Tommy French: How British First World War Soldiers Turned French into Slang

by Julian Walker

Overview

‘Napoo’, ‘compray’, ‘san fairy ann’, ‘toot sweet’ are anglicized French phrases that came into use on the Western Front during the First World War as British troops struggled to communicate in French. Over four years of war they created an extraordinary slang which reflects the period and brings the conflict to mind whenever it is heard today.

Julian Walker, in this original and meticulously researched book, explores the subject in fascinating detail. In the process he gives us an insight into the British soldiers’ experience in France during the war and the special language they invented in order to cope with their situation.

He shows how French place-names were anglicized as were words for food and drink, and he looks at what these slang terms tell us about the soldiers’ perception of France, their relationship with the French and their ideas of home. He traces the spread of ‘Tommy French’ back to the Home Front, where it was popularized in songs and on postcards, and looks at the French reaction to the anglicization of their language.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526765925
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	05/25/2021
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Julian Walker is a leading authority on First World War slang and manages the international project ‘Languages and the First World War’. He has convened conferences on the subject and lectured and written extensively about it. His previous books include Trench Talk, Languages and the First World War and Words and the First World War. He reckons his own French is about as good as that of the average second lieutenant in 1916.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations viii

Acknowledgements x

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Parley Voo 7

Chapter 2 A Foreign Language 18

Chapter 3 Phrasebooks for Soldiers 28

Chapter 4 Learning and Teaching French 50

Chapter 5 Life's Essentials 70

Chapter 6 Getting On/Off With the French 81

Chapter 7 Soldiering 94

Chapter 8 Building Tommy French 115

Chapter 9 Place, Class and Home 131

Chapter 10 'Ma jolie refugee' - French and the Home Front 143

Chapter 11 'Apray la gare' 160

Chapter 12 Here We Go Again 179

Afterword 185

Notes 190

Bibliography 206

Index 212