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In an American TV show called 'Gossip Girl', here's a narration by Gossip Girl herself (YouTube video):

Long ago, when European royals grew bored with palace balls they took a page from the peons, and added some pageantry. Couture and canapé are just another Saturday night until you add a mask. But preparing for a ball is an event in itself. Which is why queens invented handmaidens.

Couture is a non-count noun, so it can be used without any determiner, but why is the count noun canapé in the singular without any determiner? Should it be in the plural as follows?

Couture and canapés are just another Saturday night until you add a mask.

Is this simply a mistake on the part of writer and/or narrator? Or is there any legitimate reason for this?

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    Surely this is a question about correct French pronunciation, the "s" being silent, unless you think that since it's for an English speaking audience it should have been voiced? Are you getting subtitles that I'm not? "Encana pay" is what it said here.
    – Jiminy Cricket.
    Mar 20, 2020 at 3:27
  • Since the sentence is about European royalty it would seem entirely proper to use French pronunciation.
    – DJClayworth
    Mar 20, 2020 at 3:33
  • @Bitterdreggs. The subtitles on the video are auto generated and unreliable; the correct transcription is as shown in the OP.
    – JK2
    Mar 20, 2020 at 3:35
  • @DJClayworth AFAIK, the English pronunciation canapé (as pronounced in the video) is nowhere close to its authentic French pronunciation.
    – JK2
    Mar 20, 2020 at 3:49
  • What's the source of the transcription in your question?
    – Jiminy Cricket.
    Mar 20, 2020 at 4:15

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