French expression: Au fait

Comments

August 27, 2010 at 6:43 am

(1) Stuart says:

I’ve found ‘par contre’ to be a more common expression than ‘au fait’ to express ‘by the way’. Is that your experience too? I always find this strange as I’m sure I learned the meaning of ‘par contre’ at school to be ‘on the other hand’ – a phrase which doesn’t seem to be synonymous with ‘by the way’

August 27, 2010 at 8:15 am

(2) Sophie says:

Par contre is never used to express Au fait. Different meaning.

August 27, 2010 at 7:21 pm

(3) Edward T says:

I’ll Remember this as “to the (f)act/deed”. The acts, or deeds, are the facts – what’s done – fait.
Another lovely twist in intercultural thought.

August 28, 2010 at 7:53 am

(4) jali , mahjoub elhassan says:

i think the two meanings of ( au fait ) i.e. by the way and to the point are of good help , but i think what the commenter Edward T wrote( in deed / in fact )seem more applicable

. . . . . . . . . .

No, because “in fact” is en fait – http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/enfait.htm

Laura K. Lawless
Learn French at About

August 29, 2010 at 2:54 am

(5) Deeley says:

I always thought that ‘au fait’ meant ‘familiar with’. It’s a term that’s often used by over 60yo nurses – e.g. ‘I’m not au fait with that particular procedure’, but it seems that it’s used more in the context (in French, anyway) of saying ‘by the way’. Is that correct?

August 29, 2010 at 7:03 pm

(6) Roger says:

Bonjour tout le monde! I must say I have never heard “au fait” used in english? And what ever happened to “à propos”?

December 18, 2010 at 6:21 am

(7) Barry says:

Yes I would agree that ‘Par Contre’ has a far wider meaning than ‘on the other hand’ and is in common usage in formal and informal conversations. Not sure how to preciseley translate it but it seem to suggest ‘in fact’ or ‘what’s more’. Does anyone else have any constructive ideas?