Brits are just lost for foreign words

Britons love to pop over the English Channel to eat, drink and be merry in France but they are all at sea when it comes to speaking the lingo.

When the online travel service BookThat.com tested more than 1000 people on 10 common words useful to holidaymakers, the results were woeful.

Though Britons make more than 11 million visits to France every year, the survey shows that 80 per cent don't recognise the French for "swimming pool" or "beach," and 88 per cent don't know the word for "summer."

English boasts many words of French origin but few roll readily from British tongues.

Here is the test of French words that stumped the British: travail, entrecote, piscine, plage, ete, soeur, pont, poulet, carte, marche.

They mean: work, steak, swimming pool, beach, summer, sister, bridge, chicken, map, market.