"a cheval" and "faire le pont"

a cheval translates to a horse. It is pronounced “aa shevaal”. I have heard the word chevalier before. I came across this when Sivaji Ganesan was conferred the title by the French government. My guess is there is some link between these two words as chevalier translates to a knight.

faire le pont means to bridge. It is pronounced “fair lu pon”. This is a new term for me.

What is common between these two words? None. Well, not for the French. They use it with respect to holidays.

Let us take the first word a cheval. If you are taking a week of vacation spreading between two weeks (for eg: Wednesday of one week to Tuesday of next week), then the French says they are on a horse. It is similar to sitting on a horse. Your legs on either side of the horse.

The second word is more interesting. If you have a holiday on Thursday and a working day on Friday, then the Friday becomes the bridge ala faire le pont. This could also happen when you have a working day on Monday and a holiday on Tuesday.

Tags: French Lessons,Horse,Bridge