Hubby’s from the east coast and I’m from the west coast. I use the word froufrou / frou-frou / frou frou quite often, but he still finds it weird.
I don’t think this is a east coast / west coast thing, but I could be wrong.
Anybody else?
I use it *liberally and I grew up in Iowa, so I don’t think it is a coastal thing.
*of course I do most everything liberally. That’s the cut of my jib.
The OED quotes the word’s use by several English novelists. It is not marked as regional.
I use it occasionally. I’m an east coaster, but I never thought of it as regional.
I’m in the UK and every time I go to the hairdresser’s, it’s referred to as “getting froufrou’d”.
It feels pejorative to my ears even if it’s not.
Should I?
I thought “Bougie” was the word we were using.
I’m clearly not sitting at the cool kids’ table.
Nou-nou.
Native Californian, now living in Washington. I don’t use the word froufrou, and have very rarely heard other people use it.
Never heard of it. I had to look up the definition just now.
Native Californian, and I use it occasionally.
I wonder why some people use the word froufrou and others do not. It doesn’t seem to be regional, and the dictionary doesn’t seem to be much help. My parents both use it, and they are both from the midwest, but I know friends of theirs also use it.
In comparison, the same source says that druthers is not regional.
Another really strange thing is that, according to field research done by the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE), using “druthers” as a noun is especially common among people with a college education (though usage of the verb “druther” doesn’t similarly skew along educational levels).
East coast. I’ve heard it in a neutral sense to describe something showy. I wouldn’t expect to hear it frequently unless there’s a slag usage I’m not aware of.
I know what it means, but have never used it.
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(my bolding)
Handy advice for everyone: if you use an odd word or phrase often, you might want to pare back. You could be interrupting the flow of a conversation, and annoying others.
That applies to me as well; I had to go cold turkey and stop using catchphrases from before my students were born.
I don’t think I’ve ever said or written ‘froufrou’, nor do I recall ever hearing it used directly.
I only use the word in a set phrase: “froufrou drink”. Which is any drink with more ingredients than “single-malt” and “water”.
Actually I use it quite often with my husband and parents and certain friends, that is, people I’ve known for decades. I don’t use it with others, as I do consider it slang, which means my non-native-English-speaking coworkers and neighbors won’t understand it.
If I use it with someone who I know might not know it, it’s probably because I’m tired or distracted.
East cost, here -
“Chi-chi Frou-frou”. But only with a select subset of people, most of whom are deceased. So usage is rare.
Dan
I’m familiar with the word but don’t use it often. Not really because of the word but more because I don’t usually talk about things where it’d apply. I’m sure the last time I said it was something dismissive like “…covered with some chintzy froufrou shit…”
Chicago area, by the way. So neither coast applies.
It was a word my parents used more than I ever do, although my college roommate had it as a regular part of his vocabulary.