# piece of ass



## Budd

In AE, this is applied to women only meaning that the woman is very attractive, at least sexually.  (It is evidently old.  In The Tempest, Prospero says to Miranda, playing on the phrase, "Thy mother was a piece... of virtue.")  It is often shortened to simply "piece," e.g., Did you see that girl with Fred? Jesus, is she a piece."  Any thoughts, preferably equally amusing and vulgar?


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## Lacuzon

Good evening,

I only see two locutions :
Avoir un beau cul.
Être callipyge.

Hope it helps


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## Budd

Thanks, Lacuzon.  Avoir un beau cul OR des jolies fesses are not the same as "She's a piece of ass."  The phrase actually does not refer to the woman's rear-end specifically, but to her overall sexual attractiveness.  It's a bit like saying she's "une 'tite nana" but more sexual and a good deal coarser: don't say it in front of your grandmother, unless mémère is cool.  Of course, the girl in question could be callipyge--and that wouldn't hurt--but, you see, it is more than that.  You could say that a girl who's a piece of ass is one you want to get into bed with as soon as possible, not one you'd write love letters to, beginning, Ah fallait-il que je vous aimasse.


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## Keith Bradford

_De la fesse ????_
_Une jolie fesse_ ????


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

c'est un beau morceau.


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## Budd

Sounds good to me, Jean-Michel, if lacking a bit in vulgarity.  Thanks.  Keith, you end with multiple question marks.  Have you actually ever heard anyone say either phrase?  I have not.  Thanks.


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## Xavier11222

_Un sacré/beau p'tit lot_, _un joli/sacré brin de fille_ are old fashioned now, and almost sweet when compared to _une bombe/bombasse/bonnasse_. 

"Did you see that girl with Fred? Jesus, is she a piece."
_T'as vu la fille avec Fredo ? Comment elle est bien foutue !_
Hmmm, this is not satisfying yet. I feel there's a much better equivalent.


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## Lacuzon

Well, I see better , perhaps _c'est un (sacré) beau morceau_ ! Or more vulgar : (qu'est-ce qu')_elle est bonne ! But it could allow to play with words like in_

_Qu'est-ce qu'elle est bonne ... épouse, cuisinière..._


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## Budd

Xavier, I like especially bonnasse, being a bilingual pun; the others are good too.  Would grognasse also work, I wonder?  Elle est bien foutue is even more vulgar than piece of ass, which is not really a bad thing.


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## doinel

Je ne dirais pas bonasse . Dans ma région cela signifie quelqu'un de très gentil, un peu bête bref une bécasse. Rien d'attractif en fait.
Ni même grognasse ou pouffiasse ou pétasse. Mais tu dois pouvoir trouver un fil à ce sujet.


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## KaRiNe_Fr

Salut Budd,

Foutue, dans « Elle est bien foutue » n'est pas vraiment vulgaire. « Foutue » est utilisé pour « faite » ici, elle est bien faite de sa personne, sa plastique est attrayante. 
J'aurais aussi proposé le (sacré) beau p'tit lot de Xavier11222. 
J'entends aussi, mais ne sais pas trop si c'est local : « elle a tout ce qu'il faut où il faut ! ». 

Edit : c'est vrai Xtra ! Comme quoi il faut laisser les hommes répondre sur de tels sujets !


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## xtrasystole

Budd said:


> *Piece of ass*
> In AE, this is applied to women only meaning that the woman is very attractive, at least sexually.
> ...
> Any thoughts, preferably equally amusing and vulgar?


—> _'un beau/joli petit cul'_. 


_- 'T'as vu la nouvelle copine de Fred ? C'est un joli petit cul !' 

- 'Mais non, chérie, le but n'est pas valable, il y a hors-jeu_ [offside]_. Ne t'occupe pas de football, tu n'y connais rien. Contente-toi d'être un joli petit cul'_.


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## Budd

Amusing and vulgar enough, Xtra.  It ought to work, but a warning: In AE, you don't usually say it to a woman's face.  Using your example while watching a football match, I'd say most of the (non-violent) women I know, would kick ton cul.  Cool.


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## xtrasystole

Mmm... The French _'un joli petit cul'_ is not that derogatory. Granted, not in very good taste and slightly disrespectful to women, yes, but funny and sort of complimentary in a way (when you know the person well enough...)


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## akaAJ

I don't agree that it is a neutral term saying merely that the woman is attractive, sexually or otherwise.  It says the woman is an object one would like to fornicate with.  An admittedly extreme example is "I'm going out to get me a piece of ass". I don't know what the equivalent French is; "bonne à niquer/baiser", "baisable" ???


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## xtrasystole

akaAJ said:


> "I'm going out to get me a piece of ass". I don't know what the equivalent French is


I was told that some would have heard people saying they came across someone going: _"Ce soir je vais à la _Fabric_, me chercher un trou à bite"_.


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## Budd

Bravo, xtra--un trou à bite just about does it. And, you bet, you could say that to a woman whom you know well and has a sense of humor, fairly rare, to get a kick out of it.  Considering that ass in the phrase piece of ass is (weirdly) a euphemism for pussy, this is I think as good an equivalent as anyone could hope for.


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## akaAJ

Budd, if you think a woman who would kick your ass for putting her down with _Contente-toi d'être un joli petit cul'_ would sit still for being called a piece of ass or un trou à bite, I'd suggest you wear a boxer's cup when you go out on a date. 		Even the fairly frequent women with a sense of humor probably wouldn't stop at calling you a prick.  (Or, how about, "Casse-toi, pauv' con de putain de merde", to conflate a fairly recent notable incident with a fairly recent thread.)

Sorry about the vulgarity, folks, but this sorry thread apparently brings out the worst in some.

That said, the thread phrase and xtrasystole's solution do seem to share the same level of coarseness and macho contempt for women.


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## Cath.S.

_Trou à bite_ est bien plus insultant et sordide que _joli petit cul _qui reste assez gentil, bien que réificateur.

Mon compagnon (qui est un homme ) me fait remarquer que contrairement à un vagin, un cul (joli petit...) est dans ce cas considéré comme un objet, certes, mais visible et apprécié en tant que spectacle attirant. Donc ce n'est pas très fin, mais ça reste un compliment. 

Un cul, même fantasmé, c'est de la chair chaude et vivante, tandis qu'un trou à bite, ça évoque un de ces jouets sexuels vraiment moches et misérables en vente dans les sex-shops.
Et probablement aussi par correspondance.


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## Budd

*Trou à bite est bien plus insultant et sordide que joli petit cul qui reste assez gentil, bien que réificateur.

*Yes--yet xtra hit the nail on the head.  You see, there is a difference of _registre_ between AE and French, Cath.  It is correct to say that piece of ass objectifies and insults women (see M. akaAj's response above), but it has in my experience not been inevitably hostile.  Your compagnon is making a distinction that does not translate very well.  Ass in AE means fesse, not trou de cul: if you mean trou de cul, you say asshole, and piece of ass has actually nothing to do with sodomy.  As I said in an earlier post, it is actually a euphemism for _vulve,_ not _vagin_.  And as I've tried to explain--evidently not well--it is not a matter of expressing admiration of anatomy, but of expressing a desire to have sex.  The business about "jouets sexuels" doesn't add up in this context, which--let me repeat--is AE.  Moches, misérales--okay.  But it is what it is.  We are trying, at the more sophisticated end of the forum, to translate not mot à mot, but dealing with the endlessly difficult but fascinating question of translating from one culture to another.


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## Cath.S.

> .  It is correct to say that piece of ass objectifies and insults women  (see M. akaAj's response above), but it has in my experience not been  inevitably hostile


Je suis bien d'accord sur ce point, Budd, en revanche, _trou à bite_* est * inévitablement agressif et méprisant, ce n'est pas juste l'expression d'un désir, même cru et brutal. 
Je suis certaine que la vaste majorité des francophones en conviendra.
Employer ce genre de terme ne traduit pas un simple intérêt, même frénétique, pour le sexe, mais un déséquilibre mental. To this native, anyway.
Les mots ne sont pas neutres, même dans une langue étrangère, ils expriment un vécu(l) et dans ce cas précis il est dérangeant, ce qui me pousse à fortement déconseiller l'emploi de ce mot aux anglophones, à moins qu'ils ne veuillent délibérément choquer ou passer pour des je ne sais quoi.
Ce caveat me semblait bien nécessaire.


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## Salvatos

Je suis en tous points d'accord avec Cath.S. Je ne nierai pas aimer l'humour grivois que plusieurs trouveraient déplacé, mais je considère tout de même « trou à bite » d'une vulgarité déconcertante et inacceptable. Même « fuck toy » me paraît poli en comparaison, pour donner un exemple en anglais.


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## Budd

Merci, Cath.  Your caveat responds to the last sentence of my last post--that we are trying to translate culture as well as meaning--and that is not always easy, one-to-one, or (for that matter) feasible.  I'm not sure I'd impute "déséquilibre mental" to a speaker who used the phrase trou à bite, but certainly an ignorance of cultural context: the _forbidden _words of one language or culture are not always those of another, e.g., _con_ and its English cognate.  Other than poetry, the hardest thing to translate.  Thanks, again.


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## Lyloo14

Je suis assez d'accord avec ce qui a été dit précédemment par Cath et Salvatos, non pas parce que ça me gène (bien que je trouve cette expression assez moche).
De plus, si j'ai bien compris votre demande, il faudrait que cela exprime un intérêt sexuel, or "trou a bite" n'est pas vraiment un intérêt sexuel pour la femme en question. Si on dit "je cherche un trou a bite", en gros cela veut dire "je cherche a baiser ce soir, avec n'importe qui/quoi) . Si vous voulez traduire "a piece of ass", qui est quand même une remarque sur une femme en particulier , la proposition de Lacuzon "elle est bonne" me semble la plus proche, c'est aussi sexuel, elle est bonne à baiser...mais beaucoup moins réducteur...


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## Salvatos

Encore une fois d'accord. J'ai oublié de préciser précédemment que je suis d'accord avec Budd en ce qu'il ne s'agit pas d'aimer l'expression ou non mais de la traduire avec l'objectivité nécessaire. C'est à ce titre que je voulais tout de même faire remarquer que « piece of ass » et « trou à bite » sont de calibres entièrement différents.

« Piece of ass » fait office de compliment bien qu'un peu réducteur, mais « trou à bite », je pense que Lyloo l'a assez bien dit, ça revient à dire qu'on la mettrait n'importe où, si je peux me permettre de le dire ainsi.


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## mgarizona

I think you're overstating the supposed vulgarity of "piece of ass." Given the coarseness of modern discourse it has almost a gentrified air about it. Rather like calling a girl a 'wench' these days ... she's more likely to be amused than offended. 

I'd stick with Jean-Michel's _beau morceau_ ... it's aptly objectifying which is really the idea.


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## xtrasystole

I agree with Cath.S. and others that _'trou à bite'_ is extremely offensive, degrading and demeaning to women. Probably much more than the English _'piece of ass'_. I certainly can't think of any situations where a woman would appreciate the phrase. 

While _'un joli petit cul'_, although somewhat disrespectful to women, can also be said (and taken) as a compliment by a lover —or a man full of admiration.


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## Souxie

Jean-Michel Carrère said:


> c'est un beau morceau.


perfect 

On le dit aussi pour les garçons.


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## Budd

Okay, xtra, glad to hear it at last--after all the _perturbations_ following your suggestion (which I still like, but will probably never ever use).


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## elianecanspeak

Budd said:


> In AE, this is applied to women only meaning that* the woman is very attractive, at least sexually*.



I disagree with the implication of "attractiveness".  It is often used to refer to nothing more than availability; the desire of the speaker is exclusively sexual (or to imply sexuality and impress peers or attempt to bond with them through a display of "masculinity").  

What percentage of the time do you think that this expression is used in all-male environments as opposed to both gender situations or in speaking one-on-one to a woman? 

There is no esthetic standard unless implied unless it is expressed through additional vocabulary.


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## akaAJ

We are agreed then that it is nearly always used among men, and largely agreed that it objectifies women.  The example I gave, way back ("I'm going to go out and get me a piece of ass") is clearly meant to convey to the interlocutors that the speaker thinks of (at least some women) as objects, and, I don't recall what the Latin term is, assumes that his interlocutors agree.  So it is an assertion of shared machismo.

A (limited) survey of three generations of women known to me unearthed exactly none who wouldn't be pissed off.


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## elianecanspeak

In the original post Budd says *"In AE, this is applied to women only meaning that the woman is very attractive, at least sexually."*  I disagree with his understanding of the meaning.

My concern is that non-native speakers might assume that it is a compliment.  They might even say to a woman "I think you are a piece of ass". Do you think that the woman would take this as a compliment or be offended?

In my experience, most women would find that having this expression applied to them is extremely offensive, since what it implies is *"you are nothing more than a piece of ass".*

I have nothing against articulating sexual desire, but be aware that many women would hear this particular phrase as an insult.



elianecanspeak said:


> I disagree with the implication of "attractiveness".  It is often used to refer to nothing more than availability;
> Sexual attractiveness, physical desirability. (Budd's reply)
> _There is an obvious difference between "Sexual attractiveness, physical desirability" and *availability*. Would a woman who didn't have any interest is having sex with a particular man and who communicated that fact still be "a piece of ass" since she is unavailable?_
> 
> There is no esthetic standard unless implied unless it is expressed through additional vocabulary.
> I don't follow this. (Budd's reply)
> _If you say you want "a piece of ass" the meaning is that you want to have sex, *not* that you want to have sex with a beautiful, desirable woman (although that could be the preference or the fantasy). _


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## Budd

elianecanspeak said:
			
		

> "If you say you want "a piece of ass" the meaning is that you want to have sex, *not* that you want to have sex with a beautiful, desirable woman (although that could be the preference or the fantasy)."


Perhaps, but the most usual uses of the phrase is not preceded by "I want."It is most often used simply as a description:_ "_She's a piece of ass," which may but also may not express one's desire to have sex with that woman.  Moreover, a woman whom one may describe that way could be beautiful or not, but simply _sexually powerful _to the individual speaker.  Fantasy?  Sure, nine times out of ten.


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## aroumpf

une minette/nana bandante


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## Budd

When I used the phrase with a French girlfriend, she thought it was hysterical and gave me three French versions, one polite, two less so. The first was "joli petit bout." Thee less polite: "bouasse" and "chaudasse," which I especially like because it sounds like a bilingual play on the phrase.


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## mollisha

Budd said:


> Xavier, I like especially bonnasse, being a bilingual pun; the others are good too.  Would grognasse also work, I wonder?  Elle est bien foutue is even more vulgar than piece of ass, which is not really a bad thing.


I would not say "bien foutue" is more vulgar than "piece of ass". Nope. "Grognasse" would not work, it is not really related to sex appeal. 

My favs in here are "bonne", "bonnasse", "chaude", "chaudasse", "bandante".


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## Nicomon

As copied from *this page* - two definitions, with the first sounding more insulting than the second : 





> The definition of a piece of ass is a person who is considered to have value or worth only for sexual reasons.
> _A girl you want to become sexually involved with but not have a relationship with might be described as a piece of ass._
> 
> 2. (US, idiomatic, colloquial, vulgar) :  A very attractive woman, when considered as a sex object.


  I don't see any bilingual pun in the French words ending in « asse ».  The suffix only adds a depreciative value. 
It's only a coincidence that it sounds like "ass".
I agree 100% with doinel (post 10).  I certainly wouldn't associate _bonasse_ with  _piece of ass_.  It usually means this : 





> D’une bonté et d’une tolérance excessives, par faiblesse d’esprit, par crainte des conflits.


 I'm not familiar with the extended definition of_ bonne _either_. 
Chaudasse_, in a Quebec context would mean that the person had a drink or two too many : 





> QUÉBEC,FAMILIER –Qui est légèrement ivre.


 Not exactly the same thing. 

_Bandante _seems like a good compromise if you want to use an adjective rather than a noun, for the second definition.
Otherwise *Larousse*  (last line on the page) suggests _:  Une fille baisable _(also suggested in post #15).

As for a noun, I'd got with JMC's :_ un beau morceau, _in a context where _piece of ass _is almost meant as a compliment_. _
I agree with mgaz (post 26), that it is aptly objectifying.
I'd personally find _joli petit cul_ sort of complimentory. More amusing than insulting.

But if it was : _"You're nothing more than a piece of ass" _with a real intention to insult the woman, _beau morceau_ wouldn't work at all.
That's where the extremely demening and degrading _trou à bite _might, just might, come at  play.

Not nearly as crude would be : _*un plan cul.*_


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## mollisha

This is where I am learning about the nuances between French of Quebec and the French of France. Where I come from, "bonne" or "bonnasse" is definitely crude, as in short for "bonne à baiser"... (Of course "bonne" can also be used in its original meaning depending on the context) 
Not sure about "baisable", which means literally  "fuckable" - seems less hot... Like, if no other options are available, then she is "baisable". 

See bonnasse — Wiktionnaire for bonnasse and more ideas: "bombe", "bombe sexuelle"

Well, at least, we agree on "bandante".


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

J'en ferais bien mon quatre-heures ...


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## Lucky19

Amis de la poésie bonsoir.... 

Il/Elle a un de ces trous de bagnole ! = Il/Elle a une sacrée bagnole !

Elle a un de ces trous de cul ! = Rien à voir avec le fameux "trou de balle" ici (Ne pas confondre avec "trou *DU* cul"), c'est juste une expression utilisée pour qualifier le caractère hors norme dudit cul, quelle que soit l'utilisation à laquelle on le destine... 

Sauf qu'ici, le jeu de mot est conservé....


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## Nicomon

@ mollisha : Oh, mais j'aurais compris « _bonne à baiser_ ». Je ne ferais simplement pas l'association si j'entendais « _bonne_ » , tout court.
Quant à « _bonnasse_ »... je ne connaissais pas cette définition, en effet.  Ce qui explique ma correction à « _bonasse_ » avec un seul « _n_ » et la définition citée.

Je souligne en passant que doinel, qui est du Sud de la France et non québécoise, a donné à peu près la même définition que moi.
Alors non, ce coup là ça ne semble pas être une différence France / Québec.  Contrairement à _« chaudasse » _qui lui, en est une.

Pour ce qui est de _baisable_, je n'ai fait que mentionner (avec le lien) la suggestion du Larousse.  Et ça, c'est la définition du *Wiktionnaire* : 





> _(Vulgaire)_ Personne attirante, avec qui l’on souhaite avoir des rapports sexuels.
> _Il est canon, voire carrément *baisable*._


 @ JMC :  J'aime bien - _J'en ferais bien mon quatre heures_... mais c'est plus subtil que _piece of ass_.
Ta suggestion initiale_ - C'est un beau morceau_ est parfaite à mon avis, dans le sens _objet sexuel._
À moins de dire (je jure que je l'ai entendu) : _Une belle pièce de viande. _

@ Lucky19 :  Je cite à nouveau ce que Budd, qui a initié ce fil en 2010, a écrit : 





> The phrase actually does not refer to the woman's rear-end specifically, but to her overall sexual attractiveness.


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