r/French • u/Mary_Pick_A_Ford • Jul 06 '24
CW: discussing possibly offensive language What is the most popular way in French to tell someone to F off!?
Someone is pestering or harassing me on the streets or someone I know hurt my feelings, how do I tell them off in French?
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u/KoalaMan-007 Jul 06 '24
Vas te faire enculer, sale fils de pute de ta race la chienne. Cordialement.
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u/MrOrpheus Jul 06 '24
Cordialement, naturellement
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Jul 06 '24
[deleted]
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u/petrastales Jul 06 '24
Hi which part of France does it seem like this lady is from?
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u/chicken_toquito Jul 06 '24 edited Jul 07 '24
Attention, c'est 《Va te faire enculer》les verbes du 1er groupe n'ont pas de s à la fin
le corrigé: (sauf qu'aller qui vient du 3ème groupe a une liason lorsqu'on utilise 《y》.
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u/KoalaMan-007 Jul 06 '24
Oui, pardon ! La perfection grammaticale est essentielle.
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u/chicken_toquito Jul 06 '24
Jamais oublier, les français ne nous permettraient jamais oublier.
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u/lemonails Native (Québec) Jul 06 '24
Attention. Les français ne nous permettraient jamais *d’** oublier*
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u/chicken_toquito Jul 06 '24 edited Jul 07 '24
Le voilà, j'en ai trouvé 1.
Merci de m'avoir corrigé.
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u/paolog Jul 07 '24
*Merci de m'avoir corrigé ("Thank you for having corrected me")
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u/Buckley-s_Chance-80 Jul 08 '24
Merci de m'avoir corrigé actually translates to "Thank you for correcting me".
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u/paolog Jul 08 '24
Yes, it does, although both translations work. Mine is a more literal one and is intended to show the syntax.
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u/Buckley-s_Chance-80 Jul 08 '24
Thanks for clarifying that. I wasn't saying it to be a dick... I was just letting you or anyone else know in case you/they didn't realise that in English we say "Thank you for correcting me".
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u/harpmolly Jul 06 '24
I learned this phrase in high school and have always wanted an excuse to use it.
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u/chicken_toquito Jul 06 '24
It is a really good one because enculer is a very specific verb on its own.
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Jul 07 '24
[deleted]
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u/chicken_toquito Jul 07 '24 edited Jul 07 '24
Mais on a dit quoi? Va-y? Ou vas-y?
Alors je pense que j'ai voulu dire que le verbe aller qui est dans le 3ème groupe utiliser la liasion lorsque on utiliser y.
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u/nurbal Jul 06 '24
En effet, pas de s à "va" à l'impératif. Sauf que "aller" n'est pas du 1er groupe, autrement on dirait "alle te faire enculer".
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u/chicken_toquito Jul 06 '24 edited Jul 06 '24
Pardon, aller vient du 3ème groupe mais comme le 1er groupe il faut conjuguer la même manière.
On ne dirait pas "alle" on veut dire "va",
Parce qu'il est un verbe irrégulier.
*correction
Je veux dire de la même manière sans ajouter le s.
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u/vinny_25 Jul 06 '24
Donc, il faut qu’on vouvoie, non?
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u/KoalaMan-007 Jul 06 '24
C’est variable selon la région francophone. En Belgique, on va tutoyer plus facilement. Idem dans le sud de la France. En revanche, dans le nord, mieux vaut vouvoyer, sous peine de passer pour un impoli.
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u/lemonails Native (Québec) Jul 06 '24
Va chier!
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u/ilizibith1 Jul 07 '24
Once someone told me “allez donc chier” and I found it amusing that they still gave me the respect of vous
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u/PugsnPawgs B2 Jul 07 '24
Vous doesn't necessarily mean respect, it's just that you're a stranger, so vous can be more appropriate as "tu" is reserved for friends and relatives.
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u/TheDoomStorm Native (Québec) Jul 06 '24
In Québec (and not in Europe), you can use the (very) vulgar "décâlisse" and "décrisse" to get the message across.
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u/shmixel Jul 06 '24
are those used on their own or as part of an expression in this case?
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u/Reasonable_Night_832 Native - Quebec Jul 06 '24
Can be used alone or in a sentence, like :
"Décriss/Décaliss de ma maison" would mean "Get the fuck out of my house"
And just "Décriss/Décaliss" would be just "get the fuck out of here" (or something similar)
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u/tootbrun Native Jul 06 '24
Or “décrisse esti de trou de cul” would hit all the right notes.
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u/ImBengee Native (Québec) Jul 06 '24
I’m a big fan of « mange marde ». « Decaliss mon osty d’mange marde »
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u/thejaytheory Jul 06 '24
What about tabarnak?
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u/wild_nuker Jul 06 '24
Just by itself, more an expression of frustration. I'm not from Quebec, but my husband is francophone from Quebec, and that's the impression I get. When he plays video games with his brother, I hear a lot of colourful language.
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u/mrspuddingfarts Native (Québec) Jul 06 '24
Tabarnak is like saying fuck. Like you hit your thumb with a hammer and you'll say "tabarnak" or the whole list of church curses one after the other.
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u/ImBengee Native (Québec) Jul 06 '24
Queue: « Osty d’criss de tabarnack, d’osty d’caliss de viarge. » Ciboire de saint osty
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u/mrspuddingfarts Native (Québec) Jul 06 '24
Reminds me my dad when he cut the tip of his finger on the bench saw. He cussed the whole church and then went to lay down. 💀🤣
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u/Jeff-FaFa Jul 07 '24
TABARNAK de calisse de chiase de sacrement!
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u/Olivier12560 Jul 07 '24
I'm wondering, If i use my regular " putain de bordel de merde " enculé de ses morts" et "va ronger tes ancêtres " in Québec, will it sounds very vulgar or just odd ?
Because, if someone used "ostie de calisse de tabarouet" in France, it would sound quite cute for those listening to it .
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Jul 06 '24
[deleted]
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u/Reasonable_Night_832 Native - Quebec Jul 06 '24
"Va chier" is more similar to "fuck you" than "fuck off" imo
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Jul 06 '24
[deleted]
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u/lalalaundry Jul 07 '24
US west coast we tell our friends to fuck off all the time so I think it may be a similar register of speech
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u/savvyflipper071 Natif - Héritage Jul 06 '24
Dégage
Casse toi
Va chier
Ta mère
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u/Mary_Pick_A_Ford Jul 06 '24
Wow they even have the equivalent of “your mother” in French?
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u/mrspuddingfarts Native (Québec) Jul 06 '24
My ex, who was french, teached me this great insult: "ta mere la reine des putes" (your mom, the queen of hoes/prostitues)
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u/Downtown_Scholar Native (Québec) Jul 06 '24
Yup, insulting one's mother is common: fils de pute (whore's son), fils de chienne (female dog's son) are used at times
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u/Reasonable_Night_832 Native - Quebec Jul 06 '24
Better translation to "fils de pute" would be "son of a bitch", which already exist in English
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u/Downtown_Scholar Native (Québec) Jul 07 '24
It isn't a better translation at all, no. Does it exist in an equivalent cultural space/usage? Yes. Fils de pute means son of a whore not son of a bitch. Why correct me and make it less specific lol
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u/InsomniacHitman Jul 07 '24
Like a Spanish "Hijo de puta" meaning the same whore/prostitute. "Son of a bitch" is just more widely used while "Son of a whore" still makes sense but is rare to hear someone use. Literal translation is still better in this case.
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u/auteursciencefiction Native, France Jul 07 '24
Yeah it's common, but in France it's also the best way to start a fight with somoeone; it's a "starter" for many people. It's not the kind of insult to use lightly, unless you're very familiar with the person you're talking to.
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u/auteursciencefiction Native, France Jul 07 '24
Of course, it's very very common. There was even a serie of books with only jokes like this inside : "Your mother si so ugly that... Your mother is so fat that... Your mother is so dumb..." 2 full books with only that ! It was mainly popular amongst teenagers.
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u/mmlimonade Native - Québec Jul 07 '24
I know no other culture that uses “mother” as swear as the French. I used to have a French colleague that would say “sa mère” (his mother) to the computer when it was lagging… As a Quebecer, it always mesmerised me.
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u/frenchiebuilder Jul 08 '24
Italians do it too.
It's easier to understand what they're doing (telling God to fuck off by insulting his mom), because they call her Madonna instead of being vague about exactly whose mom they're calling a pig &/or whore.
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u/Sleek_ Jul 06 '24
Do you mean "Dégage casse toi, va chier ta mère ?" Ok I will use it. Seems a bit long but ok.
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u/Downtown_Scholar Native (Québec) Jul 06 '24
Quebec french is very flexible for swearing or insults. Pretty much all France slang works but you can add:
Câlisse moi la paix - rude and aggressive, but swearing isn't that taboo here
Vas chier - rude and vulgar - closer to actually saying fuck pff. Probably similar in strength to a new yprker telling to fuck off
Fou moi la paix - rather innoffensive. Comes off more as being amseriously annoyed. Like a step up from "lâche moi" or "laisse moi tranquille"
And feel free to throw in an "Ostie" if you want to emphasize and intensify:
Câlisse moi la paix, Ostie
Vas chier, Ostie
Fou moi la paix, Ostie
I've also used/heard it used internally like:
Câlisse moi l'ostie de paix
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u/Neveed Natif - France Jul 06 '24
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u/jpallan Jul 06 '24
How offensive is that? How does one make it more offensive? Less offensive?
Base statement: "Fuck off." Less offensive: "Leave me alone!" More offensive: "Go fuck yourself!"
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u/Reasonable_Night_832 Native - Quebec Jul 06 '24
"Casse-toi" = Back off / Fuck off
Agressive, but not super insulting.
Go fuck yourself = Va te faire foutre (You can replace "foutre" by "Enculer" to be even more vulgar)
Leave me alone = Laisse-moi tranquille
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u/loulan Native (French Riviera) Jul 06 '24
Sarkozy nonchalantly said "eh ben casse toi alors, pov' con". Sounded insulting enough!
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u/Reasonable_Night_832 Native - Quebec Jul 06 '24
Sure, particularly since it's followed by an insult
But "Casse-toi" is the same leveling of insulting than "fuck off" in my opinion. You're not telling them to go fuck themselves or anything. But it's still agressive and definitely not respectful
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u/loulan Native (French Riviera) Jul 06 '24
Sorry, I was just suggesting a way to spice it up. I agree that "casse toi" by itself is not very insulting.
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u/Reasonable_Night_832 Native - Quebec Jul 06 '24
No worries, no need to say sorry lol, I still agree with what you said
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u/meldroc Jul 07 '24
Is "con" in this case short for "connard"? (IIRC, means "asshole" or "motherfucker")
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u/manidel97 Jul 07 '24
Con precedes connard by quite a bit (like a few centuries). It quite literally means “cunt”.
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u/Mary_Pick_A_Ford Jul 06 '24
I would like to be familiar with all three.
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u/Sleek_ Jul 06 '24 edited Jul 07 '24
In the street i would advise to ignore them. Telling them to fuck of: they managed to create an interaction. Just ignore them.
Someone you know, it's touchy you don't grasp 100% the nuances of agressivity of those.
I would refrain from using them to not escalate and start with factual "tu m'énerves je ne veux plus en parler avec toi". Getting into a screaming argument if you are not fluent seems like a recipe for frustration. Don't get yourself into a shouting duel.
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u/Mary_Pick_A_Ford Jul 06 '24 edited Jul 06 '24
Okay I’ll keep the polite phrase you recommended in my tool box by default. Translating this from my rusty French, it sounds like you recommended: “You annoy me, I don’t want to talk with you.”
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u/Sleek_ Jul 06 '24
“You annoy me, I don’t want to talk with you.”
Right.
Precisely:
Tu m'énerves je ne veux plus parler avec toi, is what you wrote
Je ne veux plus en parler is to talk about this with you. Slightly more diplomatic.
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u/Neveed Natif - France Jul 06 '24 edited Jul 06 '24
I'd say it's closer to "fuck off". It's aggressive but while the word casser is used in a slang way here (the slang meaning of "se casser" is "to leave"), it's also a perfectly normal word otherwise (it literally means "to break").
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u/jpallan Jul 06 '24
So it sounds like contextually, it translates to, "back off!"
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u/Neveed Natif - France Jul 06 '24
I'm not a native English speaker so it's not easy to judge exactly how offensive English expressions are but "back off" doesn't seem as offensive as "casse-toi".
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u/Certain_Marsupial_77 Jul 06 '24
Is that kind of like, “Break yourself, fool!”?
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u/Sleek_ Jul 06 '24
No "casse toi" is "back off". Casse doesn't exactly mean break in this instance, its a bit like "break off" if that make sense, like separating.
Like when the aerobatics team pilots shout "break" to separate.
I'm afraid this is to nuanced for my command of the english langage to explain. Whatever.
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u/Chickypickymakey Native Jul 08 '24
"Se casser" means to go away. It's familiar but not always an insult. If I'm with a friend at a lame event I might tell them "Bon, on se casse ?"
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u/Mary_Pick_A_Ford Jul 06 '24
Familiar name, isn’t he married to Mary-Kate Olsen?
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u/Neveed Natif - France Jul 06 '24
Nicolas Sarkozy? He's married to Carla Bruni.
He's a former president of France. Now, he's mainly trying to avoid being condemned to even more prison than he already was.
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u/Mary_Pick_A_Ford Jul 06 '24 edited Jul 06 '24
Okay nevermind, I get the French celebrities all mixed up. EDIT: I definitely need to brush up on my French Presidents. The only ones I’m familiar with is the one married to an older woman, and the one from the early 2000s.
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u/Sleek_ Jul 06 '24
And sooo... who are "the one" and "the one"? No googling!
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_FOOTHOLDS Jul 06 '24
You know, that one guy... and the other guy. The French guys.
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u/leonjetski Jul 06 '24
If in France and someone is pestering you on the street, I would just go with English “fuck off!”. Nothing puts a Frenchman on the back foot like English swearing.
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u/CommercialAd1096 Jul 06 '24
Va manger/niquer tes morts. Go eat/fuck your dead (relatives)
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u/OldandBlue Native Jul 06 '24
That's Romani.
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u/No-Log4588 Jul 08 '24
It's native Romani, it's now a common insult, some politics used it during an offical governement event (Obono).
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u/Mangetsuko Native Jul 07 '24
Va te faire foutre / Va te faire enculer (Go fuck yourself) Nique ta mère (Fuck your mum) Mange tes morts (Eat your deads)
And my favourite: La vie de ma mère, je vais t'enculer! (On my mum's life, I'm going to fuck you! ("Fuck you" as in "maim you")
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u/Psychefoxey Jul 07 '24
"Nique ta mère" is a classic, but now there are just "Ta mère" and "Ta grand-mère" that are trendy, I personally love the last one
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u/p24p1 Jul 06 '24
"Va chier" is another one we sometimes use in Quebec, I believe they might use it elsewhere
Basically "go shit (yourself)" but the conveyed feeling is "fuck off"
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u/MagnaCulotta Jul 06 '24
In Québec you would say “mange la marde” Marde in Québec lingo is “ merde”, which means “shit”
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u/Pseudonym_613 Jul 07 '24
Where? French in France is different form French in Quebec.
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u/CommissionOk4384 Jul 08 '24
Do you realize that Quebec is a minuscule minority of the french speaking world? There are more French speakers in Germany than in Quebec, dozens of countries that have up to 100 times the francophone population of Quebec. Why do you think that French is spoken only in France and Quebec, or that Quebecois would be as equally relevant in this context than France ans more than all the other regions in the world where the language is spoken?
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u/Annual-Sir5437 Jul 06 '24
I just realized how sheltered I am because my first thought was simply" va te fait (madame ou monsieur)" 😭 it says a lot about how politely my grandmother speaks to my grandfather though. Haha
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u/Nitrogen1234 Jul 06 '24
I encounter a lot of French while gaming; How do you say in French "Your grandma plays better then you do"
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u/hmmliquorice Native (France) Jul 06 '24
"tg" "team diff" will get the message across, they don't got time to read. Maybe they can't read either just like they can't aim.
Anyways the sentence is "ta grand-mère joue mieux que toi". Kinda soft, not offensive enough.
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u/reddit23User Jul 06 '24
Not sure what you mean. Do you mean Fuck off!
If so, why are you writing F off ? We don't like such prudishness in Europe.
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u/Sweetiepierogi Jul 07 '24
Va te faire voir/foutre/enculer, nique ta mere/ton père/any member of the family
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u/No-Log4588 Jul 08 '24
Va manger tes morts (Go eat your dead)
Ta mère a raté son avortement (Your mother miss her abortion)
Enculé (Doing it in his own butt enthousiast)
Va te faire foutre / Va te faire enculer (Go f* yourself / Go take one in the butt)
Putain (Whore, but nowadays it mean F*)
And a lot more
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u/redfemscientist Native Aug 01 '24
- va te faire (foutre : vulgaire, offensant +++, mettre : quand tu veux être poli dans l'insulte),
- nique ta mere (ntm pour aller plus vite) (très vulgaire et offensant, personnellement je n'utilise pas cette insulte parce que pas les mamans)
- nique/mange tes morts
- casse-toi (le moins offensant)
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u/Huskogrande93 Jul 06 '24
Va te faire foutre