Dear Scoop: Q&A
May 27th, 2011 § 4 Comments
Dear Reader,
Today’s question concerns the French adjective à la mode, which means “according to the prevailing style or fashion” or “in the current fashion,” or simply “fashionable.”
Q: May I say “à la Indian mode”?
Pie à la Mode
A: That’s an interesting question. I’ve seen Indian à la mode and India à la mode—and of course, there is the popular pie à la mode. (In American English, this means “pie served with a scoop of ice cream.” According to lore, pie with ice cream has been fashionable since the 1890s! So you could say that pie is in its most fashionable state when it’s served with a scoop of ice cream.) But you would like to place a word between two elements of this famous French adjective.
A quick search of the Internet reveals many examples of words followed by à la mode: links à la mode, cupcakes à la mode, pudding à la mode. But it’s rare to find a word in between.
The reason à la mode follows the noun (e.g., links, cupcakes) is that in French, the adjective is placed after the noun. Let’s look at an example:
• maison blanche = “white house,” but as written, it’s “house white.”
That’s why it’s natural for us, when we use the French à la mode, to have the French adjective follow our English noun; hence Indian à la mode or Good Grammar à la Mode—the title of my blog.
My best advice is to let à la mode follow Indian. (Yes, you can translate this adjective word by word, but that isn’t how we use it). If you choose to use à la mode in a different fashion, perhaps you should place à la Indian mode in italics to let your reader know that you know you’re playing with words.
Thanks for writing!
Best,
Scoop
so we always use a la mode after the noun?
Yes, you’re correct. However, occasionally, I see a business name where the noun follows the French phrase: À la Mode Dresses. But more often, the French phrase follows the noun: Elise À la Mode, Wedding À la Mode, Nail À la Mode. And again, in everyday usage, the noun is placed before the French phrase: pie à la mode.
Thanks for writing!
Best,
Scoop
Hi, I was wondering can a la mode be used after a verb? For example, wrapped a la mode, meaning wrapped in fashion or style?
Hi, Christina
Thanks very much for writing.
In answer to your question, according to the Cambridge Dictionary (online), placing “à la mode” after a verb—as in, wrapped à la mode (i.e., “wrapped stylishly” or “wrapped in a fashionable way”)—is an “old-fashioned” use of à la mode. However, the fact that it’s an old-fashioned use doesn’t mean it’s incorrect. It simply isn’t “in fashion,” which is ironic, given one of the definitions of “à la mode” (i.e., fashionable).
I appreciate your question!
Best,
Scoop