# brain fart , brain burp, brain cramp, brain laps



## Bamérique

How would you say "a brain fart" in French?

In American English it is used when someone realizes they said something stupid and attribute this to a brain lapse.


----------



## DONANEZ

pet de l esprit


----------



## Dzienne

Bamérique said:


> In American English it is used when someone realizes they said something stupid and attribute this to a brain lapse.


Kind of.  It's when your brain lapses and you are at a loss to explain it otherwise.  Not just when you say something stupid, but also when you forget something important, like someone's name you should definitely know.

So then, my question would be, is this still un pet d'esprit?


----------



## wildan1

I would say_ j'ai zappé sur son nom_


----------



## broglet

In BE when we don't have brain farts, but we do have senior moments


----------



## Jessila

"ça m'a échappé" (meaning my mouth was faster to speak than my brain to think it through... I didn't mean to say that / to say it like that, etc.)

"je l'ai sur le bout de la langue" (meaning I know I know it but I can't seem to put my finger on it right now, hopefully it will come if I keep raking my brains out)

"je perds la tête" or "où j'avais la tête !" (probably closer to BE "senior moments", the first one would be more for something you can't manage to remember, and the second for something stupid you said)

"pet de l'esprit" definitely doesn't exist in French! If somebody said that, people would stare in confusion


----------



## carog

Dzienne said:


> ......when you forget something important, like someone's name you should definitely know.
> 
> So then, my question would be, is this still un pet d'esprit?


J'appellerais cela "un trou de mémoire".
Et je suis d'accord avec Jessila, je n'ai jamais entendu l'expression "pet de l'esprit"!


----------



## rolmich

"Excusez-moi pour cet oubli, j'ai quelques neurones qui ont du claquer/péter (populaire)".


----------



## MONGOLIA

Un trou de mémoire, un blanc.


----------



## L⋅P

Plus simplement (et généralement) : « une absence ».
Dans le contexte d'un mot qui serait "sorti tout seul" : « un lapsus ».


----------



## Shinji

"cerveau comme du gruyère", "en compote" ?


----------



## rolmich

As explained in #6 and #7 "pet de l'esprit" or "pet" in any other form, would not fit here. As an equivalent, in addition to my #8, I would suggest :
_J'ai des ratés _(misfire) _dans la cervelle._


----------



## Julll

In Québec, "J'ai un blanc" and "J'ai un blanc de mémoire" are commonly used.


----------



## pointvirgule

I understand _brain fart_ the same way that Bamérique does in the original post: an error  due to a lapse in judgment or reasoning ability, attributed to a momentary dysfunction of the brain as an excuse. _Brain cramp_ is sometimes used._ A senior moment _is a cuter way to say it._

Please disregard my suggestion, I had a brain fart.
Ne tenez pas compte de ma suggestion, j'ai eu un moment d'aberration_.


----------



## Nicomon

pointvirgule said:


> _Brain cramp_ is sometimes used.


 I actually heard that one more often than _brain fart_. 

Or rather, its litteral French equivalent : _une crampe au cerveau._  As in... _Oubliez ma suggestion; j'ai eu une (petite) crampe au cerveau._ 

I think we can safely assume that this one is a quebecism.


----------



## Sxilderik

« pet de l'esprit » does exist in french, but only in a famous quote « un calembour est un pet de l'esprit », meaning that a « calembour » is a form of word play rated so low in regard to wits and spirits that it can be considered as a fart.

A « calembour » is a cheap way of putting words or parts of words togethers to make them sound as another phrase. Latest example that comes to my mind : « Laclos rit des lilas » for « La Closerie des Lilas » (Laclos is a famous french writer of the XVIIIth century)

Pierre Desproges came up with that phrase, in reference to Victor Hugo, who said it in a slightly different way : "The calembour is the droppings of the flying spirit"


----------



## Glaire

Depending whom i am talking to, but with my friends i usually use: "mon cerveau a buggé"/ "j'ai le cerveau qui bug" or "j'ai eu un bug de cerveau"  though i dont know if someone else says this too.


----------



## SolangeC

The exquisite phrase means that you really do know something, but just cannot remember it at the moment; temporary forgetfulness. Also rather indelicately called a "brain fart" as well. Would this simply be "bloquer" as in "Je bloque"?


----------



## Ros_Bif

My suggestions : un trou de mémoire, un blocage

But perhaps others will be able to come up with something more colloquial


----------



## Zebulongre

"J'ai un trou de mémoire" works really well. Perhaps more colloquial is "J'ai un blanc." I can't think of anything carrying the same flavour as your American phrase.


----------



## Nicomon

Hello,

While a literal translation such as «_ pet du cerveau _» or « _pet cérébral _» wouldn't work, in my opinion, both the meaning and register aren't exactly the same if you say «_ trou de mémoire _».  That, in English, would normally be "_a memory lapse/blank_".  

I think pointvirgule's suggestion of _moment d'aberration, _is closer to the exact meaning.

I wonder what a Franco-French equivalent of the quebecism _crampe au cerveau _would be.


----------



## rolmich

Hi Nicomon,

In my #8 I suggested _des neurônes qui claquent/pètent.
_I believe these are quite close to _crampe au cerveau._


----------



## wildan1

rolmich said:


> Hi Nicomon,
> 
> In my #8 I suggested _des neurônes qui claquent/pètent._


That sounds similar to _snapped synapses_ -- this medical term has also become a humorous description for memory loss. It's probably popular because of its alliteration.

_I must have had some snapped synapses when I said that..._


----------



## Nicomon

Merci rolmich.  Je devais avoir le cerveau endormi, à 0:45 h du matin... j'ai zappé le post #8.   
J'aime bien aussi ta suggestion suivante (#13) : « _ratés dans la cervelle. »_


----------



## ain'ttranslationfun?

A"brain cramp" is when you can't think of something like a name), "je cale", "j'ai un trou de mémoire; a "senior moment" (see Golf Brooks's hilarious song "Senior Moments...Brain Farts") is when you can't remember why you've come into a room, for instance - the type of incident that makes you aware you're aging and, if it begins to happen fairly frequently, makes you wonder if it's the onset of Alzheimer's. For "brain cramp", I sometimes say "My neurons misfired" ("J'ai une panne de neurones"), as I mentioned in a much earlier diferent thread.


----------



## amateurlcf

Hello.  How would one translate "brain cramp" into French?

For example, if a soccer player kicked the ball into his own goal, one would say he had a brain cramp.

Would "Il a eu un moment de folie" or "Il a eu une panne de cerveau" fit in this situation?

Thank-you


----------



## pointvirgule

You'll notice that the participants didn't seem to agree on the exact definition of those terms. I do like your suggestion of _panne de cerveau_, though.


----------



## iuytr

There is also the use of "disjoncter"( = to fuse, to short-circuit) in french, not very far , I think . The popular /slang version "péter un plomb" (with the same electric origin) carries an idea of violence but "disjoncter" could convey an idea like "brain breakdown".
I was told the brain is an electrical machine


----------



## Trance?mmm...later

or in the same register "Il a (complètement) vrillé", but note that it's very popular/slang expression


----------



## amateurlcf

Merci beaucoup tout le monde!


----------

