22 Colorful but Fascinating French Insults When You Can’t Help Being Rude
How do you insult someone in French? Here’s a list of French insults to avoid saying–or to save for scenarios when you need it most.
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Quick reminders about using French insults1. Tête de nœud2. Une vache espagnole3. Andouille4. Blaireau5. Boudin6. Casse-couilles7. Sans-couilles8. Ta gueule!9. Casse-toi!10. N’importe quoi11. Plouc12. Raté13. Roi des cons14. Bête comme ses pieds15. Va te faire voir16. Sous-merde17. Branleur18. pompe à chiasse19. Tu as le QI d’une huître20. Aller se faire cuire un œuf21. con comme une valise sans poignée22. LavetteConclusionHere are some FAQs about French InsultsThe French belong to an extremely polite society, so there are plenty of ways in which you can unintentionally insult someone. While most of the time everyone goes to great lengths to avoid being offensive, how about those rare instances when you just want to be intentionally rude? Well, there are a lot of French insults for that.
Here in this article, we’ll go through a list of 22 French insults that you could use when you think the situation truly calls for it.
If you don’t want to insult anybody, that’s fine – awesome even – but you still need to learn these insults so you’ll know when to cry foul when someone is insulting you or being rude in French.
Quick reminders about using French insults
- The French are quite polite (like I mentioned already) and you are expected to be as polite when you interact with them. So be mindful of unleashing these French insults. It could land you in a whole lot of trouble! Public discriminatory insults in France can lead to even jail!
- If you want to go the other way and learn how to be polite instead, check out these articles:
- The Ultimate Guide to French Politeness and Niceties
- 45 Things You Need to Know About French Taboos
- What to Do and What Not to Do in France as a Tourist
Ready to check out some French insults? Let’s go!
1. Tête de nœud
If you don’t understand the real meaning of this phrase, you might think that it’s not that rude when someone says this to you. Tête de nœud literally means “knothead” after all. But its real meaning? This French insult is about as rude as its English equivalent “dickhead”!
2. Une vache espagnole
Yes, une vache espagnole means a Spanish cow. But what does it mean when someone calls you a Spanish cow? Its real meaning is enough to make newbie French language learners cry and go home.
The full expression is “Tu parles français comme une vache espagnole,” which means you speak French like a Spanish cow. It’s used for someone who doesn’t speak French well; such as someone with a trying-too-hard-to-be-authentic French accent perhaps.
Hurts quite a lot, doesn’t it?
3. Andouille
You probably know already that andouille is a type of smoked sausage made of pig intestines. What you probably don’t know is that it is also used to call someone a “fool” or “dummy.”
This French insult is somewhat outdated, so it has lost its bite. It is now a sort of polite insult. But still an insult nevertheless.
4. Blaireau
What’s wrong with this word? It’s only the French word for a badger or a shaving brush, right?
………right?
Wrong.
Let’s just say that when you use this, it’s similar to calling someone a jerk in English.
5. Boudin
Another sausage on the list. Boudin is a type of blood sausage that many would describe as horrible. When used as an insult, it is a nasty way of describing an unattractive woman!
6. Casse-couilles
Literally, this one means “ball buster” or “ball crusher.” But the real meaning? An annoying, huge pain in the ass!
7. Sans-couilles
Speaking of balls, when you don’t have any – figuratively, of course – you lack courage. Same as in English, actually, so no surprise here.
8. Ta gueule!
When someone says “ta gueule,” it’s a rude way to say “shut up!” The longer phrase is “ferme ta gueule,” or “shut your mouth!” But remember that gueule pertains to an animal’s mouth, hence the rudeness of this expression.
9. Casse-toi!
This is basically the French counterpart of “get lost!” or “bugger off.” But literally, it means, “break yourself!”
10. N’importe quoi
In English, someone may dismiss a remark with “whatever!” In French, n’importe quoi ! is a more critical reaction meaning “nonsense!” or “rubbish!” In other contexts, n’importe quoi can mean “anything.”
11. Plouc
It’s awful to be called an unsophisticated country hick or bumpkin, right? That’s what this French insult means. It is thought to come from the Breton word plou, which means parish.
12. Raté
Now this one needs a bit of background. You see, the verb rater means to miss or to fail at something. Raté, as an insult, would therefore mean “a miss” as in “hit or miss” but it refers to a person who is a total failure. A loser.
It’s often said as a phrase “espèce de raté” (you total failure).
13. Roi des cons
You know that con means idiot, right? Well, a roi des cons is the king of idiots. So this French insult truly stings!
14. Bête comme ses pieds
When someone says a person is “bête comme ses pieds,” it’s an awful remark about how stupid that person is. Literally this means, “as stupid as his feet.” The joke is that feet are the body part farthest from the head, and so from the brain. Makes sense!
15. Va te faire voir
Another way to tell someone to get lost, “va te faire voir” means you’re admonishing someone to be seen somewhere else.
16. Sous-merde
When someone gets labeled as merde, or shit, it’s already offensive. But you know what’s even worse? Sous-merde. It means he or she isn’t even worthy of being called shit! Ouch.
17. Branleur
This one basically means a wanker or a jerk and it’s used to refer to someone lazy (the word has a vulgar origin, but it is mostly used for a lazy good-for-nothing).
18. pompe à chiasse
A pompe à chiasse is – hold your breath – literally, a diarrhea pump. Someone who gets labeled as one must be so full of shit!
19. Tu as le QI d’une huître
“You have the IQ of an oyster.” Ahh, poor oyster. And poor, unfortunate person who’s at the receiving end of this insult. He has just been called so stupid and likened to the mental ability of an oyster!
20. Aller se faire cuire un œuf
The French have several colorful ways of telling someone to get lost, and this one has something to do with the French obsession with food. When you tell someone to “go and cook yourself an egg,” you simply want him gone from your sight!
21. con comme une valise sans poignée
When you’re as stupid as a suitcase without a handle, you must be one hell of a useless person, right? Correct! This expression is rarely used, but it’s quite delightful for an insult, don’t you think?
22. Lavette
Finally, we’re down to the last one on our list. This one is a bit outdated, but still worth learning about. A lavette is a dishcloth, but when used as an insult, it refers to someone weak-willed and spineless.
Conclusion
So there you go. Twenty-two French insults that you should think twice about before using.
If you want to learn more offensive words, why not check out this list of French curse words? This article will tell you how to swear in French.
Here are some FAQs about French Insults
How do you insult someone in French?
There are several ways to verbally insult someone. Just check the list below:
1. Tête de nœud (dickhead)
2. Une vache espagnole (Spanish cow)
3. Andouille (dummy)
4. Blaireau (jerk)
5. Boudin (unattractive woman)
6. Casse-couilles (ball buster or ball crusher)
7. Sans-couilles (you lack courage)
8. Ta gueule! (Shut up!)
9. Casse-toi! (Get lost!)
10. N’importe quoi (nonsense / rubbish)
11. Plouc (hick)
12. Raté (a failure)
13. Roi des cons (King of idiots)
14. Bête comme ses pieds (as stupid as his feet)
15. Va te faire voir (f*** off)
16. Sous-merde (Piece of sh*t)
17. Branleur (wanker)
18. pompe à chiasse (diarrhea pump)
19. Tu as le QI d’une huître (You have the IQ of an oyster.)
20. Aller se faire cuire un œuf (Go away and stop bothering me.)
21. con comme une valise sans poignée (as stupid as a suitcase without a handle)
22. Lavette (lacking energy or courage)
Why is “frog” an insult to the French?
The nickname “frogs” is commonly associated with the French eating cuisses de grenouilles (frogs’ legs). The story about a fleur-de-lis resembling three frogs or toads is a folk explanation rather than an established origin of the nickname.
What is the French insult, “you speak French like a Spanish cow”?
“Tu parles français comme une vache espagnole.”
How do you say “don’t insult my language” in French?
To address one person informally, say N’insulte pas ma langue. In a more formal situation or when addressing several people, say N’insultez pas ma langue.
