French Phrase?

Question

There is a French phrase it sounds like Jen-a-say-qua. People say it like "It has a certain Jen-a-say-qua." Does anyone know what the correct spelling of this phrase is and what it means in English?

Answer 1

Je ne sais quoi. (= I do not know what)
It's one of those French sentences like "déjà vu”.
In French, it is written like this; je-ne-sais-quoi and the whole thing is considered one word (masculine, always singular). It means something that you cannot really define but you know it’s there. I just watched The Showbiz Show with David Spade on TV and he just used that expression when talking about Johnny Depp having a je-ne-sais-quoi.
It’s not only something you cannot define but it’s usually something very positive, something that makes you more than everybody else.
Did you ever meet a person and you find that person has something you feel is special but you do not know exactly what it is? All you want is to keep looking at that person in order to figure it out. But you cannot figure is out and you know it’s there, the je-ne-sais-quoi.

Answer 2

French Phrase

Answer 3

Je ne sais quoi. Literally means "I don't know what." We use it to describe indescribleable, yet remarkable things. Such as a model who may not look the part, but has "it."

Americans pronounce it wrong, it's really supposed to be pronounced "Jun-say-kwa" because the French tend to merge the Je with ne.

Answer 4

"Je ne sais quoi" as others have said literally means "I don't know what" (quoi is an interrogative that translates as "what") and it is often borrowed in English to state that a person or a thing has a characteristic or a "certain something" that you can't quite put your finger on.

Example:
His smile has a certain "je ne sais quoi"
That painting has a certain "je ne sais quoi"

Answer 5

The spelling is Je ne sais quoi
It literally means I don't know what

Answer 6

You are thinking of:

je ne sais quoi -

"I don't know what"; used to mean a certain, indefinable 'something' which distinguishes the object in question from others which are superficially similar.

Hope this helps!

Answer 7

"Voulez-vous choucher avec moi? Ce soir?" Preferably on your lower back. Just kidding. Before you get any French phrase, I would consult with one or two NATIVE French speakers to make sure it is grammatically and idomatically correct because you never know.

Answer 8

Actually it means something absolutely out of definition, unexplainable, that could be rather felt, than known....
Like :
She has that "je me sais quoi" about her, that makes her totally irresistible, even though she is really pretty in a common view.."

Answer 9

It's Je ne sais quoi. It means: I don't know what.

Answer 10

Je ne sais quoi ! (litt. I don't know what!) Sounds less interesting in english...