It took me a while to realise what bonne question actually means in French. Initially, I took it to literally mean “good question” as in English. But it’s not exactly the same.

For example, I asked the following question of an American company recently: “Can you tell me the difference between air conditioning and air treatment?”

The answer came back: “Good question! Air Conditioning typically refers to cooling the air while Air Treatment can refer to cooling, heating, filtering, purifying, humidifying or dehumidifying the air.”

I took that to mean that he thought my question was appropriate and that it was important to know the difference and that he knew what it was.

Now, in French, if someone says bonne question, it usually means that they haven’t the foggiest idea of the answer and are playing for time. They may have a stab (typically French, particularly if you are male) but by saying bonne question, they are telling you that it’s only guess work.

Before writing this post, I checked out the internet just to make sure I wasn’t making it up and was surprised to learn on www.urbandictionary.com that it can have the same meaning in English. Here’s the entry:

“That’s a good question: A phrase usually indicating that the speaker has absolutely no idea how to answer said question. Often used to stall for time.

Photography teacher walking in on students who should be at pep rally: What are you doing here?

Sreya: That’s a good question!”

So there you go. I know that whenever Jean Michel says bonne question that the question has never even occurred to him before and he certainly doesn’t know the answer.

How about you? What is your experience in the matter?

If you enjoyed reading this, don’t forget to subscribe to new posts – that way you’ll get them directly on your smart phone or in your mail box! And I love to hear your comments!

Special is a very special word and very rarely translated by spécial in French and vice versa. Special est un mot très particulier qu’on traduit rarement par spécial en français et vice versa. Now that’s an easy meaning to translate. What is more difficult in finding an equivalent term when we want to talk about a special day or a special friend.

The Chambers Dictionary gives as synonyms: particular, peculiar, distinctive, exceptional, additional to ordinary, detailed, intimate, designed for a special purpose and confined or mainly applied to a particular subject. So first you’ll have to decide why your day or friend is special. You’d probably talk about une journée exceptionnelle and une amie intime.

A special offer, on the other hand, is quite simply une promotion.

So what does spécial mean? Does it ever have the same meaning in French and English?  Yes, in certain cases, it does.

Il a reçu une formation spéciale = He was given special training.

Elle a bénéficié d’une faveur spéciale = She was given a special favour.

Comme il n’y pas de conduite assistée, conduire une voiture ancienne c’est spécial = With no power steering, driving an old car can be challenging.

But spécial can have an entirely different meaning when applied to people. If we were to say elle est vraiment spéciale, I would mean that her mentality or behaviour is not within the norm. She has a strange/bizarre way of acting/looking at things. It is definitely not a compliment!

Spécial can also mean deviant. Il a des moeurs spéciales means that he has certain tendencies not elaborated upon and is a euphemism.

And, of course, huîtres spéciales are those lovely juicy oysters fattened in small numbers in deep oyster parks which have a sort of sweet salty lingering taste called noisette (hazelnut) in French.

Do you have other examples of special and spécial?