Cliché
English language was much influenced by French (or oïl language) through the Anglo-Norman language (or Middle English), spoken during several centuries following the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066. Thus, it is not surprising that many English words are identical or derived from French words, though pronunciation is often different.
Because of English current status of global lingua franca, many English words were adopted by other languages, including French. From pullovers to baby-sitting, from parkings to best-sellers, from beefsteacks to airbags, there are loads of English words borrowed by French language. As for myself, I prefer to travel through French words used by English speakers. Bon voyage!
You are a handsome young man walking in Covent Garden, and you notice a pretty young lady smiling at you. You smile back at this beautiful brunette and you start to chat together. A few hours later, you are both sitting at a Café, maybe eating some madeleines that make you feel a déjà vu. You learn she is a fille au pair studying economy and laissez faire. You seem to get on well together, you are thinking she may be your grand amour…
A few days later, you see her again for a rendez-vous. You call the garçon to order your menu à la carte. To follow the etiquette, you let the young lady order first; you do not want to make any faux-pas. She choses a salad served with vinaigrette before some duck soup à la française. You prefer the soup du jour and you may be tempted by an apple pie à la mode as a dessert. You wish her “Bon appétit!“
Et voilà! It is somehow funny to notice the large majority of French words used by English speakers are about romance or cuisine. On the contrary, most of German expressions used in English are about science, academic disciplines and music. C’est la vie…
Also due to this invasion, a lot of our legislation words (like legislation itself, jury, judge) and our words describing monarchy and aristocracy (like these two words, court, duchy, coronation) because this early French was mostly spoken by the upper classes.
I like the story in your post… it is funny how many French words we use on a daily basis without even noticing.