Word of the Day for Tuesday November 29, 2005 billet-doux \bil-ay-DOO\, noun; plural billets-doux \bil-ay-DOO(Z)\: A love letter or note. Perhaps she just looked first into the bouquet, to see whether there was a billet-doux hidden among the flowers; but there was no letter. --William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair Young lovers in Victorian England, forbidden to express their affection in public and fearful that strict parents would intercept their billets-doux, sent coded messages through the personal columns in newspapers. --Susan Adams, "I've got a secret,"[1]Forbes, September 20, 1999 _________________________________________________________ In French, billet-doux means "sweet note" or "short note" (billet, "note" + doux, "sweet," from Latin dulcis). References 1. http://www.forbes.com/ Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=9&q=billet-doux