I was shopping today in a women's clothing store with my wife. Let's say she was shopping, I was hauling, and it struck me it's important to know French so you can talk about one section of the store, "Intimate Apparel."
"Intimate" itself goes back to French intime, and the master term of the category after all is "lingerie" pronounced and spelled a la Français. "Brassiere" too stands forth from its French origins direct into English, briefed into "bra" by impatient Americans, and "camisole," "chemise," "negligee," and "bustier" all made their way into our language pretty much intact.
Thus many "intimate" items seem to be borrowed, along with their cachet, right out of the French "boudoir."
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i love to imagine you and connie in the ladies section, together!
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