French vs English banter
I was talking last night to an American friend who is married to a French girl, and he remarked one something that had never occurred to me. He said: “Have you noticed how in English, we insult our friends by animal, whereas foods are used French?” I hadn’t noticed. So, I’ve been thinking about it.
In English, you can indeed call your mate a pig, dog, cow, turkey, chicken, snake, donkey, ass and more. The only food-related insult I can think of right now is saying somebody is a cabbage or a couch potato. I’m sure there are more, along with a few nice ones, like calling someone pumpkin or honey, but banter-wise, the animals definitely outweigh the foods.
When my American friend was saying this, our French friend was giggling away in agreement, so I can only presume he’s correct. He mentioned patate (potato), flan, quiche, and cake (in English). Yes, you can call your mate a cake or a flan if she or he is being a bit silly. You can also yell ‘patate!’ at a fellow driver if they don’t follow the road rules. Imagine someone yelling out ‘potato’ as an insult! I’d want some comedy music to be playing in the background at the time, and cartoon cars too. I’m not good at French insults yet, so this is where you come in. What are some other French insults/friendly banter relating to animals or foods and when do you use them?
I'm a technical author, journalist and writer from Australia who has been living in Europe since 2000 and exploring the world from there. My passions are writing, snow sports and travel.
Banane can be used for silly;
Andouille (a breton charcuterie speciality) applies to idiot; cornichon is another one; sour for the annoyance.
“Mon chou” (as in the patisserie) is an endearing term for a close one; “ma crotte” (of the chocolate variety) works too; sweets for the love 🙂
But we also sometimes use animals to refer to or insult others:
“Chameau” ou “peau de vache” ou “vipere” can be used to describe a nasty character.
That was fun 🙂
A bit “off-topic” in that it’s neither food nor animal but… un marteau (noun) is a hammer. When used as an adjective in relation to a person, it means they are mad or deranged 🙂
‘Rosbif’ for the English. Not the Scots, of course.
These are great! I did think of another one overnight but I’ve forgotten it now.
Virginie, the first time I heard ‘mon chou’, I thought the girl was being called a cauliflower. It was a running joke at French school after that as none of us realised the connection with chou pastry and delicious related desserts!
Slightly off topic, “she’s been touched”. I thought meant in a godly/holey compliment, when it means “insane” – there’ve done loopy. No food, no animals required.