In her latest video, Patricia gives us an overview of French synonyms, or words with the same basic meaning but different nuances and intensities. To demonstrate, she illustrates some examples of synonyms for "happy" and "angry." She repeatedly uses the expression être fou/folle de (to be mad or wild with) to describe the more intense degrees of those emotions:

Elles sont folles de bonheur.

They are mad with happiness.

Caption 40, Le saviez-vous? - Les synonymes

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You can use this expression to heighten just about any word describing an emotion:

Ils sont extatiques, fous de joie, béats.

They are ecstatic, overjoyed, blissful.

Captions 37-39, Le saviez-vous? - Les synonymes

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Elles sont folles de colère, folles de rage, horripilées.

They are wild with anger, raging mad, incensed.

Captions 52-54, Le saviez-vous? - Les synonymes

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Or, you can use it with any other noun or pronoun to describe something or someone you're "crazy about": 

Non, je ne suis pas fou. Je suis seulement fou de vous!

No, I am not crazy. I'm only crazy about you!

Caption 6, Charles-Baptiste - Interview

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...qui montre la vie trépidante des jeunes,

...that shows the hectic life of young people

fous de voitures dans les années soixante-dix.

who are crazy about cars in the seventies.

Caption 8, L'auteur - Bernard Colin

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If you haven't already, check out Patricia's other videos in the Le saviez-vous? series for more of her excellent insights into French language and culture. 

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