Media French. A Guide to Contemporary French Idiom, with English Translations

This new handbook of French idiom, based in part on the author’s previous Newspaper French (1990, 1993), extends beyond the French media and covers the specialized vocabulary and expressions current in the fields of contemporary French administration, economics, politics, society and culture. It is relatively easy to use: entries are in alphabetical order; headwords (with their grammatical class in brackets), as well as their compounds and phrases (expressions, collocations) are printed in bold type and always illustrated in realistic contexts, with their English translations or cultural equivalents (in brackets). No definitions are given: the user has to abstract the basic meaning by generalizing from the examples (e.g. “état”, “échéance(s)”). Cross‐references are used extensively, thus widening the scope and usefulness of the handbook. One might sometimes question the omission of certain words or forms (e.g. “actualités” in the plural (“news”) is not given under “actualité”). And although we are informed that the words and their illustrations are taken from the quality press and communications media, we are not told on what basis they were selected. This lexicon will be an essential tool not only for academics, journalists, businessmen, translators and advanced students, but also for the general reader who wishes to understand the contemporary French scene. However, to make full use of Media French one should have a good reading knowledge of the French language.This handbook complements but does not take the place of standard French dictionaries.