CANARD 10 fun duck phrases

You might well have learnt some great French, mastered the past, present and future, maybe more, but enjoying using idiomatic expressions always adds colour and interest to your conversations.

We do it in English, so why not in French? 

Ok - there are so many, but you don’t have to learn them all - just play with the ones that feel like you’d enjoy using! 

“Un temps de canard” for example - it’s used for 6 months of the year in France! So why don’t you as well? 

In this mini-lesson, you’ll see

• 10 fun DUCK phrases

• How to pronounce them

• How to use them - great examples

What does CANARD mean in French?

Have you ever heard this French word? It means duck.

Please, never say the final letter - it’s silent.

Of course, if you are talking about animals or in gastronomy you are right. Canard/duck.

However, this versatile word can refer to other contexts too, and will colour your language just like a French person will.

Let’s dive in… 

When you can’t sing…

You can't sing? Are your notes wrong? Well, you can refer to them as some “canards”. Indeed, a canard is a synonym for a wrong note just like in this example:

• Quand j’essaie de chanter, je fais toujours des canards ! >>> When I try to sing, I always hit the wrong note!

A fun expression when you don’t fit in…

This is an expression French people use quite a lot when they don’t feel comfortable in their environment when they don’t fit in. Think of when you start something new…

Here’s an example:

• Je me sentais un vrai canard boîteux quand j’ai commencé mon travail, tellement je trouvais difficile ce qu’on me demandait de faire sans expérience. >>> I fish out of water when I started my work, such was it difficult what they were asking me to do without any experience.

By the way, the word boîteux means lame. There is a bit of a connection to "lame duck" here!

A “canard” for a rubbish newspaper.

Whenever you are talking about the press, especially about low-quality papers, you need this word.

• canard >>> rubbish (paper).

Let’s see with a concrete example:

• Ce journal ne nous informe pas du tout. Il nous gonfle avec du fake ! C’est un vrai canard ! >>> This newspaper isn’t informing us at all. It’s winding us up with fake news. It’s completely rubbish!

Use this word when it’s fake news.

Just as we have seen, the word canard refers to bad quality or fake news. It always has a negative connotation.

Here’s an illustration:

• Ne lis pas ceci sur Facebook - c’est un vrai canard - c’est une fausse nouvelle. >>> Don’t read this on Facebook - it’s total junk - total false news.

This object looks like a duck.

Let’s go back to concrete objects. There’s a cup with the shape of a duck that makes it easy to drink. 

You could say:

• Maman trouve difficile de boire avec ses mains tremblantes. Pourquoi ne pas utiliser un canard - une tasse munie d’un bec qui sert à boire plus facilement. >>> Mum’s finding it hard to drink with her trembling hands. Why not use the duck cup - it’s well adapted with its beak to help her drink easily.

To serve a canard in your beverage…

Let’s continue to talk about drinks. This time, it’s not the recipient but the content that we refer to. 

That’s right! A canard implicates a sugar lump in your favourite beverage. 

Just like that:

• Tu veux un canard pour ton café ? Tu peux le tremper dans ta tasse. >>> Do you want a sugar lump for your coffee? You can dip it into your coffee.

To describe the weather forecast in French.

If you have been to France in winter or fall, you may have heard this one. The word canard to describe the weather when it’s really cold.

See it by yourself:

• Il fait tellement froid qu’on va dire qu’il fait un temps de canard - les canards, aiment bien le froid ! >>> It's so cold that we’ll call it duck weather - ducks, they quite like the cold! 

To describe a person…

As usual, the word expresses something negative and for a person, it describes a weak person that you can easily manipulate.

Here’s an illustration:

• C’est un vrai canard, cet homme: il court derrière cette femme et elle le sait. Elle accepte ses cadeaux et le manipule. >>> This man is a real duck: he’s always following this woman and she knows it. She accepts his gifts and manipulates him!

So, there you go . . . the first meaning of canard is duck, but you can play with it to describe a person, a newspaper, a false note, a cup, the weather, fake news…

A language becomes even more interesting when you master other meanings of a single word, play with them, and use them in context yourself. It's so REWARDING!

Which one is your favourite? 

And if you're hungry for more . . .here you go:

Have a look at these synonyms as well:

10 French expressions to say you’ve had enough

Learn more fun expressions like these:

6 French expressions to say “It’s been ages”

You can learn more expressions like this in this article:

Don’t say the wrong “OK” in French.