode to boring weekends: 

Je m'ennuie

I am bored

Je me sens tout chose

I feel peculiar

Captions 42-43, Oldelaf - interprète "Vendredi"

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

You might have been able to guess that je m’ennuie means “I am bored” here because it contains the word ennui, which the English language borrowed from the French as a synonym for “boredom.” But in French, l’ennui and its related words don’t only have to do with being bored. They can also involve being bothered, worried, troubled, or annoyed. In this lesson, we’ll see how these multiple meanings play out—and we promise it won’t be boring!

First, there’s l’ennui, which usually just means “boredom”:

Je meurs d’ennui.
I’m dying of boredom.

However, if you pluralize l’ennui (les ennuis), you don’t get “boredoms,” but “problems” or “troubles”:

On évite certains ennuis.

We avoid certain problems.

Caption 16, Le Village de la Bière - Ceci n'est pas un bar!

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Quant à Socrate, il a de sérieux ennuis.

As for Socrates, he has serious troubles.

Caption 27, Il était une fois: l’Homme - 6. Le siècle de Périclès

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(Speaking of philosophers with ennui(s), there's also l'ennui pascalien, or "Pascalian ennui," named after the seventeenth-century polymath Blaise Pascal. It corresponds to the notion of "existential ennui" in English.)

As we saw in the first example, the reflexive verb s’ennuyer means “to be bored.” But the non-reflexive verb ennuyer can either mean “to bore” or “to bother”:

Ça vous ennuie que je vous photographie?

Will it bother you that I photograph you?

Caption 36, Le Journal - Marion Cotillard

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Marc ennuie ses enfants avec ses longues histoires.
Marc is boring his kids with his long stories.

You’ll have to pay attention to context to determine whether ennuyer means “to bore” or “to bother.” In the case of the examples above, taking a photo of someone is probably more likely to bother them than bore them, and kids are probably more likely to be bored than bothered by their dad’s long stories. That said, sometimes ennuyer can have both meanings at once. For example, you could say that Marc is bothering his kids by boring them with his long stories. You could also say that he is annoying them—in fact, the word “annoy” is etymologically related to the word “ennui,” which should make this additional meaning of ennuyer easier to remember.

Context is also key with other ennui derivatives like ennuyeux/ennuyeuse (boring, annoying, tiresome) and ennuyé(e) (bored, annoyed, worried):

Y a rien à dire

There's nothing to say

C'est ennuyeux

It's boring

Captions 39-40, Melissa Mars Music Videos - Et Alors!

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Toutes ses questions sont vraiment ennuyeuses.
All his questions are really annoying.

On peut être fasciné, agacé, déçu,

We can be fascinated, annoyed, disappointed,

énervé par le ton, captivé par l'intrigue

upset by the tone, captivated by the plot,

ou tout bêtement ennuyé...

or, quite simply, bored...

Captions 29-30, Manon et Clémentine - Vocabulaire du livre

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Tu as l’air ennuyé. Mais ne t’inquiète pas! Tout ira bien.
You look concerned. But don’t worry! Everything will be all right.

Hopefully you aren’t bored, annoyed, bothered, or worried at the moment, but if you are, Oldelaf’s new video is a perfect antidote to all the various shades of ennui!

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

And for more information on the usage and history of the word "ennui" in English, check out this interesting article. 

Who doesn't like to quietly sip a beer?

...s'attabler au comptoir et boire tranquillement sa bière...

...sit at the counter and quietly sip his beer...

Captions 11-12, Le Village de la Bière - Ceci n'est pas un bar!

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

But at the Village de la Bière, in Strasbourg, a sip is all that you are going to get, as this emporium of brew has only une licence-dégustation (tasting license). This permits them to supply you with a mere sampling of, for example, une bière brune (dark beer), une bière blonde (light-colored beer), or une bière rousse (brown ale), before you settle on the bouteille de bière (bottle of beer) that most meets your approval. (You won't find many canettes de bière or "cans of beer" in this establishment!)

Owner Alain Pesez is passionate about his calling, and he will guide you through a vast selection:

J'ai entre trois et quatre cents sortes de bières...

I have between three and four hundred kinds of beers...

un assortiment qui bouge, qui varie et on vend de la bière

a selection that changes, that varies, and we sell beer

des quatre coins du monde.

from the four corners of the world.

Captions 6-7, Le Village de la Bière - Des bières de partout

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Stocking over three hundred types of beer in one single shop is no small feat! We might even say, Ce n'est pas de la petite bière! On the surface, we might read that as, "This is not a little beer!" but, in actuality, this expression means "It's no small thing / It's no small matter" or "It's really something / It's a big deal." The expression dates back to the eighteenth century, when une petite bière was a weak, poor-quality beer, created by reusing the grains from an earlier batch.

The phrase can not only imply that a matter is significant, but also that something or someone is of high caliber, of quality.

Un Nikon, c'est un très bon appareil photo. Ce n'est pas de la petite bière.

A Nikon is a very good camera. It's not a piece of junk.

These days, you might drink a high-quality bière pression (draft beer) to accompany a tarte flambée at your local Flam's:

Donc c'est tout de suite plus sympathique accompagnée

So it's nicer right away accompanied

d'une petite bière pression.

by a small draft beer.

Caption 28, Le Restaurant "Flam's" - Les tartes

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Bière pression originates in un baril (a barrel/keg) and flows out of le robinet (the tap) and into une chope (a mug). Of course, you might prefer un panaché with your meal: that's a very popular mixture of beer and lemonade.

There is another meaning of bière that has nothing to do with fermenting grains to create a delightful effervescent beverage. The expressions mettre quelqu'un en bière and la mise en bière both refer to placing a body into a bière or "coffin." Note that, apart from these expressions, "coffin" is usually not referred to as une bière, but rather un cercueil.

On that note, remember that life is short! Tune in to these and hundreds of other fun and interesting authentic videos here at Yabla that will help quench your thirst for French mastery!