Telling Phrase: "avoir du chien"

So far in my neologisms I've been examining various terms used to refer to women - puma, glamazon, turboskank - and so they were on my mind as I was reading Jamie Cat Callan's humorous, "French Women Don't Sleep Alone" for the umpteenth time. Callan drops several french phrases throughout the book, including one of my favorites: "avoir du chien."

Quite literally, it means "to have some dog." But when used in reference to a woman, this means that she has a strong character. This is meant as a compliment and connotes other meanings, which are perhaps most succinctly stated by Callan who says "it also implies being brainy and sexy and even a little foxy."

The interesting implication here is that, for the French, intellectual is synonymous with sexy. Furthermore, whereas in English the feminine noun for dog - bitch - is a derogatory term, the French use chien as a compliment.