La Saint-Valentin
How the French celebrate Valentine’s Day...plus some French flirting fun!
By: Rachel B Mannix, reporter
How the French celebrate Valentine’s Day...plus some French flirting fun!
By: Rachel B Mannix, reporter
La Saint-Valentin began as a Christian liturgy festival that celebrated saints named Valentinus. Of course, myths were added over time. The most popular of said myths is that of Saint Valentine of Rome who, when imprisoned, fell in love with the jailer’s daughter and wrote her a note signed “Your Valentine.” From then it became a traditional celebration on February 14.
The French used to celebrate La Saint-Valentin with a custom called “une loterie d’amour.” Basically, single people in France would stand outside their houses calling for other single people and eventually paired off with them. If the man wasn’t attracted to his suitor, he would leave. Then, at the end of the day, the abandoned single women would gather and burn images of the men that left them. This eventually was banned by the French government because it got too out of hand. After this ban, the French began simply sending Valentine greetings. Supposedly it was the Duke of Orleans who began this tradition by sending love letters and poems to his French wife while imprisoned in the Tower of London.
Today, La Saint-Valentin mostly revolves around gift-giving. Florists in France make a lot of money, with most of their sales being roses. There is even a village in France called St. Valentin that holds many events dedicated to the holiday. These events can include marriage vow renewals, concerts, lunches, and the sale of chocolate and jewelry. In this manner, la Saint-Valentin is similar to our celebration. However, even though in America we send cards to people, whether they be friends, family or lovers, they don’t do this in France. Instead, they usually don’t send cards at all and only send gifts to their lovers, not their friends. Even little kids don’t send Valentines to their friends in school.
For fun, here’s some vocab for flirting in French. These are some basic phrases:
Je peux t’offrir un verre ? → May I buy you a drink?
Tu veux aller faire un tour ? → Do you want to get out of here?
On pourrait peut-être aller … ? → Maybe we could go to …?
Tu me donnes ton numéro ? → Could you give me your phone number?
Tu es libre pour le dîner samedi ? → Are you free for dinner on Saturday?
Here’s some of the different ways to say “I love you”:
Je t’aime bien / Je t’aime beaucoup / Je t’aime énormément → in the friend zone (in increasing amounts)
Je t’aime / JTM (jé té aim) / Je suis amoureux (or amoureuse) de toi → in the love zone
Some ways to compliment:
Tu es radieuse ce soir → You look beautiful (a bit smarter/fancier)
Ton sourire est contagieux → Your smile is contagious
Comme tu es (insert adjective) → You are so (insert adjective)
J’adore te regarder marcher → I love to see you walk
Some (cheesey) pick-up lines:
La beauté a ses limites, mais tu les a dépassées → Beauty has limits, but you went over them
Tes yeux sont comme des étoiles → Your eyes are like stars
J’aimerais être une de tes larmes pour naître dans tes yeux, vivre sur tes joues et mourir sur tes lèvres → I’d like to be one of your tears to be born in your eyes, live on your cheeks and die on your lips
The French used to celebrate La Saint-Valentin with a custom called “une loterie d’amour.” Basically, single people in France would stand outside their houses calling for other single people and eventually paired off with them. If the man wasn’t attracted to his suitor, he would leave. Then, at the end of the day, the abandoned single women would gather and burn images of the men that left them. This eventually was banned by the French government because it got too out of hand. After this ban, the French began simply sending Valentine greetings. Supposedly it was the Duke of Orleans who began this tradition by sending love letters and poems to his French wife while imprisoned in the Tower of London.
Today, La Saint-Valentin mostly revolves around gift-giving. Florists in France make a lot of money, with most of their sales being roses. There is even a village in France called St. Valentin that holds many events dedicated to the holiday. These events can include marriage vow renewals, concerts, lunches, and the sale of chocolate and jewelry. In this manner, la Saint-Valentin is similar to our celebration. However, even though in America we send cards to people, whether they be friends, family or lovers, they don’t do this in France. Instead, they usually don’t send cards at all and only send gifts to their lovers, not their friends. Even little kids don’t send Valentines to their friends in school.
For fun, here’s some vocab for flirting in French. These are some basic phrases:
Je peux t’offrir un verre ? → May I buy you a drink?
Tu veux aller faire un tour ? → Do you want to get out of here?
On pourrait peut-être aller … ? → Maybe we could go to …?
Tu me donnes ton numéro ? → Could you give me your phone number?
Tu es libre pour le dîner samedi ? → Are you free for dinner on Saturday?
Here’s some of the different ways to say “I love you”:
Je t’aime bien / Je t’aime beaucoup / Je t’aime énormément → in the friend zone (in increasing amounts)
Je t’aime / JTM (jé té aim) / Je suis amoureux (or amoureuse) de toi → in the love zone
Some ways to compliment:
Tu es radieuse ce soir → You look beautiful (a bit smarter/fancier)
Ton sourire est contagieux → Your smile is contagious
Comme tu es (insert adjective) → You are so (insert adjective)
J’adore te regarder marcher → I love to see you walk
Some (cheesey) pick-up lines:
La beauté a ses limites, mais tu les a dépassées → Beauty has limits, but you went over them
Tes yeux sont comme des étoiles → Your eyes are like stars
J’aimerais être une de tes larmes pour naître dans tes yeux, vivre sur tes joues et mourir sur tes lèvres → I’d like to be one of your tears to be born in your eyes, live on your cheeks and die on your lips