![\"Nid](\"http:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/images\/blog\/niddepoule.jpg\")
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One French expression that came up last night was nid-de-poule<\/strong> (hen’s nest), which sounds much more interesting than it’s English equivalent, pothole.<\/p>\n The English word pothole can refer to a number of things, including:<\/p>\n – a hole formed in rock by stones in water or glacial erosion; Another French word for the kind of pothole that occurs in road is fondri\u00e8re<\/em>, from fondre<\/em> (to melt), while the kind of pothole found underground is a caverne<\/em>, grotte<\/em> or gouffre<\/em>. The French equivalent of potholing is sp\u00e9l\u00e9ologie<\/em> and a sp\u00e9l\u00e9leogue<\/em> \/ sp\u00e9l\u00e9o<\/em> (potholer) is said to faire de la sp\u00e9l\u00e9ologie<\/em> (to go potholing), an activity known as spelunking or caving in American English. The word speleology is also used to some extent in English and comes, via the French sp\u00e9l\u00e9leogue<\/em> and Latin sp\u0113l\u00e6um<\/em>, from the Greek \u03c3\u03c0\u03ae\u03bb\u03b1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd<\/em> (sp\u00ed\u0331laion – cave) plus \u03bb\u03bf\u03b3\u03af\u03b1<\/em> (logia). The adjective spelaean means ‘cave-dwelling’.<\/p>\n
\n– underground passages, shafts and chambers formed by water erosion;
\n– a pond formed by water collecting in a natural hollow (mainly in North American English)
\n– a shallow hole dug in the ground while prospecting (mainly in Australia)
\n– a depression or hollow in a road or track
\n[source<\/a>]<\/p>\n