AEE 2559: Are You Laissez-Faire About English?

Summary

Podcast Summary: All Ears English Podcast

Episode 2559 – Are You Laissez-Faire About English?

Hosts: Lindsay McMahon & Aubrey Carter
Release Date: February 3, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the French influence on American English, highlighting commonly used French-origin words and phrases that have become naturalized into everyday English conversation. Lindsay and Aubrey explore not only the meaning and usage of these expressions, but also touch on pronunciation quirks, social perceptions, and cultural nuances. The discussion is framed in the context of "connection not perfection," encouraging learners to embrace these words regardless of their French fluency.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. French Words in Everyday English

• The hosts introduce several French terms that are fully integrated into English.
  • Examples: c’est la vie, en route, croissant, laissez-faire, touche, and cul de sac ([02:18]-[04:48]).
• Notable Observation: Many English speakers use these words without realizing they are originally French.

Aubrey:

“These words, they're just adopted into English. A lot of people use them and don't even realize they're using a French word.” (04:22)

2. Featured French Borrowings

A. "Comme ci, comme ça" (So-so)

• Used to express that something is just okay, neither good nor bad ([03:29]-[04:11]).
• Common as a response to “How are you?”
• Example exchange:
  • Lindsay: “How are you doing? I haven’t seen you in ages.”
  • Aubrey: “Oh, you know, comme ci, comme ça.” (04:07)
• Pronunciation is straightforward for English speakers.

B. "Laissez-faire" (Hands-off approach)

• Mainly found in discussions of economics or management (originates from the idea of little/no interference).
• Sometimes used in parenting or personal life discussions to mean “live and let live” ([05:01]-[07:09]).
• Notable Quotes:
  • Lindsay: “The most common thing you’re going to hear is the laissez-faire economics approach. Right. This hands off approach…” (05:19)
  • Aubrey: “Some businesses will sort of run this way. Yep.” (05:36)
• The hosts discuss evolving parenting styles, contrasting “helicopter parenting” with a more “laissez-faire” approach ([07:20]-[08:09]).

C. "Touche" (Good point/You got me)

• Used to acknowledge someone has made a clever or accurate point, typically in light-hearted debate ([08:18]-[09:03]).
• Usually stands alone: “Touche.”
• Memorable exchange:
  • Aubrey: "Touche."
  • Lindsay: "I mean, what else? What can you say?" (08:52-08:55)
• The hosts agree “Touche” is more expressive and “cooler” than saying “good point” ([09:03]).

D. "En route" (On the way)

• Means being on the way to a location ([09:20]-[09:56]).
• Note on spelling: Often misspelled as “on route” (09:45).
• While pronounced similarly to French, it is commonly “Englished up.”

3. Role Play Demonstration ([10:26]-[11:46])

The hosts act out a conversation between college friends, seamlessly using the featured French expressions:

• Aubrey: “Comme ci, comme ça. I like the material, but the lectures are really dull.” (10:36)
• Aubrey: “Not really. I’m taking a pretty laissez-faire approach. Studying a bit, but not obsessing.” (10:44)
• Lindsay: “Bold move, by the way. Nate texted that he’ll be late, but he’s en route.” (10:49)
• Aubrey: “At least he texted. Unlike you when you’re running late.”
  • Lindsay: “Touche.” (10:54-10:58)

4. Cultural and Linguistic Nuances

• Overuse caution: “So-so” (and arguably “comme ci, comme ça”) is not often used in English; language learners may be overusing it ([12:07]-[12:16]).
  • Lindsay: “If you’re using so-so more than, like, once a year, you’re overusing it, don’t you think?” (12:11)
• Pronunciation: Hosts debate whether to pronounce borrowed French words with French or Anglicized pronunciation, e.g., “Notre Dame” ([13:40]-[14:25]).

5. Further Learning & Next Episodes

• Previous and related episodes:
  • #1458: “This episode has a certain je ne sais quoi” (A la carte, petit, faux, du jour) ([13:08]-[13:27])
  • #2138: “Are you making these pronunciation errors?” (Voila, niche, genre) ([13:27]-[13:40])
• Teaser: Upcoming episode focusing on loanwords from German ([14:53]).

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On why we use French words naturally:

  “You don’t have to speak French fluently to use them. Every English speaker uses them often without even realizing they’re French. So throw these into your conversation.” (Aubrey, 14:32)

• On parenting styles:

  “...it is sort of more trendy to be like, if they fall, they fall. We’ll take them to the emergency room. They’ve learned their lesson.” (Aubrey, 07:37)

• On “Touche” as a comeback:

  “Good point is so boring compared to Touche. ...We want to be cool. We gotta say Touche.” (Lindsay, 09:03)

• On pronunciation authenticity:

  “It is interesting to also think of the pronunciation, like, should I be trying to pronounce these in French?” (Aubrey, 13:40)

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Segment Timestamps

• [02:18] – Discussion of French loanwords in English
• [03:29] – “Comme ci, comme ça” introduction
• [04:56] – “Laissez-faire” explained
• [08:18] – “Touche” in English conversations
• [09:20] – “En route” and usage tips
• [10:26] – College friends role play with all featured terms
• [12:07] – Warning about overusing “so-so”
• [13:08] – Past episodes recap
• [13:40] – Anglicized vs. French pronunciation mini-debate
• [14:53] – Teaser for German loanword episode

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Tone and Takeaways

The conversation is friendly, energetic, and accessible, with both hosts balancing linguistic depth and practical, real-life examples. Listeners are encouraged to embrace these French words in their English, regardless of their French ability. The episode concludes with a gentle reminder that integrating loanwords is about fostering connection, not flawless accuracy.

Final Takeaway:

“Don’t be afraid of using these interesting words that we have adopted into English... throw these into your conversation.” (Aubrey, 14:32)

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Further Listening

• Episode 1458: “This episode has a certain je ne sais quoi”
• Episode 2138: “Are you making these pronunciation errors?”

Stay tuned for the German words episode in upcoming weeks!

Transcript

[A]

This is an all ears English podcast. Episode 2559. Are you laissez faire about English? Welcome to the All Ears English podcast. Downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection. With your American host, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz and Lindsey McMahon, the English adventurer, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, usa. To get real time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the All Ears English app for iOS and Android. Start your seven day free trial at allearsenglish.com forward/app.

[B]

French comes up a lot in the English language today. Get our latest set of phrases that have been borrowed from French and learn how to use them to connect in English. Picture this. You're part of the conversation. Someone jumps in with a fast comment. Everyone reacts. The but you're left behind, still processing the words. It's not that you don't understand English, it's that real conversations don't slow down for you. Slang, speed, tone, it all stacks up fast. The good news? These are trainable skills. If you know your English level and what to do to move up, start by taking our free two minute fluency quiz to find out exactly what your level is. Now go to allearsenglish.com fluencyscore that's all ears english.com F L U N C Y S C O R E.

[A]

What's going on, Aubry? How's it going?

[B]

Great. How are you, Lindsay?

[A]

Pretty, pretty good. Just relaxing here, recording the podcast. What are we talking about today?

[B]

We're talking about French.

[A]

Do I get a chocolate croissant?

[B]

Yes. Here is a chocolate croissant. Thank you. This is going to be fun. In a recent episode, we were talking. A listener used the word which means daily in their question and that inspired an episode with French words. We have done episodes about words adopted from French into English before. Stay to the end and we'll share details of how you can find those.

[A]

Yeah, and speaking of French, Aubry, you recently made a guest appearance on what was the the name of that show?

[B]

I'm Polyglot. Lonel interviewed me on I'm Polyglot. So yes, if you speak French, go check that out. If you want to, you know, criticize my friend. No, I feel like I did. Well, I was proud. It was a little nerve wracking, but.

[A]

Yeah, very inspiring to hear another language from one of our English teachers here. Love it. So good. So guys, go check it out. And thank you to Lionel for having Aubrey on the show. Really good. All right, Aubrey, get us started here. Where should we start?

[B]

Okay, this is actually perfect because when on that podcast, I was talking about anglicisms in French, so words that are being adopted into French, and today we're talking about the same thing, but in English.

[A]

Right.

[B]

These French words that we adopt into English. So the first one we're going to talk about is come see, come, which means like so. So it's used to respond if someone asks how you are, and you just want to say like so. So we'll use this French response.

[A]

Yeah. This is one of the first French words I learned in school, and I always thought it was really fun.

[B]

You know, it is fun, and it's nice because some words that we adopt from French are difficult to pronounce for. Pronounce for English speakers. This one's not. We get this one right pretty easily, for sure.

[A]

Come see, come. Love it. Here we go. So how are you doing? I haven't seen you in ages.

[B]

Oh, you know, come see, come.

[A]

Nice.

[B]

Like, I'm all right.

[A]

Yeah. Here's a question to start off the episode. Do you think it's more common that people that. Let's say native English speakers that speak some French or fluent in French are more likely to use these, or do you think this is everyone in.

[B]

I think it's everyone. Okay. I like. So I'm fluent in French, and I don't think I use these more often than the average person. I don't really think to throw them in. And I'm not intentionally using French. I don't want to come off as a snob, but I do hear people use, like, all of the words we've covered in past episodes. Right. En route, cul de sac, croissant. Oh, these words, they're. They're just adopted into English. A lot of people use them and don't even realize they're using a French word.

[A]

Yeah, that's true, too. That. That definitely happens, Especially this next one. I mean, this is a. You know, this is a really common term in economics, historical economics theory.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So les. How do we say this properly in French?

[B]

So in French, laissez faire.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

But it will sort of just say it with an English accent. We'll just say laissez faire.

[A]

Okay. It sounds so much less beautiful. Right?

[B]

That's true. And the poor French speakers, their ears are probably bleeding when they hear us say these, but this happens. It's the same thing with anglicisms in French. We often will just say the word, but in the. Our accent. Right?

[A]

Yeah, yeah. And this is, you know, we talk about les. The most common thing you're going to hear is the laissez faire economics approach. Right. This hands off approach where they encourage little or no interference by government or management and leadership. So the idea of letting like the free market run on its own.

[B]

Exactly right, exactly. Laissez faire policy, laissez faire leadership, or a laissez faire approach. Right. Some businesses will sort of run this way. Yep.

[A]

Kind of like a Reagan. A Reagan approach sort of thing. Anything else we want to say about this?

[B]

Yeah, we could just give a couple examples. Right. The company's laissez faire management style and gives employees the freedom to manage their own schedules and projects. Yeah.

[A]

Or some economists argue that a laissez faire economy encourages innovation by reducing government regulation. Yeah, for sure.

[B]

Yeah. So it's interesting. You might hear this on the news or on a podcast. Right. And it's interesting some, every now and then you'll hear it just in regular conversation to mean sort of like live and let live. Right. Because that's more how we sit in French. And every now and I will hear, maybe it's because they speak French, they'll just be like, let's say fair means like, let them be live and let live. I'm not going to try and change their mind.

[A]

Do you hear other parents talking about parenting styles with this term ever?

[B]

I. I don't know.

[A]

I'm just curious.

[B]

That's a great question. Because it could be right. It could be like, okay, I have kind of a lesser approach with my kids. I don't know that I. But I would be impressed if I heard another parent say that.

[A]

Like, yeah, it would be impressive. I heard there's a new, like, movement, like a blowback from what's happened in the last 10 years.

[B]

Like gentle parenting.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

This idea we've had, like hover parenting and now it's kind of like, it kind of maybe tied into the book you mentioned before, the let them theory.

[B]

Oh, the let them theory. Yeah, it's a little more like, yeah, right. Make their choices.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

And then let me make my own choices.

[A]

There's an acronym that includes like a, a curse word, so I won't say it, but like, just let them make their own mistakes. This idea, I don't know. I'm not tuned into the parenting world, so I don't know. But really interesting.

[B]

Yeah, that is interesting. As a parent, I can say I Do feel like that is happening more that when I was. When I had young children, a lot of us were kind of helicopter parents.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And we were there making sure our kids didn't fall off the playset.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And now I'll talk to parents, and it is sort of more trendy to be like, if they fall, they fall. We'll take them to the emergency room. They've learned their lesson.

[A]

This is such a good topic for the podcast for another day. Because when I go to Europe, I see more. What I see is, like, cafes and there'll be parents enjoying a coffee and then kids playing on a playground. But the kids, the parents aren't hovering over the children in that same way that we do here in the States.

[B]

They're giving them a little more free reign. Freedom.

[A]

Yeah. Make your own mistakes. And, you know, so. Interesting.

[B]

Interesting. Something to be said for that, for sure. Okay, let's jump into this next one. We'll definitely have to talk about that more at another time. I think it'll be interesting. All right, the next one is Touche.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

This is really fun. It's used to acknowledge that someone has made a clever or accurate point or an effective point, especially in maybe an argument or playful argument or a debate.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. You hear this a fair amount even in the movies or on tv. This is similar to you got me there, or good point again, like you said, it's usually just used alone. And that's it. The person stops talking to.

[B]

Exactly. Right. So let's do a little role play to show how that would look.

[A]

All right. You're criticizing my cooking, but you burned dinner last night.

[B]

Touche.

[A]

I mean, what else? What can you say?

[B]

What else is the perfect response? Right? And we don't have, you know, you could say, okay, you got me, or good point, but touche is even better.

[A]

Good point is so boring compared to Touche. I mean, I agree. We want to be cool. We gotta say Touche. I love it. So, guys, hit the follow button. By the way, make sure you follow the show so you don't miss. Like, we've just come up with a couple of great episode ideas for the year. So hit follows. You don't miss these episode ideas. Okay?

[B]

Yes. And our last one we actually covered recently right here on the podcast. It's en route, which means to be on the way somewhere. But you and Michelle taught that. Didn't even really mention that it comes from French, but 2543. We'll often see this misspelled as, like, on route. AI. I know. Makes this mistake, but it should actually be written like French. En. On route. I'm on route to the store.

[A]

On route. On route. But we say on route, right?

[B]

Rather than we kind of just say French. Sounds the same.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah, that's why people spell it wrong.

[A]

The same are very close, right? Yeah. Love it.

[D]

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[A]

Okay, Aubrey. So here in this role play, we're college friends. All right. All right.

[B]

You want to start us?

[A]

Yes. Hey, how was your class yesterday?

[B]

Come see, come saw. I like the material, but the lectures are really dull.

[A]

Fair enough. Are you stressing about the exam coming up?

[B]

Not really. I'm taking a pretty laissez faire approach. Studying a bit, but not obsessing.

[A]

Bold move, by the way. Nate texted that he'll be late, but he's on route.

[B]

At least he texted. Unlike you when you're running late.

[A]

Touche. Yeah, it is a bold mood to take a laissez faire approach on preparing for an exam, that's for sure.

[B]

I definitely had, like, college roommates that were like that, though. They kind of didn't care about their gpa. As long as they passed, they were happy and they were like. They would just sort of do the bare minimum. Very laissez faire approach. Did they.

[A]

Did they do well or were they just average?

[B]

They passed and that's why they weren't planning on doing, like, a masters or, you know, they're like, as long as I get my degree, no one cares about my gpa. It's interesting.

[A]

I had a room roommate like that too, but she would get AES and it drove me crazy. I was.

[B]

I don't know how people had, like, a photographic memory.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. I think I've talked about her before. Anyways, all right, so first one we used here in the roleplay is. I asked you how your class was and you said kum kuma. Right. Just. Okay.

[B]

And. Yeah, that's a great. It doesn't mean, like, things are going great. It's the same as, like, so. So, like, you're answering pretty honestly when you say come see, come, or so. So you mean, like, it's all right, but not great.

[A]

So. So is actually an expression I heard used a lot when I was teaching English in Japan and I think erroneously overused.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

By adult learners. Yeah. So if you're using so. So more than, like, once a year, you're overusing it, don't you think?

[B]

We really don't say it that often. That's a good point.

[A]

Yeah, it is interesting. It's overused, so maybe that's changed now. It's been a long time since I taught English in Japan. All right, your approach to exams, what is it?

[B]

Yeah. So then I said, I'm taking a pretty laissez faire approach. So I'm saying, you know, I'm not studying a ton, just doing the bare minimum to get the grade.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then I said, bold move, by the way. Nate texted, he'll be late, but he's en route, meaning he's on the way. Okay.

[B]

Exactly. And then I said, unlike you, when you're running late and don't text.

[A]

Exactly. Then I said, touche.

[B]

Touche. You're admitting, like, okay, you got me. You're right. I do.

[A]

That little tone of voice. Then we stop. A hard stop after that. Like we said, you can't say touche. You're right. Or.

[B]

No, it's true. We just say touche and that's it.

[A]

Yeah. And just let that speak for itself. So cool. All right, Aubrey, what's another episode we should check out?

[B]

All right, so we have two here we want to share. One is a little bit older, episode 1458. If you search that episode number in the app, it'll come up. It was. This episode has a certain je. And there were a lot of great phrases there that we have borrowed from French. A la carte prefix, petite, faux, and du jour. So check that out.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Also 2138, right?

[A]

Yep. So 2138, we again brought in. We. We asked, are you making these pronunciation errors? So we talked about words like voila, niche, and genre. So interesting.

[B]

Yes. And that's what's interest. It is interesting to also think of the pronunciation, like, should I be trying to pronounce these in French? It's. It came up in that episode with, I am polyglot. I have friends that'll say Notre Dame, whether they're talking about the school or the church. Yeah, that's hard for me. I'm like, try to say no to them. Just try.

[A]

It's really hard. And so. Well, we've talked about this before in the show. So much of it depends on who you're around.

[B]

Totally.

[A]

Right. Like, you know, I have family members from Wis. It was Notre Dame is in the Midwest. The Midwest Chicago area.

[B]

And if people are referring to the school, I don't mind. It's Notre Dame. That's fine. But then when they turn around and call the.

[A]

No. Yeah. No. Yes.

[B]

Don't do that.

[A]

I 100 agree with you.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Good stuff. So what's the takeaway for today? More French in English, right?

[B]

Yes. Right. Don't, you know, be afraid of using these interesting words that we have adopted into English? Right. You don't have to speak French fluently to use them. Every English speaker uses them often without even realizing they're French. So throw these into your conversation.

[A]

Yeah. And so we've done on the show Spanish, Italian and French. I think we're going to try next German.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Aubry. We're going to see what, what German words do native English speakers use. And I think there are a handful of them. So guys, again hit the follow button to not miss that episode in 2026. All right.

[B]

Awesome. Thanks, Lindsay. Always fun talking about French.

[A]

Yeah, always fun. Good stuff. Talk to you soon, Aubrey. Bye bye bye. Thanks for listening to all ears. English. Would you like to know your English? Our two minute quiz go to allearsenglish.com fluency score and if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything. See you next time.

[C]

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[C]

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