Actually tens of thousands. The article notes that a full 45% of English words derive from French, but says “This article, on the other hand, covers French words and phrases that have entered the English lexicon without ever losing their character as Gallicisms: they remain unmistakably “French” to an English speaker.” Obviously there is a certain amount of subjectivity in deciding what words fit that description.
I just skimmed the list, but I’d be surprised if most American English speakers consider “gaffe” to be unmistakably French. Is it seen that way in Britain?
There were quite a few that I have never heard used in English and some few (I would have included reservoir had it been on the list) that have been fully adopted as English words.
In Quebec, there are a number of French words and phrases that are regularly used in English, but are limited to Quebec. Example: subvention for research grant.
…and some words that I do know have extremely specific uses, and not even in the original sense. (I was aching to pull them up on cul-de-sac, but the article properly notes that the French word for this is* voie sans issue*).
I was actually stopped in my tracks by the first word. “à gogo” is (to the best of my knowledge) almost never used in English except in gogo dancer and Whisky-a-gogo. So it’s a very strange inclusion.
My feeling is that a lot of this list comes from the* Just Thought Of Another!* school of wiki editing
“We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.” – James Nicoll