After “illico presto” and other argot words and expressions starting with the letter ‘I‘, here comes the turn of la lettre ‘J.‘
Pour rappel (as a reminder), if you have missed them, here are les liens (the links) to the previous posts of le B.A.-BA de l’argot (the ABC of French Slang), each corresponding to a letter of the alphabet.
Before we start, here are again the links to the previous chapters of the B.A.-BA, listed alphabetically, for your utmost convenience:
* B.A.-BA de l’Argot: ‘B’ (the ABC of French Slang: ‘B’)
* B.A.-BA de l’Argot: ‘B’ [Cont.] (the ABC of French Slang: ‘B’ [Cont.])
* “C comme…” B.A.-BA de l’Argot (the ABC of French Slang: ‘C’)
* “C comme…(Ça Continue!)” B.A.-BA de l’Argot (the ABC of French Slang: ‘C’ [cont.])
* “D comme…” B.A.-BA de l’Argot (the ABC of French Slang: ‘D’)
* “E comme…” B.A.-BA de l’Argot (the ABC of French Slang: ‘E’)
* “F comme…” B.A.-BA de l’Argot: ‘F’ [1] (the ABC of French Slang: ‘F’ [1])
* “F comme…” B.A.-BA de l’Argot: ‘F’ [2] (the ABC of French Slang: ‘F’ [2])
* More French Slang! B.A.-BA de l’Argot: “Lettre G” (1ère partie)
* More French SLANG! B.A.-BA de l’Argot: “Lettre G” (2ème partie)—and ATTENTION aux MEUPORGs!
* “GRATOS!” and other ‘G’ French Slang words (3ème partie)
* ‘I’ comme “Illico Presto!”—and more from le B.A.-BA de l’Argot (The ABC of French Slang)
* * *
“J comme…” (“J as in…”)
* Je-m’en-foutisme:
In his book “The Devil in France – My Encounter with Him in the Summer of 1940” (during the Nazi invasion of France, that is), le dramaturge (playwright) Lion Feuchtwanger defines Je-m’en-foutisme as “an attitude toward life that may be somewhat inadequately translated as ‘I-don’t-give-a-damnism.’” He further identifies with with “the Devil of Unthoughtfulness, of Sloth in good-will, of Convention, of Routine, the very Devil to whom the French have given the motto, “je m’en fous”—”I don’t give a damn.” To adopt a “je-m’en-foutiste” behavior, so to speak, is to be a “je-m’en-foutiste.”
* Je-Sais-Tout:
To be un monsieur je-sais-tout or a madame je-sais-tout is to be a “know-it-all.” You can also say “un gros malin“, which has the sense of a ”smart alec.”
Madame JE-SAIS-TOUT (Mrs. KNOW-IT-ALL)
* Jetons:
It usually comes in the expression “foutre les jetons“, which means “to give the freaks”, “to give the chills”, or “to give the jitters” to someone.
In another expression, namely “faux jeton”, if you remember from the letter ‘F’ of the ABC, we said that it literally means a “fake token”, and standing for a hypocritical or a disingenious person, a “fake”, or a “phoney.”
Une autre citrouille de Halloween (Another Halloween pumpkin) qui fout les jetons !
Madame JE-SAIS-TOUT (and more of the ABC of French Slang!) is a post from: French Blog
