# variétoche moche



## China doll

Hi,

This phrase comes from an article in _Le Monde_ which I am trying to translate. The complete sentence is "...guitar hero plutôt simple et dandy, compositeur de l'instant fugace, air faussement boudeur, né à Paris en 1968, fou de jazz, fou de rock, mais aussi de *varié-toche moche*, de folie, sans style..."  I have absolutely no idea what this means, as I can't find it in any dictionary. My instinct telle me "varié-toche moche" means something like "a mish-mash of things" but I am not sure. I would be very grateful for any bright ideas. Many thanks.


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## Tallot

variétoche comes from variété, which means pop music here, it is quite derogatory; variétoche moche means low quality, bad, common pop music... The suffix "-oche" is always very derogatory.
The style is very familiar & I can't tell you what the English equivalent could be; You'll have to think of what you usually say for bad pop music in very colloquial English.
I hope it helps...


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## JiPiJou

Perhaps the word was at the end of a line and was cut by a hyphen. In fact, it is written in one word (and with an accent, you are right). This is the sentence :
"_Noël Akchoté, guitar hero plutôt simple et dandy, compositeur de l'instant fugace, air faussement boudeur, né à Paris en 1968, fou de jazz, fou de rock, mais aussi de *variétoche moche*, de folie, sans style, sans repère, une classe folle, ouvre en grand et en solo la 26e édition du festival Banlieues bleues, qui se tient du 6 mars au 10 avril en Seine-Saint-Deni_s."

Ir is a word dervied from "variété" and it indicates songs which are old-fashioned and considered in bad taste by some people. The suffix "-toche" is meant to indicate something cheap. Here is a quote : "L'hexagone _[it means : France] _où le fait de chanter dans sa langue natale semble forcer tout artiste à porter l'étiquette *variétoche *sous peine d'excommunication médiatique..."


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## China doll

Hi Guys,

Thank you very much for your help.  You are right, the word was indeed cut off by the end of a line, and therefore hyphenated.  The best equivalent I can think of at the moment is something along the lines of 'lousy' or 'naff' but I will keep thinking.  Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.


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## Locape

Tallot said:


> varietoche comes from variété, which means pop music here, it is quite derogatory; varietoche moche means low quality, bad, common pop music... The suffix "-oche" is always very derogatory.


It's not always derogatory, like "cinoche" wich is informal for "cinéma" ; 'on va au cinoche' just means 'we're going to the movies', or maybe "we're going to see a pic'".


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## Itisi

*variétoche* \va.ʁje.tɔʃ\ _féminin(Familier)_ _(Péjoratif)_ Variétés (chanson ou musique) de très mauvaise qualité.
*Synonyme *musique d'ascenseur


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## Locape

Itisi said:


> *variétoche* \va.ʁje.tɔʃ\ _féminin(Familier)_ _(Péjoratif)_ Variétés (chanson ou musique) de très mauvaise qualité.



Et quel serait l'équivalent en anglais de 'variétoche' en langage familier ? Pop music soup or crap ?


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## Itisi

naff?/trashy? pop music


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## petit1

cheap shop pop music


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## bh7

Muzak, the background music of stores and shopping centres.


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## Itisi

'Muzac' is a trademark.  Elevator music.

I'm not sure if it's the right translation for 'variétoche moche'...  I imagine something more like Eurovision song contest music, but I may be wrong; I don't know much about the subject...


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## Nicomon

D'accord avec Itisi.     _Muzak = musique d'ascenseur _ou _de supermarché /_ _elevator _or_ supermarket music. _

Il me semble que _variétoche _fait surtout référence à des chansons « grand public » un peu sirupeuses, aux rimes faciles.   Je dirais  de façon moins péjorative « plaisirs coupables »  -  

_Sappy  pop songs / crummy pop music?    _
Aussi lu pour _variétoche_ :   _middle-of-the-road (pop)  music. _


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## Locape

C'est ça Nicomon, c'est la bonne définition de 'variétoche', j'avais entendu aux États-Unis le terme 'sappy pop songs', ça semble correspondre. Et 'variétoche moche', ce serait en effet les chansons à l'Eurovision, ou celles encore plus commerciales que la variétoche.


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## Kelly B

For the original context, where Nicomon's plaisirs coupables seems to be the case, maybe cheesy pop songs/music; more generally, trashy or crappy. I wonder if cookie-cutter might fit some contexts, if the point is that it's the same stuff over and over.
(Edit - some  of those suggestions might be specific to US English, I don't know)


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## Nicomon

Merci pour la confirmation, Locape.  

Hi Kelly.  I actually hesitated between _crappy _and (what I wrote) _crummy.  _
As a non native, I'm not sure which of the two is closer to the French _moche_.  

I like  _cheesy. _


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## Locape

Do you still say 'cheesy' or is it a bit out-of-date ? And I just learned a new word, 'cookie-cutter', I had no idea what it meant, both in a literal and figurative way, thanks !


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## Itisi

I like 'cheesy'.


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## Nicomon

J'ajoute pour ceux qui aiment les régionalismes qu'en français québécois on traduirait _cheesy_ par  _quétaine  _
(qui peut aussi se traduire par_ tacky_/_lame_).

*quétaine*


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## Itisi

Ah oui, 'tacky' !


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## joelooc

Je vote pour cheesy M.O.R (Nicomon 12 X Kelly B 14)


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## Keith Bradford

Schlock-rock, perhaps?


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## wildan1

Yes, _schlock-rock_ also came to mind in this context. And it has the same kind of rhyming slanginess to it as _variétoche moche._

"Corporate radio-friendly music of low quality, often intended for adolescent males."
Urban Dictionary: schlock rock


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## Nicomon

As a mature woman and not an adolescent male... 
I'd have a hard time relating to _schlock-rock _(which is new to me)_._
A google search revealed that it is sometimes called  _bubblegum pop._ 

Not my personal idea of  _variétoche_, but if I were to choose, I prefer the sound of _bubblegum pop. _


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## wildan1

Nicomon said:


> As a mature woman and not an adolescent male...


_Bubblegum pop_ usually suggests music appealing to pre-adolescent girls.

It certainly isn't exactly the same genre as _schlock rock_--except that both are of little artistic interest!


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## Nicomon

wildan1 said:


> _Bubblegum pop_ usually suggests music appealing to pre-adolescent girls.


  May be so.  I'm thinking Backstreet Boys or Justin Bieber, for instance.  Or The Monkeys, way back when.
I just wrote that I prefer the sound of it, if I were to choose.  I don't think that either really translates _variétoche. _

And these, from two different sources, are misleading.  





> These performers were so "non-threatening" that the early 1960s has been called the _schlock rock_ or "_bubblegum" pop_.
> _Schlock rock_: Also known as _bubblegum pop_; bland songs by white artists about neutral topics such as romantic love.


  Pour moi, _variétoche/plaisirs coupables _c'est France Gall, Linda Lemay, Michel Fugain et le Big Bazar, Patrick Bruel, Claude Barzotti, Joe Dassin, etc.


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## joelooc

In metropolitan french "variétoche", or its original version"variétés",do not have  much to do with being a teenybopper. That's why I'd go for MOR music which can encompass a variety of musical genres such as "country" "C&W" "rock""disco" and even adapt some melodies borrowed from the classical repertoire to turn them into "popular tunes". A lot of people whose ages cover a wide range seem to enjoy this mix of easy listening singalong catchy tunes with essentially  mushy lyrics. People usually differentiate between "variétés françaises" and "variétés anglo-saxonnes".


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## Nicomon

Je présume que MOR veut dire _middle-of-the-road ?  _

Si oui, je suis d'accord  (post 12).


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## joelooc

Oui, et j'avais proposé une hybridation (post #20).


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## Nicomon

joelooc said:


> Oui, et j'avais proposé une hybridation (post #20).


  J'avais bien vu le post 20, mais je l'ai lu trop vite et pas compris tout de suite M.O.R avec les points. 


> *Middle of the road* (also known by its acronym *MOR*) is a commercial radio format and popular music genre.


Source :  Middle of the road (music) - Wikipedia


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