BS: French slang word needed

Subject: BS: French slang word needed
From: Mr Red
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 08:08 AM

fairly simple, the word is (cough)

b*ll*cks

must be slang, medical or correctness is not required, and the testicular sense as opposed to BS or m*rd*.

Adrian at Poppy Records asked me as a repository of useless information but je ne parle plus Francais. He does talking books on CD and obscure cylinder (yes) and 78 recordings transcribed. I would guess this has cropped-up on one of his talking books.

Babelfish offers the English word, and he knows the Spanish equivalent. Not sure if there is a regional aspect but at this stage a suitable slang word will do. PM me if you want to be polite.

TIA

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Emma B
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 08:42 AM

'Le terme couille est un synonyme vulgaire du mot testicule.'

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: bobad
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 08:43 AM

In Quebec French a commonly used word is "gosse". It is a feminine noun (go figure) the plural of which is gosses. In France the word means "brat".

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Amos
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 10:42 AM

Onions, along with eggs, are used as euphemisms for testicles in a number of French and New Orleans French Creole expressions. "Va te faire sucer un oeuf!" (Go suck balls) is clearly an insult; whereas "Pas tes oignans!" (not your onions) is a simple retort. (Meaning that something is not your business.)...

Fam. C'est (ce n'est pas) mes (tes…) oignons « cela ne regarde que moi (cela ne me regarde pas) » (début XXe s.). Oignons a le sens métaphorique d'« affaires personnelles »; le pluriel masque le sens figuré de oignon « cul », qui est certainement à l'origine de l'expression, comme de occupe-toi de tes oignons (cf. de tes fesses). Arrivé à son étage, le second, il avait d'ailleurs réussi à se persuader que la psychologie de Pradonet, c'était pas ses oignons, non plus que celle de son hôtesse. R. Queneau. Pierrot mon ami, p. 147.

La valeur anale du mot est aussi attestée dans une locution argotique, avec la forme oigne • se le mettre, se le carrer dans l'oigne correspond à se le mettre au cul « mépriser » ; elle est surtout employée dans l'apostrophe injurieuse : tu peux te le mettre dans l'oigne !



http://french.about.com/b/2007/08/03/french-expression-cest-pas-tes-oignons.htm

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Amos
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 10:46 AM

Also found in a badkly translated list of French slang words:

Yeuk

Testicles (ex: you break me the yeuks!!)

I suppose this would translate as "Tu me casses les yeuks" (you're busting my balls).


A

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Amos
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 10:53 AM

I have to add that the above entrey "yeuk" made no sense to me etymologically, until I came across this little remark:

"Learn backslang. A good deal of French slang, and most of what French youth speak on a regular basis in conversation with each other, is a slang called "backslang." The slang takes words like "chien," which means "dog" in French, and inverts it to "iench." Another example is "manger" or "to eat" which becomes "geman." Backslang is critical to French slang so learn a bit of it to start your French slang education."

Yeuk, pronounced backwards in French, is of course couilles. Tres interessant!


A

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Monique
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 11:36 AM

The most used is "couilles". Then you have "burnes" mostly used in "tu me casses les burnes", "roubignoles", "roupettes" (Cf the song "Monsieur l'Curé a un carrosse ses roues pètent sur le pavé..."), "roustons" (Cf the song "Et les roustons du père Platon dans du coton hydrophile...")
"Oignon" is generally used in France to mean "ass/arse" in the very kind of expressions Amos mentioned.
There are more : "bonbons" (this is why it's hard to translate literaly "Soon (s)he`ll be gettin` a wee double chin, Fae sookin` cooter`s candy" in Ali Bali), "burettes", "c/glaouis", "joyeuses", "valseuses" and more acceptable like "bijoux de familles" or "génitoires"
You also have the nice "coucougnettes" which is also a candy

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Monique
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 11:39 AM

A link you should have in your favorites!

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: john f weldon
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 11:55 AM

Around these parts, they mutter "boules", "boulettes", and "boulettes de merde"

Literally Balls, little balls, and little balls of shit. Quebec swearing is huge with ambiguity.

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Amos
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 12:00 PM

Monique:


MErci beaucoup pour votre traduction gracieux. My French, in fact, is so old and rusty it would not be allowed on a public thoroughfare for fear the wheels would fall right off.

A

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Mr Red
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 12:36 PM

beaucoup de mercis

The Mudcat scores yet again.

I will email him right away.

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 01:07 PM

How does a French speaker (or should I say "listener"?) know when the word is being used in the singular or the plural, given the fact that the "s" is normally silent? I mean, it's easy enough to spot the plurals on the written page...but how do you hear them?

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Mr Red
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 01:29 PM

believe me - most common usage is in the plural. So why worry, unless you drop a ...................

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: GUEST,femme fatale
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 01:30 PM

Amos - vous semblez si romantiques et sexy quand vous parlez le français.

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Amos
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 02:07 PM

Ooooo! la, la!! Ca m'as fait la journee!!


A

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 02:55 PM

TABERNAC!

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 03:08 PM

vous cochon !!

biLL

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Cluin
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 03:09 PM

Maybe you can translate this one.

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 03:17 PM

oh la merde, aucune voie !

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Monique
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 07:26 PM

Little Hawk, they generally go by two according to my experience so it's plural. More seriously, but for some nouns sounding differently (like un cheval, des chevaux, un travail des travaux, un oeuf des oeufs...) we usually know when nouns are in plural because the article or possessive article (or any determiner) that goes before the noun is in plural and they sound differently. Sometimes the verb helps too but to hear "les/des/mes/tes/ses/ces" before is what tells us that it's plural.
Some people say it in singular "ma couille" meaning "old boy" "my dear friend" -Gérard Depardieu is known to use it.

We don't mutter "boules" etc, we usually say "J'ai les boules" and put our hands on each side of our neck as if holding balls because they'd have suddenly left their natural place to climb up there to show frustration, disappointement, anger... -even women do it- we also do it without saying anything and everybody understands. We do use "boules" to mean testicles, and also "cacahuètes" (peanuts) "noix" (walnuts) "noisettes" (hazelnuts) "castagnettes" (castanets)

Cluin, this video is pretty disgusting but the two guys are explaining how women manage so that it makes no noise during all the process

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Cluin
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 09:55 PM

Et Jerry Lewis est une génie de la comédie.

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 11:19 PM

Thank you, Monique. You have explained it very well. I knew there had to be an answer.

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 11:26 PM

brilliant Cluin .... brilliant ! LOL

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Nov 08 - 12:48 PM

Coucougnettes
Boules
Couilles
These are from my French friends... who haven't heard the verlan version, youk, before!

Subject: RE: BS: French slang word needed
From: Monique
Date: 11 Nov 08 - 02:16 PM

Couille -in singular- also means a big glitch. It's a very big insult towards a woman in some parts of Southern France.