Does the casual use of "a la ___" in English preserve the French meaning?
In English, we use a la carte and a la mode, but it is also common for people to add their own word to the basic construction.
For example, one might comment on someone's dancing:
He showed us some moves a la 1987.
One might comment on a public address:
She addressed the assembled parents a la Evita Perón.
This seems to mean "in the style of" or "reminiscent of." Does anyone know if this is consistent with the meaning in French?
Solution 1:
Yes, the French “à la” means “in the style of”. It is a shortening of “à la manière de” (“in the manner/style of”). It's widely used in French, and some examples in particular are:
- in cooking: “à la diable” (with spicy sauce), “à la norvégienne” (Norway-style), ...
- referring to persons (in particular, artists or philosophers) or movements: “à la cubiste” (cubist-style), “à la Sartre” (in the manner of writer Sartre), ...
Solution 2:
kiamlaluno is half right. À la would generally be literally translated by at the in english. However, in some case, it would have the same meaning as in english. Take for example the following expression meaning "to take French leave":
filer à l'anglaise
would be translated to:
flee english style
From the top of my head, I can only think of example using nationality, but I'm quite sure that it is used in other cases.
EDIT: If you want to have some sources in the web, Wiktionary confirms that the second meaning of the French word is in the manner of, in the style of
Solution 3:
The meaning is not preserved, at least in sentences like
He showed us some moves à la 1987.
It's true that à la Evita Peron would mean in the style used by Evita Peron, and that French people would say à la française to mean in the French style, but à la 1987 would not mean in the style used on 1987.
The general meaning of à la in French is at the, to, but in some cases it can also mean by, in (the).
à la cime de l'arbre -> at the top of the tree
à la conclusion -> at the conclusion
à la fin de -> at the end
à la maison -> to home
à la hâte -> in haste
à la main -> by hand