# foutre le camp



## Bléros

Salut tout le monde.

Je ne sais pas traduire 'foutre le camp'. Ça veut dire 'hit the road'?


----------



## david314

I have seen this translated as: *Fuck off!*


----------



## orlando09

No, I don't think "hit the road" is quite right! [or could you possibly, being very colloquial, say "OK, on fout le camp?" to mean "shall we hit the road?" - looks a bit odd to me]. Foutre le camp is normally used offensively to tell someone to go away


----------



## verbivore

I think it actually is similar to *décamper = to bail; to get the hell outa' dodge; to hightail it.*

If you tell someone to "foutre le camp", I guess you're telling him to "get the hell away/out." But if you say, "On fout le camp!", this should mean, "let's bail" or something like that. However, wait for a native speaker to confirm which context this expression is used in.


----------



## orlando09

PS does anyone know the origin of this - is it military or something? what "camp''is referred to and why does "foutre" in this usage mean "go out of"?

Or is it more like - telling some people to pack up their tents and go away - to strike camp


----------



## Bléros

Okay, thanks. I thought it meant something far more vulgar. A lot of people say 'buck' or 'buck out' now though.


----------



## xtrasystole

verbivore said:


> if you tell someone to "foutre le camp", I guess you're telling them to "get the hell away/out."


That's right. 

_'Fous le camp d'ici tout de suite !'_ --> Get the hell out of here now!  /  Get lost!

_'Si on foutait le camp d'ici ?'_ --> How about getting the hell out of here?



orlando09 said:


> is it more like - telling some people to pack up their tents and go away - to strike camp


That's right too. 

Actually, the verb _'foutre'_ is the vulgar form of the verb _'ficher'_ which is slang for _'faire'_. 

So, a milder (and more acceptable) form of _'foutre le camp'_ is _'ficher le camp'_: 
_'Fiche le camp d'ici tout de suite !'_ 
_'Si on fichait le camp d'ici ?'_ 
However _'faire le camp'_ is never used.


----------



## orlando09

Thanks, In know "foutre"usually means "faire" - that's what I supposed with my second suggestion (which I guessed might be right) . I was just thinking as I wrote . I understand "foutre" also used to mean fuck, although I am not sure if the "faire"or "have sex" meaning is the original, etymologiocal one (I'm guessing the second? - hence the vulgarity of the word in its modern "faire" sense).


----------



## xtrasystole

orlando09 said:


> I understand "foutre" also used to mean fuck, although I am not sure if the "faire"or "have sex" meaning is the original, etymologiocal one (I'm guessing the second? - hence the vulgarity of the word in its modern "faire" sense).


Yes, you're right (again) 

In fact, _'foutre'_ used as a noun means _'semen'_. It is arguably the lowest, dirtiest and most vulgar word in the French language. _'Elle avait du foutre plein la bouche'_ - _'Il y a des traces de foutre sur les draps'_.


----------



## 73rosenkavalier

Hi xtrasystole,

So, the English equivalent of the noun _foutre_ would be _cum_? (an extremely unappealing word in English, too, of course). I didn't know that. Your sentences would then translate as: _Her mouth was filled with cum_, and _There are traces of cum on the sheets.

_I apologize for the unsavory topic here. I'm just a French-learning word-freak. (I guess I should have said "pardon my French..." at some point there...)

Merci beaucoup!

Gio


----------



## Helenaël

what about "un mari qui a foutu le camp"? Is he gone of his own will or it was his wife who send him away? Thanks...


----------



## shrimphead

Hi,

     I'm putting together a translation of Guy de Maupassant's "Les Sabots", and I've found a number of instances of the phrase "foutre le camp" in it.  The literal translation of this would be something like "fuck off", but I'm not sure whether the phrase is as offensive in French as it is in English.  

Here's an example from the French text:

  Elle arriva, effarée. Il cria comme s'il allait la massacrer.
 - Eh bien, nom de D... et té, ous-qu'est ta place ?
 - Maîs... not' maître...
 Il hurlait : - J'aime pas manger tout seul, nom de D... ; tu vas te mett'là, ou bien foutre le camp si tu n'veux pas. Va chercher t'nassiette et ton verre.
 Epouvantée, elle apporta son couvert en balbutiant : - Me v'là, not' maître.
 Et elle s'assit en face de lui.​
Which I've translated as:


She arrived, alarmed.  He was shouting as if he were going to slaughter her.
“Well then, good G… what about you, where is your place?”
“But…master…”
He yelled: “I do not like to eat alone, good G…; you’ll sit yourself there, or else you can just go and fuck off if you don’t want to.  Go get yer plate and glass.”
Horrified, she fetched her cutlery, and stuttered, “’ere I am, Master.”
And she sat herself down facing him.​

In English, the word "fuck" is considered vulgar in the extreme, which is fine if that's the author's intention.  How serious a swear word is it considered in French?  If it's the same, I'll leave the word the same in the translation, otherwise I can switch it for something with an equivalent feel.

Thanks,

Simon


----------



## LeMigueux

Je dirais que foutre le camp est un peu moins vulgaire que fuck off. Fuck off serait plutôt : allez vous faire foutre.
Dans foutre le camp, il y a une idée de s'en aller. Un équivalent est : se casser. Fous le camp = casse-toi.
Would something like "Drop dead" make it?


----------



## djweaverbeaver

*Scram
Beat it
Get Lost*
*Make yourself scarce*
*Skedaddle*
*Vamoose*

The question would be which of these was used in the 19th century.  The last three were I believe.  *Drop dead* seems too recent.


----------



## jetset

I would translate "..._or get out of here_..." (_Beat it !_ would be too strong here).

There is a similar thread here http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/foutez-moi-le-camp.386229/


----------



## djweaverbeaver

*Light out. Take off. Run along* were also used in the 19th century.


----------



## shrimphead

Thanks, folks.  It sounds like I need to change it, then.

Is "foutre le camp" considered particularly vulgar *at all* in French?  Could you use that phrase around children?

I'm not sure what alternative to use, I might go with "be off with you" if there's no vulgarity at all to the phrase.


----------



## djweaverbeaver

shrimphead said:


> Is "foutre le camp" considered particularly vulgar *at all* in French?  Could you use that phrase around children?
> 
> I'm not sure what alternative to use, I might go with "be off with you" if there's no vulgarity at all to the phrase.



It is still considered vulgar, and it certainly was at the time the story was written in the 19th century.  A milder alternative is _*ficher le camp*_.  As to whether or not it would be used around kids, it depends on the adults.  Some still avoid it while others have no qualms about using it.  Some things are slightly more acceptable, or perhaps more tolerated, than they used to be.  If one is erring on the side of caution and decency, then one would shy away from using it in certain situations.


----------



## Hildy1

"Get the hell out (of here)" might be the right level of vulgarity.


----------



## ain'ttranslationfun?

And we might not write "nom de D---" as "in G--'s name".


----------



## Caslon Bold

Cela depend beaucoup du contexte.

Une phrase comme "tout fout le camp" signifierait plutot quelqur chose comme "everything is going down the drain"...


----------



## Itisi

Helenaël said:


> un mari qui a foutu le camp


A husband who buggered off



Ploupinet said:


> does "chill out!" work?


No, I don't see how it could mean 'foutre le camp'.



Caslon Bold said:


> Cela depend beaucoup du contexte.


Absolument !


----------



## joelooc

"Fous moi le camp d'ici!" would be "get the fuck outta here!"


----------



## Itisi

I prefer 'Bugger off!'


----------



## joelooc

I intended to stay anyway


----------



## sound shift

Itisi said:


> I prefer 'Bugger off!'


Not surprising, since you speak BrE, as I do, so I too prefer "Bugger off!"

No offence, joe .


----------



## snarkhunter

Edmund Blackadder would put it "Sod off"...


----------



## sound shift

He's not the only one who uses that expression, though.


----------



## Itisi

'Bugger' and 'sod' are both to do with sodomy, as is 'se faire foutre', I believe.


----------



## broglet

To my English ear "bugger off" is a lot less aggressive than "fuck off" and "sod off" even less aggressive.  Est-ce qu'un francophone natif pourrait dire où  se trouve "fous le camp"sur l'échelle  d'agressivité?


----------



## joelooc

Comme "fous moi la paix", tout ce qui comporte le verbe foutre est assez radical et définitif donc très haut dans l'échelle d'agressivité, cependant il me semble de moins en moins utilisé et tend à être supplanté ces temps-ci par "dégage!"(très bref et en vogue) et ex aequo avec "casse toi!",un peu plus daté; (rien de prétentieusement scientifique dans ce qui précède)


----------



## broglet

merci joelooc - très utile et pas de problème - ce qui est scientifique n'est pas une langue  



Itisi said:


> 'Bugger' and 'sod' are both to do with sodomy, as is 'se faire foutre', I believe.


etymologically yes but generally used nowadays with little thought about that


----------



## Itisi

*broglet*, I was just pointing out that the English meaning and the French were related.


----------



## broglet

no problem Itisi - I was just pointing out that the original meaning is no longer uppermost (or indeed anywhere) in people's minds in the current context!


----------



## Itisi

This is true, *broglet*!


----------



## torontonian69

I am unsure if I read all replies but I would like to make it clear that "foutre le camp" is extremely vulgar for a francophone. The closest translation is indeed "F.. off" or "get the F... hell out". A good example of how strong it is. has anyone watched the brit movie "The Priest"? anyway there's a scene where the mother of a teenager girl finds out the daughter was being abused by her own father (her husband). I saw the movie in French. she screams to the husband "FOUS LE CHAMP" like a mad woman many times over while beating on the husband. That movie and scene are so shocking that is how I felt what that expression meant and never forgot.
A less stronger way to say the same thing, used by many is "ficher le camp".


----------

