What does “boule à neige” mean in French?

A boule à neige is a snow globe: shake it and fake snow swirls inside the glass. The trick is the little word à. Change it to de and you get boule de neige, an actual snowball you pack and throw. Same three words — boule, neige — but the preposition decides whether you’re holding a souvenir or about to start a snow fight.

French uses à to mark what a thing is for or what it contains (tasse à café, a coffee cup), and de to mark what it’s made of or full of (tasse de café, a cup of coffee). So boule à neige = a ball for snow (the globe), boule de neige = a ball of snow (the snowball). In the clip a boy sells “le Texas sous la neige” sealed in one of these globes — shake it “pour ne jamais l’oublier” — turning a snowy memory into a five-dollar souvenir.