I had lunch with Olivier the other day. Olivier is an expatriate from France, and therefore he’s occasionally useful when I want to know something about the French language or culture. I mentioned to him that when I was in Paris, I ate at a crêperie one night, and they served cider (le cidre) in what looked like large teacups. He told me that cider is traditionally served as une bolée: a bowlful.
Apparently you can get other words relating to volume by adding the -ée ending on to a container. You get une bolée from un bol (a bowl). You can do the same derivation with the word for spoon:
- une cuillère – spoon
- une cuillerée – spoonful, dollop
- une cuillère à thé / à café – teaspoon
- une cuillerée à café – teaspoonful
- une cuillère à soupe – tablespoon
- une cuillerée à soupe – tablespoonful