Elle affiche toujours un sourire joyeux.

[corgwin24]

English Translation

She is always bright and smiling.

afficher
verbe transitif
péjoratif [exhiber] = to display, to flaunt péjoratif
afficher son désespoir = to make one’s despair obvious
afficher sa fortune | une liaison = to flaunt one’s wealth | an affair
© Larousse 2014

Larousse has a couple other definitions for afficher: to post; to have on the bill; or to display (computer). This definition is to display or flaunt and is marked as pejorative. In this context, it sounds like a slam that she always has a joyous smile (because of the use of afficher).

Does this make sense to those of you that are familiar with the use of this word? Thanks in advance.

[yottapolyglot]

@corgwin24

In this context, it sounds like a slam that she always has a joyous smile (because of the use of afficher).

I guess context can change things significantly here…

Simply reading the French sentence in isolation, I see it as a neutral statement, close to the “to display” meaning. In fact, “afficher” could be replaced by “avoir” here.

That said, afficher can definitely have a negative connotation:

• Elle affiche toujours un sourire narquois.

We only changed one word, but that’s enough to make it a pejorative statement.

• “Afficher sa fortune”, given by Larousse is another example, and it reminded me of the discussion we had here: Elle faisait étalage de ses talents.

In this case, afficher really means étaler/faire étalage de (sa fortune), and when used this way, it also has a negative connotation.