# Is the use of ‘de la carte’ (on the menu”) bad French?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-use-of-de-la-carte-on-the-menu-bad-french/948066>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 5, 2021, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-use-of-de-la-carte-on-the-menu-bad-french/948066 "2021-08-05T02:04:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-use-of-de-la-carte-on-the-menu-bad-french/948066/21 "2021-08-08T19:50:22Z")

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Your life-long interpretation is correct: à la carte means you order the dishes you want from a list. The “carte” (des mets) is the list of what you may order. However, it should be clear whether you are looking at just a list of items and their prices, or whether you may order an appropriate “menu” or “formule”, which may have a few options like @doreen describes. As for the “menu”, a simple one would be, e.g., one entrée + one main dish + dessert/cheese for a fixed price which may be significantly cheaper than ordering each item separately. If your party wanted an extra salad, or if drinks are not included, then you would order them à la carte. The distinction being made is à la carte ⟷ à prix fixe (even if, strictly speaking, the fixed-price menu had a couple of options)

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**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2021, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-use-of-de-la-carte-on-the-menu-bad-french/948066/22 "2021-08-09T02:04:40Z")

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Translation is sometimes confused by the fact that “menu” in English and _menu_ in French have slightly different meanings.

If you’re dining à la carte, there will be a long list of dishes, each individually priced, from which you make your selection. In English this list is referred to as the menu; in French it’s _la carte_.

The alternative is _table d’hôte_; a set meal for a fixed price with relatively few options, or none at all. _Le menu_ is the list of components of the set meal.

In other words, _le menu_ doesn’t carry any connotation of choice; it’s just detailed particulars of the meal that you will be served. Whereas in English “menu” suggests a list of options; the whole point of the menu is to inform you of the choices open to you, and it has come to be used in that sense in a wide range of contexts that have nothing to do with dining.

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**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-use-of-de-la-carte-on-the-menu-bad-french/948066/23 "2021-08-12T13:46:38Z")

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They can do whatever they want with la carte, as long as the menu promises me a big container of _au jus_. 🤩

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