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Dubious words.
Maybe this one is for you Frank. I have been trying to find out the meaning of a couple of words, but my friend told me they were heavy slang may swear words. Can I print the words. They are not in my regular dictionary. My friend would not use really base language. Sue Jones.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by susan jones on -
Ok. I am away from home at the moment so the spelling might be incorrect. Poutain is one dubious word and fitou is the other. Hope I haven't offended anyone. Thank you Frank
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Permalink Reply by Frank on
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Hello Susan,
"fitou" doesn't ring any bell. The closest one I can think about is "filou", which means rascal ("petit filou" = "little rascal"). It's not rude at all, it's often used when talking about children.
"poutain", ehm, I guess it's "putain". This one is very vulgar. It used to mean a whore, but it's rarely used as a noun nowadays, rather as an adjective and as an interjection. It's basically equivalent to "f*ck!" (as an interjection) and "f*cking" (as an adjective).
"Lis le putain de manuel" = "Read the f*cking manual".
"Putain, mon équipe à perdu" = "F*ck, my team has lost".
Once again, this is very vulgar. On the other hand, this is a word you're going to hear every 5 minute if you're watching French action movies or listening to native speakers. Typically that kind of word you're trying to never expose to your children, but no matter what you do, they're going to learn it very quickly.
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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on
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See Frank's answer for "putain"-- also see French dictionary entry for this word for other suggested translations.
"Fitou" is a French place name (and actually, often refers to the wine produced there).
As a slang word, maybe you meant "fichu". This isn't terribly offensive, but essentially a slightly slang word meaning a variety of things such as "done", "created", "put", "designed" depending on context. For example, if somebody/something is "bien fichu", it means they're well designed or good-looking.
A more common (though more vulgar) synonym is "foutu", so e.g. "bien foutu" = "fit", "good-looking".
I could juuust about envisage that "fitou" might be used as a slang form by some speakers to mean "opium" (as a Verlan form of the word "toufi(ane)"). But this seems much less likely.
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Permalink Reply by susan jones on
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Hello Neil, Wow, thank you for your extensive reply. I can now ask my friend which word he used.I shall also pass all this info. onto my husband who I am sure will have a go at flinging the words back to our friend. Sue Jones
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Permalink Reply by adel on
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did not realise foutu was vulgar. il a foutu la pagaille= he caused chaos
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Yes it is, although also very common. The verb is "foutre".
"fichu" ("ficher") on the other hand, sounds more like a grandma's word.
il a foutu la pagaille= he caused chaos
Yes, exactly. Il a foutu la pagaille, il a foutu le bordel, il a foutu le dawa, il a foutu le souk. All slang, but very common.
The proper way to say it would be "il a semé la pagaille" or just "il a mis la pagaille".
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