Would we suspect it? When we use the word "vest", we use a Turkish word, which means "sleeveless tank top". When you use a glass of "vodka", you speak Russian. The word comes from voda "water". By going to a "cafeteria", you enter a Hispanic-American place which originally designated a "shop where you sell coffee".
Just speak to travel. The French language proves it to us every day. But who remembers the origin of these words which today constitute our idiom? The formula “tchin-tchin” comes from China, “karaoke” comes from Japanese and “nuoc-mam” derives from a Vietnamese term which means “fish water, brine”.
Will you go to the end of this test on words from elsewhere? Le Figaro invites you to discover it.
