bon viveur

[pinkpanter]

hi! good night to all.

do you use this french word "bon viveur" in english often or is it sounds to me quite old-fashioned?

any alternative?

thank you

 

[pinkpanter]

as it sounds to me*

aggghhh



i hit the sack right now!

 

[cathy]

hmm, I'm not sure about old-fashioned, but it's not very commonly used in Australia at all. If someone said that to me I might think they wanted to point out how educated they were

Instead of "he's a bon viveur" we might say "he likes the good things in life". What do other people think?

 

[jacinta]

hi! good night to all.

do you use this french word "bon viveur" in english often or is it sounds to me quite old-fashioned?

any alternative?

thank you

No, we do not use this word or phrase, at least I've never heard it. But, we do say "bon vivant".

He's a real bon vivant!

That has been quite common, but I haven't heard it used in a while.

 

[dave]

Hi PP,

Yes, bon viveur is used in modern British English, although I wouldn't say it's common!

 

[ishatar]

And it's not even proper French! We say "bon vivant"!

 

[pinkpanter]

cathy, thanks. that sounds more common!

jacinta and dave, thank you for your explanations.

ishatar, i was convinced it was french! haha thank you for letting me know

 

[cuchuflete]

hi! good night to all.

do you use this french word "bon viveur" in english often or is it sounds to me quite old-fashioned?

any alternative?

thank you

Hola Pantera--

In AE, Bon vivant is well understood, and little used. The same is true of "Epicure"
epicure, gourmet, gastronome, bon_vivant, epicurean, foodie
* a person devoted to refined sensuous enjoyment (especially good food and drink)

Bon vivant has a more joyful tone, and implies 'living the high life'. while epicure tends to be used more to refer to one with refined tastes.

saludos,
Cuchu

 

[pinkpanter]

Hola Cuchu,
No sabia epicure. ¡Cuantos palabras me enseñas! ¡Q bien!
¡Gracias!

 

[fltnsplr]

Hello, Pinkpanter...interesting that you would have asked this question. I hadn't thought of the phrase "bon viveur" for at least three decades until my girlfriend mentioned something about "bon vivant" tonight.

Suddenly, "bon viveur" popped into my head, probably from a high school vocabulary test. I had a little trouble finding it in both analog and online dictionaries, but here's an excerpt from a website that might clear things up (it certainly did for me).

bon viveur - the second word, is not used in French as such while in English it often takes the place of a fashionable man, a sophisticate, a man used to elegant ways, a man-about-town, in fact a bon vivant. In French a viveur is a rake or debauchee; bon does not come into it.

The French bon vivant is the usage for an epicure, a person who enjoys good food. Bonne vivante is not used.

Anyway, I hope this helps. (I realize you asked this question a couple of years ago, and may already have received too many answers.)

Good evening, and happy researching.

 

[cuchuflete]

I had a little trouble finding it in both analog and online dictionaries, but here's an excerpt from a website that might clear things up (it certainly did for me).

bon viveur - the second word, is not used in French as such while in English it often takes the place of a fashionable man, a sophisticate, a man used to elegant ways, a man-about-town, in fact a bon vivant.

Greetings fltnsplr,
Welcome to the forums.


Note the word I marked in red. It is not often used for anything at all in English...that's why you had some trouble finding it. Still I thank you for contributing something of substance to the thread.

Best regards,
Cuchuflete

 

[maxiogee]

I've often heard bon viveur in the past, but not so much nowadays.
Either there are fewer of them, or the economy has improved so that many more people are bons viveurs and thus they are less worthy of being pointed out as such.

 

[emma42]

Pinkpanter, may I just ask if your name should, in fact, be Pinkpanther - with an "h". "Panter" would be someone who pants.

Also, we don't say "Goodnight" in English as a greeting - only when we are leaving or when someone is going to bed to sleep. We would say "Good evening". Hope this helps.