# God forbid



## chauvin

MODERATOR NOTE: This thread combines two previous threads with the same title. Some messages have been removed to eliminate duplication.
NOTE DE LA MOÉRATION : Ce fil combine deux fils précédents au même titre. Certains messages ont été éliminés pour éviter les doublons.


Could someone please give me a French rendering of the expression "God forbid" or "heavens forbid!"?
Thanks, JRS


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## mplsray

I've never heard the exclamation _Heavens forbid! _But for for both _Heaven forbid!_ and _God forbid! _as freestanding exclamations _The Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary _gives _Grands dieux, non !_

When _God forbid_ and_ Heaven forbid_ are part of a larger sentence, the Oxford-Hachette gives a different translation:_ God forbid/Heaven forbid he should find out!_ becomes _Pourvu qu'il ne l'apprenne pas !_


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## RuK

Grands dieux, non ! is not actually a phrase I've ever heard spoken on the street!!

It depends on who is speaking. Most of my friends would probably say "Putain, non!" - not a turn of phrase I would necessarily recommend. Could you give a context and/or sense of the tone you're looking for?


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## PrincipessaR

hi,
 
what if the 'god forbid' isn't being used as an exclamation, but a sort of 'knock on wood' type of statement following a mention of something bad that you don't want to happen?
 
For example, if you and your parents are talking about their will and they say something like, "If I died tomorrow" and followed it up with, "god forbid" how would that be said? would you say something like 'dieu nous protege' or how would you express this? 
 
---
 
mais, comment le dire si "god forbid" n'est pas utilise comme une exclamation, plutot comme un moyen de se proteger contre une situation mauvais qu'on vient de mentioner? 
 
Par exemple, si vous parlerez a vos parents de leur testament et votre mere dira "si je sois morte demain..." qu'est-ce qu'elle ajouterait pour exprimer son mal a l'aise avec cette pensee? Est-ce qu'on dit "dieu nous protege?" 
 
 
Thanks!
Merci beaucoup!


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## dark_light

Si ma maman disait "si je mourais demain"
je dirais quelque chose comme "je ne le souhaite pas" 
"Dieu nous protège" est plutôt utilisé par des personnes agées, c'est un peu vieillot


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## DearPrudence

[...]

Could we say "*Dieu m'en garde*"?


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## pieanne

Oui, ou "(que) dieu nous en garde"


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## cherine

Est-ce que l'expression "à Dieu ne plaise" peut être utilisé dans ce contexte ?
Ou, plutôt, est-elle utilisée du tout ?


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## pieanne

A mon avis, OUI, Cherine!


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## bergil

Je ne crois pas, Cherine,

"A Dieu ne plaise" va plutôt dans le sens : que la volonté de Dieu soit faite

or, ce n'est pas ce qu'on souhaite, ici 

Par contre, que Dieu nous en garde
ou  Que Dieu nous en préserve 
conviendrait


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## pieanne

Je ne sais pas...
Il me semble que cette expression (que je n'utilise jamais) est un peu utilisée dans tous les sens maintenant?


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## cherine

bergil said:


> Je ne crois pas, Cherine,
> 
> "A Dieu ne plaise" va plutôt dans le sens : que la volonté de Dieu soit faite


Vraiment?! J'ai toujours compris cette expression comme: Puisse ceci ne plaire à Dieu" = que ce ne soit pas fait.

Est-ce peut-être à cause du "ne" ?


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## Beyazit

je pense que cherine avait raison:

"[P. réf. consciente ou non à Dieu, à ses desseins, à sa loi mor., pour exprimer une crainte, pour repousser une idée que l'on désapprouve, ou l'éventualité d'un événement redouté] _À Dieu ne plaise_ (_que_ + subj.)! _Dieu me/ m'en préserve! Dieu me préserve de_ + inf.! _Dieu m'en garde! Dieu me garde de_ + subst. ou inf.! _Dites-moi un peu ce que vous feriez si (Dieu vous en préserve!) vous deveniez ministre par hasard?_ (Musset, _Lettres Dupuis Cotonet,_ 1837, p. 756). _Si j'étais dieu (ce qu'à Dieu ne plaise), je me foutrais de leurs génuflexions_ (Gide, _Journal,_ 1933, p. 1173). _Oh! je fais sur toi bien d'autres rêves, mais je ne te les dis pas, Dieu m'en garde!_ (Montherl., _Demain,_ 1949, II, 1, p. 718). "
http://www.cnrtl.fr/lexicographie/dieu


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## Jominare

Hello! Could "*God forbid"* means something like "*Dieu me pardonne*" in the context of a person saying something "mean" or crude? For example:

- How do you like her?
- Well, *god forbid*, she looks like a fish.

Thanks!


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## Anion

I would not use the phrase in the way cited in your example, Jominaire.  I would use it as an exhortation not to do something mean or crude.  For example, "God forbid that I should say she looks like a fish".


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## gillyfr

I'm sure it doesn't.  Jominare, I wouldn't use "God forbid" in that instance. It is a short form of "May God forbid that it happens", I believe. The equivalent I would use in French would be, "Que Dieu m'en préserve".


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## Jominare

Yes, but the sentence is said like that. So i guess "Que Dieu m'en préserve" - for saying something mean/bad - is OK - i hope. Thanks anyway!


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## Jominare

Here's another Context: "A man saying to the friend of his wife that he loves her since a long time." The example: "Oh, *god forbid*, i love you since the first time i saw you!"

What do you think?


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## Cath.S.

Quelle est la phrase précédente ?


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## mgarizona

As egueule suggests, that "God forbid" would be a response to what was said before it.

Usually something like _parle pas de malheur! _

Compare to the "may it not be (so)" in Gil's note.


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## Jominare

egueule said:


> Quelle est la phrase précédente ?



The man is at the house of his wife's friend. He's helping her doing some stuff. They talk, they talk, and he begins to say that she is a good person, that she is cute. And then he says this sentence i posted above: "Oh, *god forbid*, i love you since the first time i saw you!" But the "Oh, *god forbid*", he says it in his head, before saying that he loves her. 

Me, i understand it like, "*Dieu me pardonne*", evoking a "*bon, tant pis, je me lance, peu importe*". Is that good?

Thanks!


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## Tresley

Hello Jominare,

How about:

'Grands dieux, non'! for 'God forbid'!

Does this work in your phrase?

"Et bien, grands dieux, non!  Elle ressemble à un poisson".

I hope this helps.


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## GamblingCamel

Jominare, I think you're correctly interpreting GOD FORBID in your two examples.  The speakers know that God has forbidden these kinds of 
insults/compliments, yet they go ahead and boldly say them, anyway. 

To me it sounds like an idiosyncratic prayer:
"May God please forbid (May there not be) 
 negative consequences from what I am about to say!"

As others have pointed out, these are unusual ways of using GOD FORBID.
However, English is a language spoken by millions, all coming from different traditions ... and often people translate phrasings from other languages or non-Christian traditions.


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## Jominare

Oh, yes, i see! Thanks!


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## wildan1

_Pourvu qu'il ne tombe pas malade -- God forbid he gets sick_


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## Zyprexa

The original English "God forbid, she looks like a fish" sounds really odd. God forbid requires some sort of precision about what God is to forbid. Is he to forbid her looking like a fish, or someone saying she does? It also doesn't work in:
"O, God forbid, I have loved you ever since etc."
God forbid what?

Now, "God forbid this should offend you, but I have loved. . ." is OK.

Here's an almost perfect example of your original question:

Oncle Jules in Pagnol's epic (La Gloire de mon p_è_re) says to Joseph (something like)

Je ne dirais pas que vous soyez paien, Joseph. _Dieu m'en garde!
_I wouldn't say you are a pagan, Joseph. _God forbid! (that I should say so)

_


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## mgarizona

As is often the case, the trouble translating this sentence seems to be based on the fact that the original sentence is LOUSY.

In the context provided, Tresley's "God, no! ..." or even Jominare's "God forgive me! ..." would make perfect sense.

"God forbid!" does not. You do not make an idiosyncratic little prayer asking God to forbid you to do something. Especially not something you already consider forbidden. It makes no sense.


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## Aoyama

To go along with Zyprexa, it would be "D.ieu nous/me garde que ...".


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## Beyazit

Je pense qu'on pourrait parfois traduire par "Loin de là," ou "Loin de moi de penser que ...", ou "bien au contraire", selon le contexte.


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## Quantz

— Tu l'aimes bien.
— Ne m'en parles/tu veux rire, elle a une tête de mérou.

Dieu etc. en français ne fonctionne pas : désuet.


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## Aoyama

En fait, la traduction un peu vieillie et qui serait alors un peu humoristique donnerait :
"N'en déplaise à Dieu ...".


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## Meille

Jominare said:


> Yes, but i didn't find something that exactly fitted what i was understanding of my sentence. What said *GamblingCamel* helped me in this way:


 
  Gambling Camel said what you wanted to hear, but that doesn't make it right.

"God forbid!" is a set expression that means "May God not let it happen".

Funny that GC should say: "... and often people translate phrasings from other languages or non-Christian traditions." 
It comes from Yiddish.


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## Quantz

The main problem with all God related phrases in french is that we made the _Révolution française_, hence many or all of these God related expressions, still very frequent in everyday language in the UK or US, are totally obsolete in french.


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## Cath.S.

Que le but soit ou non humoristique, je dirais plutôt _à Dieu ne plaise_ que _n'en déplaise à Dieu_. Cette dernière expression n'a pas du tout le même sens, elle signifie _sans vouloir offenser Dieu._
Le TLFi donne :
♦ Avec une _nuance d'excuse._  Que cela ne vous fâche pas. 
♦ Avec une _nuance d'ironie._  Tant pis si cela vous fâche.


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## Aoyama

Oui, "Dieu sait [où, ce que] ..." pourrait aussi rendre "God forbid" (selon contexte), même si on a aussi en anglais "God knows ..." .


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## MassiliaX

PrincipessaR said:


> hi,
> 
> what if the 'god forbid' isn't being used as an exclamation, but a sort of 'knock on wood' type of statement following a mention of something bad that you don't want to happen?
> 
> For example, if you and your parents are talking about their will and they say something like, "If I died tomorrow" and followed it up with, "god forbid" how would that be said? would you say something like 'dieu nous protege' or how would you express this?
> 
> ---
> 
> mais, comment le dire si "god forbid" n'est pas utilise comme une exclamation, plutot comme un moyen de se proteger contre une situation mauvais qu'on vient de mentioner?
> 
> Par exemple, si vous parlerez a vos parents de leur testament et votre mere dira "si je sois morte demain..." qu'est-ce qu'elle ajouterait pour exprimer son mal a l'aise avec cette pensee? Est-ce qu'on dit "dieu nous protege?"
> 
> 
> Thanks!
> Merci beaucoup!


Bonjour, PrincipessaR ! 

I understand you are asking how to translate “God forbid!” (also “heaven forbid!”) in the serious sense of “knock on wood,” but to a much stronger degree, because “knock on wood” is for more trivial issues than dropping dead tomorrow. 

Some people are claiming that « (que) Dieu m’en garde ! » is outdated/vieilli, but that doesn’t seem to be accurate. Websites translate it precisely this way and reference both literature and contemporary subtitles:
https://fr.glosbe.com/fr/fr/Dieu%20m’en%20garde

A 2020 tweet even appears to use « que Dieu m’en garde ! » sarcastically:
https://fr.glosbe.com/fr/fr/Dieu%20m’en%20garde

However, here is the thread on the sarcastic use of “God/heaven forbid!”:
God forbid (used sarcastically)


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## MassiliaX

Jominare said:


> The man is at the house of his wife's friend. He's helping her doing some stuff. They talk, they talk, and he begins to say that she is a good person, that she is cute. And then he says this sentence i posted above: "Oh, *god forbid*, i love you since the first time i saw you!" But the "Oh, *god forbid*", he says it in his head, before saying that he loves her. Me, i understand it like, "*Dieu me pardonne*", evoking a "*bon, tant pis, je me lance, peu importe*". Is that good?
> 
> Thanks!


Bonjour, Jominare !

I have never heard, read, or used “God forbid” in the sense of « Dieu me pardonne ». It really only means two things:
« Dieu (m)’en garde ! » as in “Heaven forbid!” may it absolutely never be the case, as in it is horrific to even imagine. I said to my best friend the other day, who was reporting flu-like symptoms but tested negative for Covid and influenza A and B, “God forbid it be anything serious, but you really should get tested for HIV just in case. I mean, it’s probably mono [Epstein Barr] or something.” 
OR
« Il ne faudrait surtout pas »  sardonically, as in “It would
Be the terrible if you had to…” like saying to my younger cousin, “God forbid you actually pick up your phone and have a ten-minute conversation instead of texting the entire movie. I’ll pause it. Call him and then put your damn phone away so we can actually watch this!”  
I wouldn’t use it in the sense of “Forgive me for saying, but…” or “Forgive me if I’m/it’s wrong, but…”

I hope that helps. 😇


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## Le Gallois bilingue

Je dirais _“Plût au Dieu que ça soit pas le cas.”_


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## tartopom

Not far from mpslray's post -#2-  

Pourvu que non.


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