The Word You're Using Wrong at Every Concert (It's French)
English speakers shout 'encore!' at concerts — but in France, that's not what audiences say. The surprising truth about this everyday French word.
You've Been Shouting the Wrong Word
Picture this: a sold-out Paris concert hall. The band leaves the stage. The crowd goes wild, demanding they come back. What do they chant?
Not encore. They chant "bis!"
English speakers have been screaming a French word at concerts for centuries — and the French themselves never use it that way. Mind. Blown.
The Word
encore (ahn-CORE)
In French, it's an everyday adverb meaning "still," "again," or "more." As in: Tu veux encore du café? ("Do you want more coffee?")
That's it. No drama. Just a boring little word you'll use approximately 50 times a day.
Origin Story
Encore comes from the Latin phrase "hanc horam" — meaning "at this hour" or "until now." Over centuries of French evolution, that became encore, picking up the sense of "still going" or "one more time."
Somewhere in the 18th century, English opera-goers started borrowing it to mean "play it again!" — probably because Italian opera was the height of fashion and anything French or Italian sounded sophisticated. The usage stuck in English. It just never made it back to France.
The French stuck with "bis!" — borrowed from Latin meaning "twice" — which is shorter, snappier, and honestly makes more logical sense.
Fun Fact
Encore is what linguists call a false friend — a word that looks or sounds the same in two languages but means something different. French learners get tripped up by these constantly.
Other sneaky French false friends:
- librairie = bookstore (NOT library → that's bibliothèque)
- sensible = sensitive (NOT sensible → that's raisonnable)
- actuellement = currently (NOT actually → that's en fait)
Encore hiding in plain sight, meaning "still" while English crowds think it means "one more song." Classic.
Use It
- Tu veux encore du gâteau ? — Do you want more cake?
- Il est encore au bureau. — He's still at the office.
- Encore une fois, s'il te plaît ! — One more time, please!
Ready to Use It for Real?
Knowing encore is one thing. Using it naturally in a conversation — without freezing up — is another. ConvoRight puts you on a real phone call with an AI tutor who speaks French with you until encore just flows. No flashcards. Just talking.
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