Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

à la mords-moi-le-noeud

English translation:

bloody stupid/idiotic/nonsensical/rubbish, etc.

Added to glossary by French Foodie
Aug 7, 2005 17:01
18 yrs ago
3 viewers *
French term

à la mords-moi-le-noeud

May offend French to English Other Slang expression
I saw this in the French-Polish pair, but alas that doesn't help me much :-)

I checked "may be offensive" because I'm trying to figure out just how strong this expression is. Not in the Petit Robert. I tried googling and found it used mainly in blogs, so...
I understand what the speaker in the passage below is driving at, but I'd like the nuances of it. The speaker also uses "con" later on, so he does not hold back when choosing his words.

"Je me suis retrouvé l’autre jour à Val Thorens et il y avait une pancarte, grande comme ça avec des pistes et à un moment donné il y avait une pancarte qui disait si vous avez le pass jaune, vous devez prendre à gauche parce que si vous prenez à droite, vous ne pourrez plus prendre les remontées mécaniques, etc, une explication à la mords moi le nœud qui était marquée en 3 langues mais pas en japonais ni en chinois, bien entendu, mais en 3 langues, je suis resté devant cette pancarte et je me suis dit mais qu’est-ce que je fais maintenant, je tourne à gauche ou je tourne à droite et je ne comprenais rien, je n’ai toujours rien compris, je trouve ça extraordinaire."

Discussion

Estelle Demontrond-Box Aug 8, 2005:
I agree and stick to "nonsensical" or why not "rubbish"... (to be on a closer register)
Non-ProZ.com Aug 8, 2005:
Hi Carolingua, I like "whacked" as well (it's probably the word I would use :-), but what I didn't mention is that this is a 71-year-old man talking. A fiesty man, mind you, who makes no bones about swearing to drive a point home. For example, he's the CEO of a major hotel group in France, and during a meeting with several other CEOs on how they could promote tourism in France, he actually told one of the other men that his idea was "con". I like incomprehensible and inept, for I think they get the meaning across, but I also think this man would have then used the word incomprehensible in French. He deliberately chose a different register, which is what I'm trying to match.
The audience is not specifically US or UK - "international English".
Carolingua Aug 7, 2005:
Depending on your audience..."bloody" is British. But that's the thing about slang--there is no "universal" slang--it depends on your audience (i.e. place, generation, etc.)
Non-ProZ.com Aug 7, 2005:
OK, thanks Estelle and Flo. I was heading towards "infuriating", but I see it is more along the lines of "bloody stupid" or "bloody ridiculous". Do you think that gets the right register across?

Proposed translations

+3
16 mins
French term (edited): � la mords-moi-le-noeud
Selected

stupid / idiotic

as in 'une explication à la con'

Both are pretty vulgar, but commonly used by some people...

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Note added at 42 mins (2005-08-07 17:43:47 GMT)
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Yep, \'bloody stupid\' sounds good!

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Note added at 18 hrs 6 mins (2005-08-08 11:07:06 GMT)
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\'what I didn\'t mention is that this is a 71-year-old man talking [...], CEO of a major hotel group\' Shocking!! In this context, I can\'t help thinking that \'mords-moi...\' acquires a much stronger meaning
Peer comment(s):

agree Philippe Maillard : bloody stupid
34 mins
Yes, definitely 'bloody stupid' (Sorry Mara, I can't answer your note in the Asker's box)
agree Carolingua : idiotic, maybe, but I wouldn't use use "bloody" unless this is UK-specific English.
2 hrs
OK, thanks
agree PB Trans : agree with Carolingua
5 hrs
Thanks
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Many thanks to all of you. I think most of your suggestions would work. In this case, bloody stupid, or bullshit explanation really works with this particular person's personality. Wish I could split points among you all!"
+3
7 mins
French term (edited): � la mords-moi-le-noeud

Incomprehensible

It is not so strong an expression as such, though the origin is: it means (literally) "Bite-my-d***", "noeud" being an old slang form for "penis".

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Note added at 27 mins (2005-08-07 17:28:11 GMT)
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I would not say \"ridiculous\" but rather \"nonsensical\"
Peer comment(s):

agree Nick Lingris
4 mins
Thanks Nick!
agree Carolingua : also "inintelligible" or "unfathomable"
2 hrs
Thanks Carolingua!
agree Karim Oualladi
1 day 22 hrs
Thanks Ikaruss!
Something went wrong...
-1
1 hr
French term (edited): � la mords-moi-le-noeud

foolishly incompetent

ñ-
Peer comment(s):

disagree df49f (X) : faux-sens - ni foolish ni incompetent
1 hr
Something went wrong...
+1
28 mins
French term (edited): � la mords-moi-le-noeud

ridiculously inept

I'm sure there are many possibilities, but from the sense of the paragraph, it is some combination of ridiculous/laughable and completely incomprehensible/ineffective/convoluted. Good luck!

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Note added at 2 hrs 39 mins (2005-08-07 19:40:12 GMT)
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Inept in this context would have the meaning of \"out of place\", \"incongruous\", or \"malapropos\".

In keeping with the slang, you could say that the directions were \"whacked\" or \"totally lame\" (though I like \"whacked\" better, since it conveys how unbelievably crazy it is that these explanations should not explain anything at all...)

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Note added at 23 hrs 18 mins (2005-08-08 16:19:11 GMT)
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Since you specify the speaker is older...another slang expression that might fit is \"bullshit\" (as in, \"a bullshit explanation\").
Peer comment(s):

agree PB Trans : good suggestions for a North American audience
5 hrs
Something went wrong...
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