French Word of the Day: Machin
Have you ever wondered who the mysterious Monsieur or Madame Machin is?
Why do I need to know machin?
Because it’s French for … whatchamacallit, youknow ... the whatsit.
Machin is one of those tremendous multi-purpose nouns - along the lines of truc, chose, fourbi, or bidule - that almost means what you need it to mean. Who doesn’t need to know a word like that?
It means gizmo, thingy, whatsit, youknow. And knowing it can spare your language blushes in all manner of situations without having to use truc all the time.
You can also use it when talking about someone whose name you have temporarily forgotten - similar to yer man, or whatsisname.
Use it like this
Donnez-moi ces machins - pass me those thingies
J’ai vu Monsieur Machin à la Poste, le mec qui travaille au bar - I saw whatsisname at the post office, the one who works at the bar
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Why do I need to know machin?
Because it’s French for … whatchamacallit, youknow ... the whatsit.
Machin is one of those tremendous multi-purpose nouns - along the lines of truc, chose, fourbi, or bidule - that almost means what you need it to mean. Who doesn’t need to know a word like that?
It means gizmo, thingy, whatsit, youknow. And knowing it can spare your language blushes in all manner of situations without having to use truc all the time.
You can also use it when talking about someone whose name you have temporarily forgotten - similar to yer man, or whatsisname.
Use it like this
Donnez-moi ces machins - pass me those thingies
J’ai vu Monsieur Machin à la Poste, le mec qui travaille au bar - I saw whatsisname at the post office, the one who works at the bar
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