The Routledge Dictionary of Cultural References in Modern French

摘要

Every language has its cultural references, which are immediately familiar to native speakers, but which escape learners of the language. Even after years of learning, one can know what the words mean, but not their connotations. In French "Hussards noirs" means literally "black hussars" but, thanks to a quotation from the writer Charles Peguy, has become a common reference to primary school teachers. This fascinating dictionary has over 3,000 such references, with an indicator of how frequently they are used, and divided into fifteen chapters, which is perhaps a little unusual for a volume describing itself as a dictionary, since dictionaries are normally in one sequence. The references have been culled from three and a half years' analysis of the most popular national newspapers and magazines.