amouracher

Happy Fête des Amoureux*--or Valentine's Day! Don't miss today's column where you will learn more than a dozen ways to say "darling" in French.

amouracher (a-moor-a-shay) verb; s'amouracher de = to become infatuated with, to fall head over heels in love              

Le coeur découvre, la tête invente. The heart discovers, the head invents.-Arthur Cravan

Les Mots Doux ~ Terms of Endearment
It may seem strange that the French, widely regarded as one of the most sophisticated and beautiful people on the globe, use some of the most strange (and not so beautiful) terms to refer to their belle/beau (loved one). Take, for example, "ma puce" which means "my flea" (very popular here); also "mon chou" or "my cabbage" (beau, n'est-ce pas?). Here are a few more original ways to say sweetheart:

mon amour (mohn a-moor) = my love
mon bébé (mohn bay-bay) = baby
ma belle (mah bel) = my beautiful (one)
ma biche (mah beesh) = my doe
ma caille (mah kahy) = my quail
mon canard (mohn ka-nar)= my duck
ma chérie/mon chéri (mah/mohn shay-ree) = my dear
mon chou* (mohn shoo) = my cream puff (sweetie-pie, cupcake)
mon coeur (mohn ker) = my sweetheart
mon lapin (mohn la-pahn) = my rabbit
ma moitié (mah mwa-tyay) = my half
mon poulet (mohn poo-lay) = my chicken
mon trésor (mohn tray-zor) = my treasure
mon poussin (mohn poo-sahn) = my chick
ma puce (mah poose) = my (little flea)
mon sucre d'orge (mohn sookr-dorzh) = my barley sugar
ma petite crotte (mah pteet crot) = my little turd

*from mon chou à la crème

..........................French Vocabulary.........................
la fête des amoureux = the lovers' celebration; une toquade (f) = crush. Read about Max's crush in the book Words in a French Life--coming May 2nd!
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Love Poems, quotations and proverbs in French and English:

Listen: hear the word 'amouracher': Download amouracher.wav

Some related "heart" expressions:
un coup de coeur = a spontaneous attraction (to someone or something)
vider son coeur = to reveal one's feelings

Do you see the heart? And, talk about in theme: that's passion fruit!