# draguer



## rita606

Moderator note: threads merged to produce this one.

Hi
'draguer les filles' en anglais, est ce : pick the girls up, hit on girls or flirt with girls ?
MERCI


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## mysteriouscreep

_Hit on girls

- Il draguait les filles
- He was hitting on the girls
_


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## DearPrudence

I've always wondered (existential question indeed )
Can you say *"chat up girls"*?
So we really can't say *"pick up girls"* or does it sound old-fashioned or do we have the impression that I'm just picking them up with my car?


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## rita606

merciiiiii


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## mysteriouscreep

You could have all of them ...

_- Il draguait les filles
- He was hitting on/flirting with/chatting up the girls

_Hitting on is more American, flirting is universal, chatting up sounds more British.


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## NomDePlume

'To pick up' has a stronger sense of.. let's say an ulterior motive. If you 'pick someone up', it usually means for sex. 'To chat a girl/boy up' and 'to flirt with a guy/girl' are less sexual, I think.


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## ganieda

Hi,
would you say "he's chatting up on you"
pour dire "il essaie de te draguer" ?

thanks


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## DearPrudence

I would say:
"*He's trying to chat you up*" 

Mais attendons confirmation


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## ascoltate

"He's chatting you up" or "He's trying to chat you up"
both would be good for "Il essaye de te draguer", I would say...
but in American English that sounds a little like something my grandmother would say. I'd say "He's trying to pick you up." or even better "He's hitting on you."
(as mentioned above...)
I think that the "chatting up" or "hitting on" already includes the element of "trying" whereas with "picking up", you would need to say "trying" (otherwise it is necessarily successful)...


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## wildan1

DearPrudence said:


> I've always wondered (existential question indeed )
> Can you say *"chat up girls"*?
> So we really can't say *"pick up girls"* or does it sound old-fashioned or do we have the impression that I'm just picking them up with my car?


 
_*pick up* girls_ doesn't sound old-fashioned, but it means the next step (taking them home) after _*hitting* on them_! Otherwise, you have to say _*try* to pick up girls_

_chat up_ is predominantly BE


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## HijaDeChango

Hello everyone, is it possible to translate the term 'draguer' as 'to pull' in english (england) 
In english (UK) we often use, 

he tried to pull her last night

or

its nothing serious, she just wanted to pull him

from my understanding of draguer could these not be possible ways in which it could be used?

Merci davance
HdC


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## CDHMontpellier

Yes, you are right about this use of "draguer".


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## Topsie

I think "_draguer_" is milder than "pull", more like "chat up".


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## CDHMontpellier

Topsie said:


> I think "_draguer_" is milder than "pull", more like "chat up".



Maybe that depends on how hard you're being pulled!    On a Saturday night in Montpellier, it can feel rather strong...


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## Shang Qin Li

"baratiner une fille" can also mean "draguer une fille"


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## Andrew3003

To pull - normally means to kiss/snog (whatever you want to call it)

Whereas draguer means to flirt. They are slightly different I would say. 

Draguer is more like "to hit upon" that girl, rather than than the sexual activity of kissing!


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## sound shift

"Draguer" is the same as the British "to be on the pull" - the "hunting" that a person does before he/she actually pulls.


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## Shang Qin Li

sound shift said:


> "Draguer" is the same as the British "to be on the pull" - the "hunting" that a person does before he/she actually pulls.


 
"pull" does mean "draguer". But you first chat her up (baratiner) to convince her to flirt then sleep with you. You "drag " her, as it were, into your bed (or hers). It's a kind of hunting.


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## manska86

Shang Qin Li said:


> "pull" does mean "draguer". But you first chat her up (baratiner) to convince her to flirt then sleep with you. You "drag " her, as it were, into your bed (or hers). It's a kind of hunting.



I agree with Topsie and Andrew3003 because even though you are 'dragging' them to your bed in a sense, you are still only flirting with them or chatting them up _in order to_ get them into bed but not _actually_ sleeping with them. Whereas 'pulling' them, you are _actually_ kissing them and you've succeeded in the 'draguer'-ing. What do you think?


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

A slang and relatively vulgar French version of draguer which I think would suitably translate "pull" here would be "se la faire" (il a essayé de se la faire).


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## Shang Qin Li

manska86 said:


> I agree with Topsie and Andrew3003 because even though you are 'dragging' them to your bed in a sense, you are still only flirting with them or chatting them up _in order to_ get them into bed but not _actually_ sleeping with them. Whereas 'pulling' them, you are _actually_ kissing them and you've succeeded in the 'draguer'-ing. What do you think?


 
I never said "draguer" meant sleeping with a girl.
I's all the things you do before that as a "prelude". In fact "draguer" is slang for "court" "woo". And yes it does involve chatting up, flirting, kissing, hugging, etc... And the goal, obviously, is to sleep with her. I doesn't work every time though....


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## manska86

Ok. Now I know.


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## Takounya

Bonjour,

Est ce que cette phrase est correcte : "He is chatting me up?" (il me drague)

Merci!


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## NRNRNR

yes you can say that!


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## Takounya

Thanks a lot!


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## Micia93

Hi NRNRNR!

I had noted some expressions in this very forum translating "draguer"
to make a move on s.o
to come on to s.o
to hit on s.o
what is the difference between those four ? (including to chat s.o up)
thanks


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## NRNRNR

they all pretty much mean the same thing.

to hit on someone is quite american in my opinion, but apart from that the meaning is very similar i think!


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## Micia93

thank you for your quick answer!


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## DearPrudence

+ Je pense que "*chat someone up*" est britannique seulement.


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## Micia93

Merci Prudence!


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## velisarius

"To pick someone up " is also possible.(Also see the thread "classic pick up line.)


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## Micia93

great! a fifth one!
(don't believe that it is my main occupation though! )


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## Nico Las

Micia93 said:


> Hi NRNRNR!
> 
> I had noted some expressions in this very forum translating "draguer"
> to make a move on s.o
> to come on to s.o
> to hit on s.o
> what is the difference between those four ? (including to chat s.o up)
> thanks



Thanks for all this vocabulary 
Is there any difference with "to flirt with someone" ?
Perhaps with 'flirt' it is implied that both are doing it but I'm not sure


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## Pedro y La Torre

Nico Las said:


> Thanks for all this vocabulary
> Is there any difference with "to flirt with someone" ?
> Perhaps with 'flirt' it is implied that both are doing it but I'm not sure



Flirt is a synonym here. 

For those experienced in the ways of chatting up women, there are two ways of doing it, a shyer, more concealed way, and an open, obvious way (as one would in a bar, not that I pass my time doing that ). I'm not sure we have a means of differentiating, though.


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## Micia93

I suppose it's just like in french! "flirter" means "together"
(by the way Nico, do you know that english picked up our "fleureter" to turn it out into "flirter", which, in our turn picked it up, but let is so!)


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## Micia93

Pedro y La Torre said:


> Flirt is a synonym here.



so, you can say "to flirt a girl" ? (rather doubtful! )


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## Pedro y La Torre

Micia93 said:


> so, you can say "to flirt a girl" ? (rather doubtful! )



You cannot. You can say ''to flirt with a girl'', though.


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## Micia93

yes, which implies that the girl flirts with the guy too, doesn't it?


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## Nico Las

Micia93 said:


> (by the way Nico, do you know that english picked up our "fleureter" to turn it out into "flirter", which, in our turn picked it up, but let is so!)



I didn't know it, thanks  I like very much the expression 'compter fleurette' by the way


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## Pedro y La Torre

Micia93 said:


> yes, which implies that the girl flirts with the guy too, doesn't it?



Not necessarily. I could conceivably flirt with a girl and she could walk away having showed no interest in my advances.


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## Micia93

ok
that's quite different from the french then! we used to say "ils flirtent ensemble", quite obsolete now, we'd rather say "ils sortent ensemble"!


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## epillarbox

Micia93 said:


> yes, which implies that the girl flirts with the guy too, doesn't it?



No, it's not a mutual thing.  I can flirt with you and you can give me the cold shoulder, for instance.

Also I would reckon that all the examples in your post #4 were americanisms which to some extent have been adopted in Britain.

Also to pick someone up is different from chat someone up.  The former is the result of a succesful attempt at the latter.


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## franc 91

to chat up (for me) is the equivalent of draguer and it's the verb that I would use here - to pick up can also mean draguer mais surtout dans le sens de conclure (littéralement - ramasser ) - to flirt with - usually means playing around, pretending to seduce and be seductive


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## Pedro y La Torre

Micia93 said:


> ok
> that's quite different from the french then! we used to say "ils flirtent ensemble", quite obsolete now, we'd rather say "ils sortent ensemble"!



Right, as often happens with the French, they take English words (or in this case, Anglo-Norman words) and then change the meaning. Or sometimes they even create their own, such as footing or lifting.


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## Micia93

hou... it's becoming intricate! so many subtle differences ...


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## franc 91

Ils sortent ensemble (for me) implies that they already are in a steady relationship  - they're going out together, she's going out with him etc


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## Micia93

"flirter" a le même sens en français : le fait est déjà établi avec peut-être la TRES GROSSE DIFFERENCE qu'ils ne couchent pas encore ensemble (ce qui n'est pas le cas avec "ils sortent ensemble")


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## Nico Las

Flirter en francais est pour moi assez similaire a draguer, quoi qu'avec plus de romantisme et pas de subtilité, mais ne veut pas dire sortir avec, i.e. être en relation officielle. 
Sinon, pour continuer dans le même type de vocabulaire on entend de plus en plus le verbe choper (assez familier) pour dire, 'ils se sont embrasses -lors d'une soirée- sans sentiments autre que l'attrait physique'


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## Pedro y La Torre

Micia93 said:


> "flirter" a le même sens en français : le fait est déjà établi avec peut-être la TRES GROSSE DIFFERENCE qu'ils ne couchent pas encore ensemble (ce qui n'est pas le cas avec "ils sortent ensemble")



Tu peux quand même sortir avec quelqu'un et ne pas coucher avec lui/elle, non?

(Admettons que c'est rare, hein, mais il y a surement des gens très religieux pour lesquels l’idée de goûter aux plaisirs de la chair fait frémir. )


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## Wordsmyth

Micia93 said:


> "flirter" a le même sens en français : le fait est déjà établi avec peut-être la TRES GROSSE DIFFERENCE qu'ils ne couchent pas encore ensemble (ce qui n'est pas le cas avec "ils sortent ensemble")


 _Flirting_ (in English) and _chatting up_ aren't totally the same (and neither equates to _'going out with'_).

You can flirt without saying a word. A guy and a girl could be sitting across a room from one another, and one (or both) could be flirting just with looks, facial expressions, body language. Also, flirting may be done with nothing more in mind than just flirting.

Chatting up is necessarily verbal, and the term implies that the aim is to take it further than just chatting.

Ws


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## Micia93

Pedro y La Torre said:


> Tu peux quand même sortir avec quelqu'un et ne pas coucher avec lui/elle, non?
> 
> (Admettons que c'est rare, hein, mais il y a surement des gens très religieux pour lesquels l’idée de goûter aux plaisirs de la chair fait frémir. )



Tout-à-fait Pedro, mais dans ce cas-là, les gens très BCBG et très religieux diront qu'ils se "fréquentent", (un peu daté, je l'avoue, mais le reste ne l'est-il pas aussi?)pas "qu'ils sortent ensemble"


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## Micia93

Wordsmyth said:


> You can flirt without saying a word. A guy and a girl could be sitting across a room from one another, and one (or both) could be flirting just with looks, facial expressions, body language. Also, flirting may be done with nothing more in mind than just flirting.
> 
> Ws



humm ... what you describe look more like "draguer" then!
to me, "flirter" describes 2 people dating regularly, kissing but wisely, and that's all. As said above, this term is outdated (in the 50s and well before)
1968 has changed this all, by the term and the behaviour


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## Wordsmyth

I would say, Micia, that _draguer_ (as I hear it used, and also see post #21) is a fairly broad term that can cover _flirt_, _chat up_, _pick up_, ... depending on the situation.

Am I right in thinking that the sense can change according to the tense*?*
– If I heard "Il la draguait", I would assume he was chatting her up (i.e. was trying). 
– Whereas "Il l'a draguée", without any further qualification, might suggest to me that he picked her up. (i.e. succeeded). ......... *?* 


Ws


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## Micia93

It dépends!

you can have "il l'a draguée sans succès"!
but you're right with "il la draguait" = he was trying but we don't know what happened afterwards!


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## Wordsmyth

OK. Thanks, Micia. Perhaps that confirms what I thought about "Il l'a draguée" :

 If you add "sans succès", or some similar qualification, it clearly brings it back to the 'chatting up' meaning. 
But might "Il l'a draguée", tout court, be used for "He picked her up", or would you have to add "avec succès" *?* 

Ws


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## Micia93

"il l'a draguée" is neutral, if he succeeded, you must have "avec succès"
or "il l'a draguée et ils sont sortis ensemble, se sont mariés ....."


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## Wordsmyth

Micia93 said:


> "il l'a draguée" is neutral, if he succeeded, you must have "avec succès"
> or "il l'a draguée et ils sont sortis ensemble, se sont mariés ....."


 OK, so it sounds as though _draguer_ (on its own) wouldn't be used to mean 'to pick up' ... 





franc 91 said:


> to chat up (for me) is the equivalent of draguer and it's the verb that I would use here - *to pick up can also mean draguer* mais surtout dans le sens de conclure (littéralement - ramasser ) _[...]_


 Mais pour signifier "to pick up", il faudrait donc préciser le sens de conclure, si j'ai bien compris.

Ws


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## franc 91

and then there's - se faire draguer  - as in  - elle s'est fait draguée, la minette  - (trying to define this is like trying to sweep a minefield out at sea)


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## Wordsmyth

Much as I try to avoid excessive use of "got", the nearest I can come up with is "She got herself chatted up". 

OK, I'm off to dodge the next mine! 

Ws


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