# pouet pouet camembert



## JDnCoke

What in God's name does this mean?

Can't really give a context, it seems like an interjection.

Maybe "_hein alors puët pouët camembert!_"


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## Paf le chien

It means nothing: it's like "nananère", (as in "I got you wrong!"). It is a usually a child expression.


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## Cecily

It is usually accompanied by hands gesture meaning : "you shut up now!".

When something proved you were right, you turn to the person who is wrong and say : "pouet pouet camembert". It means : "you see, I'm right, you shut up".

It's a childish expression.


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## JDnCoke

Cecily said:


> It is usually accompanied by hands gesture meaning : "you shut up now!".
> 
> When something proved you were right, you turn to the person who is wrong and say : "pouet pouet camembert". It means : "you see, I'm right, you shut up".
> 
> It's a childish expression.



The closest English equivalent would be "I told you so!"


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## Cecily

"Camembert" alone also means "shut up!"
But why did we had "pouet pouet" which is the sound of a horn, I don't know?
And why does "camembert" means "shut up"?
Maybe because when you say "shup up" with your hands you have the same gesture with your fingers as if you were pressing a camembert cheese to know if it is ripe / ready to eat...


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## JDnCoke

Cecily said:


> "Camembert" alone also means "shut up!"
> But why did we had "pouet pouet" which is the sound of a horn, I don't know?
> And why does "camembert" means "shut up"?
> Maybe because when you say "shup up" with your hands you have the same gesture with your fingers as if you were pressing a camembert cheese to know if it is ripe / ready to eat...



Haha, that's too French for my anglophone ears.

Thanks very much.


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## Cecily

Very interesting thread...
I have just realized that with the old horns you acually did the same gesture when you pressed the horn...
So it is the same gesture to say "shut up", to feel if the cheese is good or not and to press the horn... Does it make sense?

Thanks for posting this thread JDn Coke!


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## Paf le chien

Cecily said:


> Very interesting thread...
> I have just realized that with the old horns you acually did the same gesture when you pressed the horn...
> So it is the same gesture to say "shut up", to feel if the cheese is good or not and to press the horn... Does it make sense?



Yes, exact, it is the same gesture. And if when you remove the horn/"camembert", you make with your hand/fingers explicitly the gesture to say "shut up !", don't you ? 

Hum... _very_ interesting


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## FrançoisXV

Juste une question: Cette expression aurait-elle un rapport avec le jeu "trivial pursuit", quand on gagne sa part de camembert en répondant correctement à la question, malgré les tentatives des autres joueurs pour vous égarer?


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## tilt

FrançoisXV said:


> Juste une question: Cette expression aurait-elle un rapport avec le jeu "trivial pursuit", quand on gagne sa part de camembert en répondant correctement à la question, malgré les tentatives des autres joueurs pour vous égarer?


No, this expression did exist long before the game!
I rather think that the origine of _camembert_ is a derivation from several expressions:
_Tais-toi -> Ferme ta bouche -> Ferme ta boîte -> Ferme ta boîte à camembert -> Camembert !_


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## Paf le chien

tilt said:


> _Ferme ta bouche -> Ferme ta boîte -> Ferme ta boîte à camembert -> Camembert !_



Pure conjecture... mais crédible


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## KaRiNe_Fr

tilt said:


> [...] _Tais-toi -> Ferme ta bouche -> Ferme ta boîte -> Ferme ta boîte à camembert -> Camembert !_


I fully agree with your explanation, tilt!


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## Amda Zako

In what part of France (and in what decade) did you hear this expression? I grew up in Nice in the late 70s and 80s and never heard it! Shame, I would have loved to use it!


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## Paf le chien

Amda Zako said:


> In what part of France (and in what decade) did you hear this expression? I grew up in Nice in the late 70s and 80s and never heard it! Shame, I would have loved to use it!



We are sensibly of the same generation, but never used this expression. I think we where just a little bit too early at primary school time (I'd say it comes from the '90 but may be wrong. Any clues ?).


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## KaRiNe_Fr

Amda Zako, I think that « Les Guignols de l'info » (French tv show with puppets) made this old expression regain in popularity with JPP (Jean-Pierre Papin's puppet, the famous soccer player).


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## Amda Zako

Ah-ha! That would explain it!


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## xtrasystole

Amda Zako said:


> In what part of France (and in what decade) did you hear this expression? I grew up in Nice in the late 70s and 80s and never heard it! Shame, I would have loved to use it!


The same with me. This is the first time I heard of this and I'm not sure about its meaning, even though I could use it to mean 'shut up' (with the finger gesture). 

Also, it sounds like a defiant rejoinder; something like:_- Did you finish your homework?
- Pouët pouët camembert!!!

_ (a childish way to say _'Eat sh*t and die / Va te faire foutre'_)​


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## Paf le chien

KaRiNe_Fr said:


> Amda Zako, I think that « Les Guignols de l'info » (French tv show with puppets) made this old expression regain in popularity with JPP (Jean-Pierre Papin's puppet, the famous soccer player).



Bien vu KaRiNe_Fr. Maintenant ça me rappelle quelque chose. 

Et il était bien supposé avoir un âge mental de 4/5 ans (Papin : p.a.p.in ).


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## FrançoisXV

Ce qui me ramène à ma p'tite question, mais qui peut affirmer que l'expression est beaucoup plus ancienne ?
Papin - Cantona ont débuté leur carrière nationale au milieu des années 80.
Le trivial-pursuit qui s'appelait à l'époque remue méninges également, et c'est à cette époque-là que j'ai entendu "camembert" puis "pouet pouet, camembert".
Les Papinades sur canal+ sont plus récentes (début des 90)


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## JeanDeSponde

Quite a long time ago, there was a childish expression that went _fer__me ta boîte à camembert / tu l'ouvriras pour le dessert._
Sometimes, I feel very old
Hence now _camembert_.

Besides, the "honking" gesture existed to simulate closing someone's mouth, for "tais-toi" (this, I'm sure of) - hence _"pouet pouet" _(this I'm guessing).

And indeed, the first "pouet pouet camembert" occurence I remember of was in _les guignols de l'info_ - but by then I had long left school... It may have been usual then in schoolyards.


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## Paf le chien

*Je*_ (_moi, en accord avec moi-même)_ pense_ plutôt qu'il s'agit d'une « vieille » (ante-trivial-poursuit) expression enfantine qui a été remise au goût du jour à l'occasion par les guignols. 

Mais qui sait... l'étymologie « imaginative » n'est parfois pas très loin de la réalité. Reste à le démontrer (mais c'est d'un intérêt douteux AMHA )

Ceci dit, tu as déjà essayé de faire « pouët-pouët » avec un « clacos » en plastique, toi ?


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## JDnCoke

Amda Zako said:


> In what part of France (and in what decade) did you hear this expression? I grew up in Nice in the late 70s and 80s and never heard it! Shame, I would have loved to use it!



I heard it from a French friend, she's barely 20 and comes from Nantes. Maybe it has some Breton leanings? I'm glad to see such a random phrase has generated so much discussion!


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## pitchou

hi,
just to say that we are also used to hearing this expression (though admittedly not every day) here in Belgium... so it has spread on quite a distance. I would agree with Paf to say that it's an old expression revived by the _guignols_


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## KaRiNe_Fr

Paf le chien said:


> *Je*_ (_moi, en accord avec moi-même)_ pense_ plutôt qu'il s'agit d'une « vieille » (ante-trivial-poursuit) expression enfantine qui a été remise au goût du jour à l'occasion par les guignols.  [...]


Je n'essayais pas de dire autre chose dans mon post #16... 
Il s'agit d'un "revival" d'expression via les Guignols, mais ma mère l'utilisait déjà en son temps, comme JeanDeSponde...


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## doodlebugger

I used the expression _ferme ta boîte à camembert _when I was a kid (which definitely predates the Guignols).
The _camembert_ was in fact a reference to (alleged) bad breath.
_Shut your stinking mouth_ would be the best translation.
I think _pouet pouet_ is more recent and refers to a TV ad for camembert.
It had a silly song that went something like _elle lui fait pouet-pouet quand elle l'achète _with a lady pressing the cheese.
I guess _pouet-pouet camembert_ is a mix of both references.

Actually it is now coming back to me that the silly song in the ad was a parody of the Bourvil song _Pouet-pouet_.


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## Paf le chien

doodlebugger said:


> Actually it is now coming back to me that the silly song in the ad was a parody of the Bourvil song _Pouet-pouet_.



Bravo ! Bravissimo ! 

C'était donc aux débuts de la télévision


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## Nicomon

J'arrive en retard à la fête...

Je n'étonnerai sûrement personne en disant que vous n'entendrez pas au Québec _pouet pouet camembert_, ni _camembert_ tout court, dans le sens de _tais-toi!_  

Par contre ferme donc ta boîte ou seulement _ta boîte__!_ (plutôt que _ta gueule__!_) est très courant chez nous.

_Pouet, pouet_ serait peut-être _blah, blah, blah_ (avec le même geste)


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## tilt

FrançoisXV said:


> Ce qui me ramène à ma p'tite question, mais qui peut affirmer que l'expression est beaucoup plus ancienne ?
> Papin - Cantona ont débuté leur carrière nationale au milieu des années 80.
> Le trivial-pursuit qui s'appelait à l'époque remue méninges également, et c'est à cette époque-là que j'ai entendu "camembert" puis "pouet pouet, camembert".
> Les Papinades sur canal+ sont plus récentes (début des 90)


_Remue-méninges_ a été un flop retentissant, je doute qu'il ait pu influencer la langue française... Et en posant la question autour de moi, j'ai découvert que certaines personnes jouaient à "ferme ta boîte à camembert" quand ils étaient gamins, dans les années 70.

L'enquête continue !


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## Oh.la.la.la

Je suis née dans les années 90 et j'utilise régulièrement cette phrase. Je ne sais pas d'où elle vient mais en tout cas, en maternelle on l'utilisait.


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