NormanH Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 As heard in "Spiral" on BBC....(and in everyday life in a certain grubby town in the South of France) Don't read if you are shocked by four letter words...http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2015/feb/20/pute-de-merde-de-con-the-linguistics-of-spiral-slang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 [quote user="NormanH"]http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2015/feb/20/pute-de-merde-de-con-the-linguistics-of-spiral-slang[/quote]As the link won't work due to the bad language (!!) try this link : then click on SpiralA very good article, well written too. The language is BAD but then it is in Wolf Hall too, there is just less of it.Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 NH, I think that this board and put some ***'s up in the link, so I cannot look at it. I'm not shocked by four letter words and general bad language, even the most refined french people I know use what I would consider very bad language if they were speaking english and not french, maybe they don't use it all the time, but a lot of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 Try Sue's suggestion above...Thanks Sue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Good piece - once I found my way to it. Thanks Norman.Did we have a link yet to the Guardian's quiz on the slang used? In case not, here it is:http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/quiz/2015/feb/12/spiral-quiz-test-your-french-slangThe Wooly one got 100% of course...I slipped up on one.Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 Thanks for that[:D]I didn't agree with the answer to one 'on va serrer ce ******'has a definite feel of 'we are going to put pressure on' not just 'arrest' serrer means 'to tighten' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 It saddens me to realise how early on I learned all of the terms in the excellent article and that they probably form the basis of my everyday speech, the few educated and decent people that I know, whom I have a lot of respect for, they never use these terms, they must have quite a low opinion of the way I now express myself, sadly whilst I hope they all realise that I am a better person than I sound only one actively corrects me because as she has explained to me I often unknowingly portray myself in a false light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Well as I expected I got dix sur dix, and fancy saying that I might not need sub titles, have they forgotten accents, because some people do not 'get' some french accents, even if they know what swearing like a trooper sounds like usually[Www]. I am OK with accents, but I know people who are not.Chancer, that is interesting that your more refined friends do not use bad language, because mine do, even those with Bac+ 6 or more and very good jobs.I'm not saying that they swear often, but when things go wrong, a p'..ain de m..rde can be heard and sometimes rather worse. I usually keep my jure'ing 'tame' and use 'zut' and 'zut alors' and 'mince'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 More refined is a very relative term, compared to the populace here who hate them anyone with even a small amount of education, who does a reasonable job and above all who continue to evolve in life and are not fermé might as well be royalty.I have had a good think and no, I have never heard a p**ain de m**de or even either of them used singularly but then neither have they from me in their presence, they all have children and invest everything to give them a good future, they say punaise and mince but not freely, only the times that the real P and M words would be justified.It wasnt so much the swearing that I was referring to, I know enough to only use gros mots when I can really understand what they mean and in whose company it may be acceptable, its more the other argot that lets me down and its that that I am picked up on by the few real friends, like saying "je me casse".Most people around here judge people by the car they drive, the clothes that they wear, I know better than to do that but it does enable me to keep a low profile and to pass inaperçu, I judge people by their comportment, their actions, their speech and above all how they relate to others and the body language of others showing what esteem they hold them in, the last 2 I refined while travelling through dangerous areas in countries where I didnt speak the langauge.People see that I dress like an SDF when working, that I drive an old bagnole, if I dont make constant feforts to improve my speech it just confirms what their eyes are telling them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 I dress like an SDF and have a mobility scooter.Nobody can square that with me going to eat in a bistro...Except by the fact that I am 'l'Anglois' (not a totally flattering term) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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