fool

idiot, imbécile

Personne qui pense ou agit sans bon sens.

En anglais simple : Someone who thinks or acts without good sense.

• Do not be a fool.
• I felt like a fool for losing the keys again.
• Only a fool would believe that story.

Comment l'utiliser : make a fool of oneself (I made a fool of myself at the meeting.); a fool to do something (You would be a fool to ignore her advice.)

Synonymes : idiot, foolish person

Expressions courantes : a complete fool, make a fool, look a fool

bouffon

Personne autrefois chargée de faire rire un roi ou une reine par des plaisanteries et des pitreries.

En anglais simple : A person whose job was to make a king or queen laugh with jokes and silly actions.

• The fool made the king laugh.
• A court fool could sometimes criticize the ruler.
• The queen rewarded her fool for his clever jokes.

Synonymes : jester

Expressions courantes : court fool, the royal fool

dessert aux fruits et à la crème

Dessert fait de fruits tendres écrasés et mélangés avec de la crème ou une crème aux œufs.

En anglais simple : A sweet dish made by mixing soft, crushed fruit with cream or custard.

• We had gooseberry fool for dessert.
• She mixed the fruit with cream to make a fool.
• Serve the apricot fool in small glasses.

Synonymes : dupe

Expressions courantes : gooseberry fool, apricot fool, fruit fool

tromper, duper

Faire croire à quelqu’un quelque chose qui n’est pas vrai.

En anglais simple : Make someone believe something that is not true.

• You cannot fool me.
• His disguise fooled everyone at the party.
• Do not fool yourself into thinking the problem has gone away.

Comment l'utiliser : fool someone into doing something (The message fooled him into sharing his password.); fool someone with something (She fooled us with a fake accent.)

Synonymes : trick, deceive, mislead

Expressions courantes : fool someone into, fool yourself, fool someone with, fool someone

faire le clown, faire l’idiot

Se comporter de façon ridicule ou faire des pitreries, souvent au lieu de faire quelque chose de sérieux.

En anglais simple : Behave in a silly way, often instead of doing something serious.

• Stop fooling around.
• The boys fooled about during the lesson.
• We spent the afternoon fooling around in the garden.

Synonymes : mess around, act silly

Expressions courantes : fool around, fool about