The names of birds will come in useful in France, even should you’re not into ornithology.
Why do I have to know Noms d’oiseaux ?
If individuals begin flinging insults at one another, once more, you may want a catch-all time period to explain the entire unedifying affair. This appears to cowl it.
What does it imply?
Noms d’oiseaux – pronounced nom de wazo – interprets as ‘the names of birds’ nevertheless it has nothing to do with the world of ornithology, and the whole lot to do with the insults.
Americans describe the center finger, the doigt d’honneur as ‘giving the fowl’. It’s a bodily factor.
French, alternatively, has quite a few bird-related pejorative metaphors and phrases – poule mouillée (moist hen) means coward, for instance.
The catch-all ‘noms d’oiseaux’ describes flinging them round. Basically, it means name-calling or exchanging abuse and it is often paired with the verb donner (to offer) should you’re speaking about exchanging insults.
The time period is sort of an old school one, nevertheless it’s nonetheless utilized in each day dialog, particularly amongst older individuals.
Use it like this
Tu sais que donner des noms d’oiseau aux gens c’est méchant et vexant – You know that calling individuals names is imply and hurtful
Il a trouvé quelques noms d’oiseaux pour qualifier les piètres performances des footballeurs parisiens – He discovered a couple of alternative phrases to explain the poor efficiency of the Parisian footballers
