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czeriI’ve bought two books on French slang and idioms recently, “Merde!” and “Merde Encore”, and I have to say they’re awesome. Not only did I finally learn what K2’s and Taha’s insult of choice was (enfoiré) and what it means exactly, but also I’ve been giggling like crazy because the books are both hilarious. Check this out, for example:
Fact: the French individual feels superior to his fellowman, foreign or not. Consequence: the French have a very wide selection of words to express their contempt for the intellectual, mental or spiritual inferiority of others as well as their annoyance derived from that contempt. The two following sections give you the range of words to which you might be subjected.
or
The French could put you off your food, you know! I’m not just referring to the fact that they eat those frogs’ legs, snails, calves’ brains, and so on, it’s the names they sometimes use. If you were given the following menu in a restaurant, you might justifiably feel an urge to go somewhere else. However, what you are about to read are literal translations of perfectly acceptable – indeed, highly appreciated – French comestibles.
MENU DU JOUR
Dribbling-spittle Omelette
Piss-in-bed Salad
Choice of Cheese (Droppings or The Stinker of Lille)
Nun’s Farts (With Ass-scratcher Jam)
Wine: Pissing Hard
or
It is worth knowing that French license plates give a clue to the driver’s place of residence: the last two numbers correspond to his “département” or, in the case of Paris, to the city itself or its suburbs. The magic number is 75 (“ville de Paris”) whose proud bearers can look in condescension on the Parisian suburbanites with their 78 (Yvelines), 91 (Essonne), 92 (Hauts-de-Seine), 93 (Seine-Saint-Denis), 94 (Val-de-Marne) and 95 (Val-d’Oise). All of these can in turn look down with pity or contempt on any other number. On the other hand, driving around the provinces with Parisian number plates can attract unpleasant remarks about “ces sales Parigots” (those Parisian bastards), given that their driving is even more selfish and aggressive than the national average.
Hee!
In other news – the B13U DVD price has gone down, so I’ve officially ordered it and am now eagerly awaiting the estimated delivery date of 18th of August.
Fact: the French individual feels superior to his fellowman, foreign or not. Consequence: the French have a very wide selection of words to express their contempt for the intellectual, mental or spiritual inferiority of others as well as their annoyance derived from that contempt. The two following sections give you the range of words to which you might be subjected.
or
The French could put you off your food, you know! I’m not just referring to the fact that they eat those frogs’ legs, snails, calves’ brains, and so on, it’s the names they sometimes use. If you were given the following menu in a restaurant, you might justifiably feel an urge to go somewhere else. However, what you are about to read are literal translations of perfectly acceptable – indeed, highly appreciated – French comestibles.
MENU DU JOUR
Dribbling-spittle Omelette
Piss-in-bed Salad
Choice of Cheese (Droppings or The Stinker of Lille)
Nun’s Farts (With Ass-scratcher Jam)
Wine: Pissing Hard
or
It is worth knowing that French license plates give a clue to the driver’s place of residence: the last two numbers correspond to his “département” or, in the case of Paris, to the city itself or its suburbs. The magic number is 75 (“ville de Paris”) whose proud bearers can look in condescension on the Parisian suburbanites with their 78 (Yvelines), 91 (Essonne), 92 (Hauts-de-Seine), 93 (Seine-Saint-Denis), 94 (Val-de-Marne) and 95 (Val-d’Oise). All of these can in turn look down with pity or contempt on any other number. On the other hand, driving around the provinces with Parisian number plates can attract unpleasant remarks about “ces sales Parigots” (those Parisian bastards), given that their driving is even more selfish and aggressive than the national average.
Hee!
In other news – the B13U DVD price has gone down, so I’ve officially ordered it and am now eagerly awaiting the estimated delivery date of 18th of August.
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-30 10:26 pm (UTC)does that mean I have to take you off my flist on the 18th, because you'll have spoilery icons?
j/k, I'm already pretty spoiled, and a few stills won't make much of a difference anymore :)
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Date: 2009-07-30 10:55 pm (UTC)Also, I'm totally jealous of your DVD and warn you that I'm not above begging for caps/clips when the time comes... ;)
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 07:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 07:18 am (UTC)The most literal translation would be 'buttfucker', which isn't really a word in English, hence the variations in translation.
Also, I'm totally jealous of your DVD and warn you that I'm not above begging for caps/clips when the time comes... ;)
That's precisely why I bought the DVD version ;-)
And Amazon.fr delivers worldwide. Just saying...
Putain de bordel de merde d'enfoiré d'ta mère!
Date: 2009-07-31 07:51 am (UTC)For an excellent example in expletives I'll remind you of watching (again) "Matrix Reloaded" where Lambert Wilson gives a great lesson LOL. Though I must deplore a serious shortage in contemporary vocabulary, the offenses in my youth were far more flowery. Tsk. (I'm from the San Antonio generation.)
About the license plates, 75 IS a department in itself, even if it contains Paris only nowadays. In my youth (cough, cough), Seine département (75, so) was Paris and its next suburb. 78 (Seine-et-Oise then) was like a crown all around and their drivers were notoriously clumsy in Paris traffic, so the very common offense, "Vas donc, eh, 78 !". About the contempt "provinciaux" hold Parisians in, the whole insult is "Parigot, tête de veau !" (it's rhyming, we're a poetic country). And I don't think it's about the dish our former President Chirac was so fond of, it's a rather provincial stuff...
Ah, your menu, I tried to re-translate it LOL
So it should be:
Omelette baveuse (yellow/white mix isn't quite cooked so it's a little liquid on the top, not dry at all, nom nom)
Salade de pissenlits (that's dendelion, and the name comes from the medical virtue of the plant. Definitely better with croûtons scrubbed with fresh garlic.)
Crottins (several cheese, usual goat's. It's the shape that gives its name, there are also rolls and pyramids).
"Stinker of Lille" I don't know. For hard smelling cheese I would have quoted Cancoillotes but anyway I don't like them. Nobody's perfect.
Pets-de-nonne (it's a kind of donuts, very light).
Pisse-Dru (a well known cru from Beaujolais, never tasted it. I don't know if it's effective, usually white wine is more diuretic!)
Last but the least, enfoiré litteraly means "covered in shit". It's a multi-use offense, and it has become so common that it doesn't mean anything, really. It was far harder in my youth (bis).
Addenda...
1) All those food names come from Middle Age and Renaissance, where they used to "call a cat a cat". Not politically correct our ancestors were, just as Shakespeare or Chaucer...
2) About enfoiré I believe it alluded before to homosexuals, for obvious reasons. But as I wrote, it's now of such a large use that this meaning is mostly occulted. Let's add that the invective was turned into some kind of pride name by Coluche, a well known humorist (dead a young man alas) who was deeply involved in active charity and created "Les restos du cœur" (restaurants of the heart) to help poor people to obtain, discreetly, first need products. The charity still work each winter (even more each year) and is supported by a group of artists calling themselves "Les enfoirés".
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 10:33 am (UTC)Re: Putain de bordel de merde d'enfoiré d'ta mère!
Date: 2009-07-31 04:28 pm (UTC)And yes, once I've had the time to get acquainted with more curse words, I'm definitely checking out "Matrix Reloaded" to see if I can follow what he's saying...
Studying French idioms is fascinating as they are, indeed, quite colourful. Not to mention that only now can I appreciate how many of them had been appropriated into Polish :-)
no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 11:01 pm (UTC)Yay for caps! And I would totally buy my own DVD, but DVDs formatted in Europe won't work on my player over here. *woe* We're supposed to get our own release eventually, so I'll just have to be patient. Too bad I'm about as good at that as Leito is... ;)
no subject
Date: 2009-08-01 10:51 am (UTC)As if that's ever stopped anyone! Here's (http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks) everything you need to hack your DVD player and make it play any disc you wish. Screw patience! ;-)