# Do you use the word froufrou? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 23, 2022, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417 "2022-07-23T08:31:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/21 "2022-07-23T15:58:59Z")
> [@digs](#): > > 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. But it can be fun and educational to share old phrases with the younger crowd. A group was asking me how my new car ran and I told them “It runs like a raped ape up a tree!”. Two people got it and the other two were most interested in where that came from. My young boss even wrote it down on his whiteboard. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/22 "2022-07-23T16:00:45Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > I only use the word in a set phrase: “froufrou drink”. Which is any drink with more ingredients than “single-malt” and “water”. So tequila and soda with a twist of lime is a ‘frou-frou drink’? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/23 "2022-07-23T16:02:09Z")
Of course. You can’t spell “fruit” without “frou”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/24 "2022-07-23T16:02:47Z")
There are some Texans who would disagree with you. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/25 "2022-07-23T16:06:13Z")
They’re Texans. They’re wrong by definition. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/26 "2022-07-23T16:10:16Z")
Yeah, but… Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/27 "2022-07-23T16:13:40Z")
Non-native Californian and I use it very occasionally. Have no idea where I first heard it or picked it up, but it was certainly a long time ago. Never occurred to me it might be obscure - whenever I have used it people seem to know what I mean, but I suppose it could just be context. ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/28 "2022-07-23T17:04:06Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > So tequila and soda with a twist of lime is a ‘frou-frou drink’? Like **gnoitall** I also use the phrase “frou-frou drink” but usually only to describe a beverage with a lot of fruit garnishes and maybe a little umbrella, or one with mulitiple liqueurs or juices added to a basic booze and given a fancy name like “Corpse Reviver” or “Blackberry Bramble” (both of those on the menu of a restaurant here in St. Louis Missouri). Even a Margarita I would not call a frou-frou drink: but a Chocolate Martini or a Brandy Alexander I would classify as such. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/29 "2022-07-23T17:14:54Z")
> [@jerseymule](#): > > but a Chocolate Martini or a Brandy Alexander I would classify as such. This is reasonable. Everyone who works with the concept of the “froufrou drink” has a different threshold for “frou-frou”. Mine is very low, others’ are welcome to be higher, and yet others may not even consider the concept valid because exotic, complex, fruity or highly decorated drinks may be what they consider to be normal drinks. I know that this is a controversial position to espouse in IMHO, but as in all things subjective, YMMV. From the philological/linguistic perspective, however, it would appear that the setphrase “froufrou drink” may be independent of “froufrou” as a general adjective. I certainly never use that word outside of its phrase, and if I hear that word in a different context I’m still going to decode it as “froufrou like a froufrou drink”. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/30 "2022-07-23T17:16:33Z")
I was a bit taken aback to see a thread about the rustling sound petticoats make (surely petticoats are not a thing in the 21th century?). Does the term have another meaning in US English? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/31 "2022-07-23T17:19:10Z")
I’m from the East coast, I know the word and I’m sure I’ve used it, I wouldn’t be surprised by anyone else using it. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/32 "2022-07-23T17:22:13Z")
Ohio. I use it. I tend to say fancy more these days. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/33 "2022-07-23T18:16:42Z")
> [@jerseymule](#): > > given a fancy name like “Corpse Reviver” I know I’d heard of this drink. It was invented in 1863 in Paris. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/34 "2022-07-23T18:28:32Z")
West coast here, I use it. Mostly when talking about drinks, but also when discussing special cleaning “The big boss from up-state will be here on Friday, we need to frou-frou this place up.” Nobody has ever indicated lack of understand but that could just be because they got it from content. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/35 "2022-07-23T19:10:54Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I thought “Bougie” was the word we were using. “bougies” are candles 🙂 Personally, I pronounce it “bourgeois”. > [@susan](#): > > 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. What is the boundary between figurative or tropical usage and slang? “Frou-frou” meaning “showy” is hardly a literal use of the word, but does it rise to the level of slang? Also it may not be a common word, though I too have heard it spoken. > [@Mops](#): > > I was a bit taken aback to see a thread about the rustling sound petticoats make (surely petticoats are not a thing in the 21th century?). Does the term have another meaning in US English? I guess elaborate petticoats are more likely to make frou-frou sounds than other kinds of dresses? Though if people in the 21st century are imagining ostentatious petticoats, or especially if they are not, and talking about frou-frou (a frou-frou drink???) then we are moving firmly in the direction of slang. ETA there is a different French adjective _farfelu_ people may have heard, however that means “bizarre” rather than showy. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2022, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/36 "2022-07-23T20:03:31Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > Does the term have another meaning in US English? This is how I generally use it - from [wikitionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/frou-frou): 2. Highly ornamented, overly elaborate; excessively girly. They ate in a frou-frou restaurant at the top of a skyscraper. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2022, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/37 "2022-07-24T02:12:29Z")
I don’t use it because I find it as hard to pronounce as “rural”. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2022, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/38 "2022-07-24T02:45:19Z")
As, [_The Rural Juror._](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9G9o4yNjwo) ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/39 "2022-07-25T02:46:59Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > So tequila and soda with a twist of lime is a ‘frou-frou drink’? Yes. Sucking a lemon, licking salt, and downing a shot of tequila is not frou-frou. Tequila and soda with a twist is. Just kidding. A drink with a paper umbrella is frou-frou. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417/40 "2022-07-25T02:47:48Z")
I use it all the time. I’ve lived in Illinois, Indiana, Baltimore, Ann Arbor, and D.C. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-the-word-froufrou/968417.md?page=3)