La Chouette ! ‘Chouette’ is indeed an interesting word in the French lexicon. Although the word by itself is just the French name for a now famous nocturnal bird made famous by the Harry Potter series, it has a much deeper symbolism and significance in French language and culture. To the French, the word Chouette does not usually symbolize the Owl. Rather, it is more commonly used as a phrase. Ohh and by the way, the word is pronounced as ‘Shwet’. Interestingly, Chouette does indeed rhyme and resonate with the English word ‘Sweet’! The phrase does, in fact, imply that something is: Cool or Awesome. The phrase is believed to have first evolved around the Middle Ages from a now lost verb in the French Language – choeter – which meant to act trendy or smart. However, you would probably not find this word in the modern French language. It is rather easy to note the similarity between the structure and the pronunciation of the verb ‘choeter’ and the noun ‘chouette’. So,