# Up yours



## pleiade

Moderator note: Threads on the same expression merged.

Bonjour

Le poète anglais Benjamin Zephaniah a refusée d'être décoré par la reine comme "Officer of the Order of British Empire" (OBE). Dans une réponse qu'il publie dans le Guardian (et dont je dois traduire une partie) il écrit: *Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. *

J'ai du mal à traduire cette phrase. Je vois quelque chose comme: Moi? J'y ai pensé, moi OBE? pour *Up yours*, je ne sais pas.

Merci de m'aider


----------



## SwissPete

J'ai pensé: Moi, OBE ? Moi ? Allez vous faire foutre.


----------



## pleiade

En fait il s'adresse à Tony Blair et à la reine. Je ne sais pas si "allez vous faire foutre" serait bien dans ce contexte...

merci


----------



## wildan1

Un peu trop fort pour la reine et cie.

Peut-être : "_Le Prix OBE pour moi ?" me suis-je demandé. "Vous pouvez le mettre où je pense !" me suis-je dit._


----------



## mrbadexample

SwissPete said:


> J'ai pensé: Moi, OBE ? Moi ? Allez vous faire foutre.



I think that might be a bit strong for "up yours". On a scale of 1-10, "up yours" wouldn't rate much higher than a 5-6, if you see what I mean?

Unless, of course, "allez-vouz faire foutre" isn't as strong as I think it is? You certainly wouldn't say it to the Queen. Unless you were Spike Milligan, of course.


----------



## Canard

I don't think "allez vous faire foutre" is the right translation, as it means more "fuck off" or "go fuck yourself", which are *far* more vulgar. I would say "va te faire voir !" or "va te promener !"


----------



## pleiade

Quel est l'expression la moins vulgaire entre:
"allez vous faire voir" 
"allez vous faire foutre"
"vous pouvez le mettre où je pense"


----------



## Budd

Under the 1600 or so usages that WR offers with _up_, usually as a compound form, I cannot find "up yours," a slightly polite version of "fuck you."  Example: "You need to get your desk cleaned up right now."  "Up yours!  I'll do it when I'm good and ready."

Merci.


----------



## edwingill

" va te faire foutre"


----------



## Budd

Thanks, but too strong, I think, Edwin.  Foutre is after all fuck.  Up yours implies "up your [choose your orifice]," but it essentially meant to be amusing.  Va te faire foutre is an insult and can turn out (trust me) to be fighting words.


----------



## quantum

I thought it was like "tu n'as qu'à le faire toi même !" 
I got it wrong?


----------



## edwingill

Budd said:


> Thanks, but too strong, I think, Edwin.  Foutre is after all fuck.  Up yours implies "up your [choose your orifice]," but it essentially meant to be amusing.  Va te faire foutre is an insult and can turn out (trust me) to be fighting words.


Then try "va te faire mettre"


----------



## Budd

quantum said:


> I thought it was like "tu n'as qu'à le faire toi même !"
> I got it wrong?


 
I think you may have taken my contextual example a little literally. "Up yours" means in this sense, I'm not paying attention to you, I don't care, screw you. Another example. "Will you lend me ten bucks?" "Up yours, you already owe me twenty." See?


----------



## quantum

alors sans connotation sexuelle, je dirais "mais va te pendre !"
ou "cause toujours !"


----------



## Budd

Makes sense.  Thanks.  Other thoughts anywhere?


----------



## carog

"va te faire voir!"?


----------



## Budd

*Then try "va te faire mettre"* 

Edwingill, I tend to think of this as more or less get lost, get out of here. Would that be about right? The net effect is not so diferent from up yours.


----------



## edwingill

"va te faire mettre" is equivalent to the BE expression " get stuffed" as is  va te faire voir!"


----------



## Lacuzon

Hi,

My try : _Fais le toi-même_ or _tu peux toujours rêver_ more ironic _c'est cela oui_ ... Or more colloquial _ben voyons_ ... why not _Et puis quoi encore_ ?


----------



## Novanas

This whole discussion reminds me of the time that, a number of years ago, an American politician (and for the life of me I can't recall which one), when a foreign politician was complaining high interest rates in the U.S., answered, "We upped ours. Up yours!"


----------



## Budd

Merci, Seneca le canard.  It's a perect example of good contextual explanation--and a gas.


----------



## akaAJ

"Up yours" is normally a straightforward insult, not meant to be taken humorously by the recipient, not even in Seneca the Duck's magnificent example.  I will add all the suggestions above to my armory.


----------



## Budd

I disagree, akaAJ, absolutely disagree.  At one time, what you say may have been correct, but that was before it was common to say "fuck you" to strangers or acquaintances; I am speaking of America.  _Up yours_ has thus been reduced to the quaint and is almost always--surely there are exceptions--hardly insulting or qualifies as fighting words.


----------



## akaAJ

I just recalled a thread that appeared last March. While "va te faire foutre" may be strong (but not as strong as "fuck you"), "Je me contrefous totalement de tes ordres" should serve at the proper strength.


----------



## Budd

Not bad.  Contrefoutre has a lovely bureaucratic quality--like something that came from a committee.


----------



## akaAJ

Budd, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree;  doubtless you are much younger than I, but even to my grandchildren "Up yours!" (let alone "Fuck you!") has an edge, even when said to a friend.  "Smile when you say that, stranger."


----------



## The MightyQ

With all respect to Budd,  I would _never_ take fuck you or up yours as anything but a totally disrespectful insult. Maybe we Canadians are more polite, or maybe it is a generational thing.


----------



## aztlaniano

Peut-on dire: mets le dans ton cul?


----------



## ForeverHis

The MightyQ said:


> With all respect to Budd,  I would _never_ take fuck you or up yours as anything but a totally disrespectful insult. Maybe we Canadians are more polite, or maybe it is a generational thing.



I totally agree. I can't think of one American who would take "up yours!" as anything but an insult. It might even cause a fist fight in some instances.


----------



## ForeverHis

aztlaniano said:


> Peut-on dire: mets le dans ton cul?



Je crois que "dans ton cul" saisit parfaitement le sens de "up yours!".


----------



## Nawaq

ahah, j'avais pensé à "dans ton cul" dès le début du fil


----------



## joelooc

Regarding the OP, no one mentioned "tu peux toujours courir/ vous pouvez toujours courir"; wouldn't it fit?
Alternatively( if introducing something somewhere is required) "ils se mettent le doigt dans l'oeil"


----------



## Itisi

I agree wiht *The MightyQ *and* ForeverHis*.  It's at least 'Va te faire voir'.


----------



## Maditrabe

Pereaps "non merci !" could fit. Or "très peu pour moi !"

La légion d'honneur ? Très peu pour moi !
Etre gratifié par la reine ? Non merci !


----------



## Itisi

Maditrabe said:


> Pereaps "non merci !" could fit. Or "très peu pour moi !"


Not much to do with 'up yours!'


----------



## ForeverHis

Maditrabe said:


> Pereaps "non merci !" could fit. Or "très peu pour moi !"
> 
> La légion d'honneur ? Très peu pour moi !
> Etre gratifié par la reine ? Non merci !



Very odd indeed! I can't see how that could possibly fit the meaning of "up yours".


----------

