Vocabulary - Help foreigners get the best of your forum

[doppelganger]

I wanted to clarify the use of douchebag, as I believe that the word "douche" means shower in french.

In America douche is something that women use to clean their "lady parts" when they are smelling "not so fresh and clean." The apparatus used to insert this liquid is called a douchebag, and thus calling someone a douchebag is intended to be degrading and offensive.

[pokerbobo]

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Thx people, it's clearer this way, I didn't know the difference between fraternity and sorority.

RoundGuy, this one was a cheap shot [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

You can still call our president a *douchebag*, I won't mind.

PS : for rewarding I may answer to any question about France. If anyone ever cares.

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Are french people mad at us because Burger King turned the beloved croissant into a croisandwich?

[Frelo]

Tik > Not at all.

Typical french issue : someone opens the fridge, evacuate the kitchen.

[Frelo]

dopelganger > thx, that's exactly the point I was missing. You're right, douche = shower.

pokerbobo > BK has left France years ago, we have McDonald's, Quick (belgian), and KFC (developing). Anyway I avoid fast-foods.

[Banks2334]

Bon Jour. Just to clarify, a fraternity is usually composed of a bunch of douchebags. Carry on.

[adsman]

So now that you understand what it means, how do you say douchebag in French?

[TiK]

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So now that you understand what it means, how do you say douchebag in French?

[/ QUOTE ]

Le douchebag.

[Frelo]

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So now that you understand what it means, how do you say douchebag in French?

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The problem with slang is that it's so idiomatic that you can hardly find any word-to-word translation. For instance, you watch a movie, the character drops the f-bomb, there are several different translations according to the context.

Imagine a tennisman making a double fault on a match point, he'll say f***, in french you'd say... er I can't remember how you say prostitute in slang (bitch ?), but that's what a french tennisman would say in the same circumstance.

So I can't think about a word that would mean the same as douchebag.

[Frelo]

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Bon Jour. Just to clarify, a fraternity is usually composed of a bunch of douchebags. Carry on.

[/ QUOTE ]
This could lead to another argument. I believe some people would disagree with this, but we don't have anything like this here, so I can't say I (dis)agree.

[Dale Dough]

Please, tell me why it is considered acceptable for staff in the ACF to DEMAND tips. Got freerolled in a big pot, but luckily managed to win your money back + 5 euros? 'Don't forget the dealer, sir!'. How much does a coke cost here? 'Just the tip sir, 2 euros'. I could go on and on about this.

Also, why do people pretend not to speak English? We're in a big supermarket-type store on the Champs Elysees. One of my buddies was refused entry into the ACF because of his sneakers, and they referred us there. The following conversation literally happened:

Me, as slowly and clearly as I can: 'Excuse me miss, we would like to buy a pair of shoes.'

Her: 'Je ne comprends pas. Ne parle pas anglais, desolee.'

Me: 'Nous voudrions acheter des... <gesture> shoes!'

Her, with no accent at all: 'Ah, you want shoes? What kind of shoes? (..) To get into the casino? We have a bunch of nice shoes over there, have a look!'

WTF?