![]() She said: "For me the difference between someone who has a high level of language and someone who is totally fluent or bilingual is knowing when to use slang, expressions or swearing - because that requires not just language knowledge but cultural knowledge to know what is appropriate to use in a certain situation. READ ALSO Why Macron's use of 'emmerder' proved hard to translateĪnd Héloïse's advice for people who want to try out French swearing? Save it until you have really progressed in your language learning. It is also loaded with historical and political significance, harking back to a famous quote by former president Georges Pompidou. Macron's emmerder caused problems for translators because there is no exact translation - it means to make someone's life difficult or inconvenient, but it is also vulgar (although not truly offensive) so for the president to use it in an interview made its own statement. A group of young people on a night out will use very different language to a president talking in an interview." "And thirdly there's the social and geographical context that people are talking in. You would use a different word for someone being mildly annoying or for someone you're really very angry and aggressive towards. This really only comes through having a good general knowledge of the culture so we know which words are most often used in which situations. "Secondly there is the intensity of the word of the phrase, whether you're looking at something mild, in the middle or extreme. "Firstly you need to consider the speaker's intent, and here it's useful to look at things like the tone of voice and the body language to see whether someone is relaxed or angry. Héloïse said: "I think there are three things that you need to consider I see French media are going with 'espèce de connard' to translate Joe Biden's 'stupid son of a bitch' comment - Emma Pearson January 25, 2022 In English "son of a bitch" is not exactly polite, but it's not a nuclear insult either, which is why many French publications went for the milder insult connard - think a phrase that you mutter at someone who has just slammed the door in your face or landed you in trouble with your boss. But fils de pute is a strong insult in French - you would probably be screaming it at the man who has just smashed into your car or had an affair with your wife. Joe Biden's "son of a bitch" has its closest exact translation as fils de pute (son of a whore) and if you use an online translation tool this is what you will get. ![]() ![]() She said: "Whenever you're translating something from the less formal end of the lexicon, cultural and historical knowledge becomes very important." Héloïse Prieur is a French language and culture coach who runs the London-based French language school Belle Entente. You need to know what level you're going for, but if you're translating someone else's comments, you need to render both what they said and also exactly how offensive their comment was. Swearing or bad language has a wide range - from phrases that are vulgar, colloquial and a bit rude to wildly-offensive full-on insults that are likely to start a punch up if you use them in a bar. So why is translation of bad language so hard?
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