How finest to translate French swear phrases

When phrases, sayings, idioms or items of poetry, translators will typically take a look at the sense of what’s being expressed, after which discover an equal phrase for that, somewhat than translating phrase for phrase.

For instance – Occupe-toi de tes oignons is unnecessary translated as ‘occupy your individual onions’, so translators will as an alternative go for ‘thoughts your individual enterprise‘.

The similar applies relating to swearing, however it’s far more of a minefield for the reason that translator should additionally take into consideration the energy and power of what’s being mentioned – and its stage of offensiveness inside French society – with a view to attempt to discover an English language equal.

Although some swearwords and phrases do translate actually, many don’t.

An instance of a straightforward translation is ‘merde‘ – it means ‘shit’, and the phrases have roughly the identical stage of offensiveness in each English and French, so this one is normally translated actually. (Although in case you’re within the theatre, you may hear actors saying ‘merde‘ as a good-luck, just like ‘break a leg’ in English).

It is the exception, nonetheless, most swear phrases are translated in accordance with the extent of offence they offer and the best way they’re used throughout the language, somewhat than their literal that means.

An excellent instance of that is putain – it actually interprets as ‘whore’, but it surely’s used throughout the language in the same technique to ‘fuck’ in English, in order that’s how it’s normally translated. However, illustrating the problem of translating swearing, putain will not be at all times utilized in a really offensive approach, so actually its translation can vary from ‘rattling’ to ‘fuck’, relying on the context. 

READ ALSO: ‘Putain de bordel de merde’: How to make use of the F-word in French✎

But the true problem arises when translating sweary phrases or compound swearing.

Here translators normally ditch literal translation altogether and simply attempt to discover a phrase that has a roughly related offence stage.

This usually arises when public figures swear and their foul-mouthed utterances need to be translated for information studies – translators should attempt to discover a phrase that expresses the that means, but additionally provides a sign of precisely how stunning this specific piece of swearing was. 

Real life examples

Son of a bitch – Back in 2024 then US president Joe Biden was caught on sizzling mic referring to Russian chief Vladimir Putin as a ‘son of a bitch’. French does have the same phrase – fils de pute (son of a whore, usually utilized in textual content as merely fdp). It is, nonetheless, extraordinarily robust – one of many worst insults you possibly can stage at somebody.

The American phrase ‘son of a bitch’, however, is unquestionably on the milder finish of the swearing spectrum, and in reality Biden softened it nonetheless additional by utilizing the coy ‘SOB’. His outburst, due to this fact, was not notably stunning so far as swearing goes. 

French media largely opted to translate it as ‘salopard cinglé‘ – a phrase meaning ‘loopy bastard’ however one which you could possibly both use in an offensive approach, or in an affectionate technique to confer with your excessive sports activities loving pal. It’s a delicate insult, in contrast to fils de pute.

Emmerder – In 2022, Emmanuel Macron made world headlines when he mentioned: “Les non-vaccinés, j’ai très envie de les emmerder”.

While his feedback provoked indignation in France, worldwide information shops additionally struggled to translate ‘emmerder‘.

The phrase comes from merde (shit) however to ‘emmerder‘ somebody means to inconvenience them or to make their life extra shit – on this context, Macron was saying that by means of the usage of the Covid vaccine go he needed to intentionally make the lives of unvaccinated individuals tougher, with a view to persuade them to get vaccinated (however, crucially, with out making the vaccine obligatory).

In the swearing lexicon it’s once more to the milder finish. In the tip most information shops translated his phrases as “I actually need to piss off the unvaccinated”, which carries each the sense of annoying or inconveniencing somebody, and is a equally delicate swear-word.

Sale conne – Another Macron – this time his spouse Brigitte who was caught on digicam referring to feminist activists who had disrupted a play she was watching as sale connes, saying “S’il y a des gross sales connes, on va les foutre dehors“.

Conne is the female model of con, a phrase whose translations vary from ‘fool’ to ‘dickhead’, relying on the context. The female model, nonetheless, has a harsher edge and can be used as extraordinarily vulgar slang for feminine sexual organs – its translations due to this fact vary from ‘bitch’ proper as much as the horrible c-word insult.

Meanwhile sale is a difficult one – by itself it means soiled (to not be confused with salé – salty or savoury), however when used alongside a swearword is healthier understood as merely an emphasis phrase. Pairing any swearword with sale makes it harsher and extra offensive.

Brigitte’s phrase due to this fact has the potential to be extraordinarily offensive – one on-line translation engine means that the 72-year-old first girl referred to as the protesters ‘soiled c***s’.

Although it might be translated like this in case you had been furiously screaming it straight at somebody, the context of Brigitte’s comment suggests a softer translation.

In the tip, most information shops translated her phrase as “If there are any silly bitches, we’ll kick them out”.

Grammar ideas

From agreeing adjectives to the subjunctive, French grammar might be fiendishly – some declare intentionally – sophisticated and virtually all French learners have at one level despaired over ever getting it proper.

People be taught languages in several methods – some individuals want to only throw themselves into chatting, others prefer to have a textbook and a few workouts. But the formal and structured nature of the French language implies that if you wish to develop into fluent – and in case you want written French – then you will need to be taught some grammar.

That’s the aim of our collection of French grammar ideas and tips – and you may also signal as much as obtain them as a e-newsletter.

The ideas should not supposed as an alternative choice to formal courses or sweating over these verb tables (sadly, these are vital for most individuals), however could also be of some assist to language learners.

They come from our personal experiences of residing and dealing in France, and as with our well-liked French Word of the Day function, we have tried to give attention to examples that shall be helpful in on a regular basis life.

Read extra French grammar ideas