fun table of idiosyncratic frenchisms in english

 

Type	Example	What’s odd (by English standards)
Post-posed adjective	attorney general → attorneys-general	Adjective follows noun; plural on head noun
Post-posed adjective	court martial → courts martial	Same pattern
Post-posed adjective	heir apparent → heirs apparent	Looks like two nouns, isn’t
Post-posed adjective	secretary general → secretaries-general	Office titles preserve French syntax
Fixed phrase	body politic	Adjective after noun, no plural logic
Legal noun phrase	fee simple	Adjective order frozen
Adjective stack	letters patent	Plural noun + singular adjective
Noun–noun compound	notary public	Adjective behaves like a noun
Plural irregularity	barracks / headquarters	Singular/plural identical (French influence + usage)
Gender fossil	blond / blonde	Gender marking retained in spelling
Register split	ask vs inquire	Germanic plain vs French formal
Verb pair	buy vs purchase	Same meaning, different social register
Doublet	aid / help, cease / stop	Parallel vocab layers
Stress shift	record (n) / record (v)	French noun stress vs English verb stress