Word up Your French: claque

It's been established that the English language borrowed many words from French. However sometimes they don't quite mean the same thing in both languages. Claque is one fine example of that.

What exactly does it mean?

Claque (noun), is a polysemic word so it's no wonder why the meaning was distorted.

Yes indeed, it used to describe a group of people who were hired to applaud at a performance, much like we do nowadays with crowd-warmers (in French, quite literaly, we call them chauffeurs de salle - which has nothing to do with heating systems) because artists need a little love, too, however artificial. However, in French, nobody would use 'claque' to refer to those people going "Ooooh" and "Aaaah" and "HAHAHA". No, cold, hard fact: in French, a claque is no more than a slap.

Incidentelly, French people also use the word 'claqué' to say they're very tired, as if fatigue had literally slapped them in the face.

Where does this amazing word come from?

Then again, it's all very logical. The etymology of 'claque' is the onomatopoeia KLAK (it's pronounced the same by the way), which is basically the sound you make when you... clap. Your own hands or a face, let's face it, it's all the same.

Now how am I supposed to use it?

Contrary to English, the French language isn't too keen on turning nouns into verbs, so you'll have to throw many words in your sentence if you want it to make sense, resulting in: "Il m'a donné une claque" ('He gave me a slap').

Oh and if you want to sound young and hype, you can also say "Ça claque !", meaning it rocks, it's amazing, it's fantastic and you're impressed.

Mom - Have you noticed my new hairdo? Me - Yes mom, it's a visual slap in the face, but very positive. Ça claque !

#WordupyourFrench