# Oh dear!



## unefemme1

Hi, I was just wondering if there was a French equivalent to the English "oh dear", does anyone know if there is? if so, what would it be? Thanks in advance!

"Oh dear" in my context would be an exasperation.
Examples:
"Oh dear! I've forgotten my purse again"
or "Oh dear, I've dropped it"


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## Monsieur Moose

I say *oh là.*


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## Gil

Merci pour le contexte. Ce n'est pas ce que j'aurais pu imaginer, car ce n'est pas "Oh chéri(e)" que je dirais dans une telle situation, mais "Merde".
Je suis sûr que d'autres francophones auront d'autres inspirations...


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## unefemme1

Oh, but "merde" would be quite like the English word for "shit" or "damn" wouldn't it? Its considered rude to say it in public, and I did think of "oh cherie" but i didn't think it was suitable (unless you were saying it to a wife of course). Thanks for you help though. I'll wait till other natives come along and help out


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## Cath.S.

_Zut alors ! Flûte alors !  Mince alors ! Bon sang de bonsoir !_

Mais pas merde. _Oh dear_ is very mild, the kind of thing my ex-mother-in-law would say (she's a very religious woman who never uses any kind of profanity).


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## viera

Moi aussi, je dirais "merde."
Mais d'autres diraient "zut" ou "oh la la"


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## Gil

egueule said:
			
		

> _Zut alors ! Flûte alors !  Mince alors ! Bon sang de bonsoir !_
> 
> Mais pas merde. _Oh dear_ is very mild, the kind of thing my ex-mother-in-law would say (she's a very religious woman who never uses any kind of profanity).


C'est nettement mieux inspiré que mon intervention.  Aurais-je dû connaître ton ex-belle-mère?


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## unefemme1

Mmm yes, I think _zut alors_ would be more suitable. "Oh dear" is generally heard from well-respected people or just very polite people who don't swear. I must say I've never heard anyone use _oh la la_ before though...it must be quite outdated, no? Like "Good gracious" for example?


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## Cath.S.

Gil said:
			
		

> C'est nettement mieux inspiré que mon intervention. Aurais-je dû connaître ton ex-belle-mère?


Ma foi (ou plutôt la sienne), il n'est jamais trop tard pour bien faire. 

Lorsque nous avons fait connaissance, David m'ayant prévenu de ne pas dire _shit_ ou pire devant elle, je me suis écrié _Jesus_! - mal m'en a pris, elle m'a remonté les bretelles bien haut.

Si le cœur t'en dit... 

En français, _doux Jésus !_ est une interjection tout ce qu'il y a de comme-il-faut.


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## unefemme1

_doux Jésus _would be "sweet Jesus", right? Gosh, I've actually never heard anyone use it...until now. Thanks to all of you for your help


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## kertek

unefemme1 said:
			
		

> I must say I've never heard anyone use _oh la la_ before though...it must be quite outdated, no? Like "Good gracious" for example?


It's actually pretty common! It's usually used to show displeasure in reaction to something someone says, either personally or out of sympathy for someone else. For extra exasperation, add a Spanish "j" sound to the start of the "oh" and draw out the last "laa"...


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## melancolique

agreed:  _oh la_ is not outdated.  its more a sound effect than a phrase.  when in france, every time someone in my french family would drop something, or something surprising happened, they would say "ooh, la"  with a long ooo, versus the open 'oh' sound.  And I only heard one 'la' but of course that could be regional.  =]
but yes, it was always _oh, la_  or  _merde_


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## tilt

Gil said:
			
		

> Merci pour le contexte.  Ce n'est pas ce que j'aurais pu imaginer, car ce n'est pas "Oh chéri(e)" que je dirais dans une telle situation, mais "Merde".



I might be wrong, but IMHO, "oh dear" doesn't mean "oh chéri(e)" at all, but is a short for "oh dear Lord".
For this reason, I think French speakers would simply say "oh mon Dieu" (even if they don't believe in God, that's what's amazing ! )


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## unefemme1

Hmm. I had thought _Mon Dieu_ would be translated as "my God" (ie oh my God). 
As for _oh la la_ I didn't know what it meant, mainly because _la_ can be translated as "there" or "the" in English. Confusing. But still interesting  Today we learnt a few rude French words in class (_putain_, _merde_ among them hehe) so yeah. very interesting


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## tilt

unefemme1 said:
			
		

> Hmm. I had thought _Mon Dieu_ would be translated as "my God" (ie oh my God).
> As for _oh la la_ I didn't know what it meant, mainly because _la_ can be translated as "there" or "the" in English. Confusing. But still interesting  Today we learnt a few rude French words in class (_putain_, _merde_ among them hehe) so yeah. very interesting



"_La_" in "_oh la la_" is neither "_there_" (it would need an accent then : "_là_") nor "_the_"! It doesn't have any meaning, in fact, it's juste an onomatopoeia.

I agree that the litteral translation of "_oh mon Dieu_" is "_oh my God_". But translation a text is not only translating its words, especially with expressions. Usually, for example, the translation for "_merde_" is "_fuck_", not "_shit_".

I just thought that "o_h mon Dieu_" is used by French speaker in the same way as English speakers say "_oh dear_". But maybe my knowledge of English is not so good !


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## kertek

tilt said:
			
		

> I just thought that "o_h mon Dieu_" is used by French speaker in the same way as English speakers say "_oh dear_". But maybe my knowledge of English is not so good !


Mmm... j'en suis pas convaincu (mais ça n'a rien à voir avec ton niveau d'anglais!) - personnellement, je ne dirais jamais "ô mon dieu" en français pour les mêmes raisons que je ne dirais pas "oh my god" in English. En tant qu'athée, je préfère laisser dieu hors de mon discours quotidien... Par contre j'emploie parfois l'expression "oh dear!" Pour moi, elle a perdu son sens réligieux.

Comme quoi je préfère "zut", "mince alors", "oh la la" etc comme traduction...


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## Avrilbcn

Pour éviter le blasphème tu peux aussi dire "sacrebleu"
Il est très joli ce mot!!!!!  Mais j'avoue on me regarde étrangement quand je l'utilise   (il est très peu utilisé, ca fait un peu Merlin l'enchanteur...)


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## Nunty

unefemme1 said:
			
		

> Mmm yes, I think _zut alors_ would be more suitable. "Oh dear" is generally heard from well-respected people or just very polite people who don't swear. I must say I've never heard anyone use _oh la la_ before though...it must be quite outdated, no? Like "Good gracious" for example?


One of the first discoveries I made when I entered this monastery with an international, but heavily francophone, community was, "Wow! They really _do_ say oh la la!" 

For the record, and since there are few more "genteel" ladies than nuns, my francophone sisters also say "Zut alors!" and one prefers the expletive "Microbe!"  "Ça alors!" is another.


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## tilt

Avrilbcn said:
			
		

> Pour éviter le blasphème tu peux aussi dire "sacrebleu"
> Il est très joli ce mot!!!!!  Mais j'avoue on me regarde étrangement quand je l'utilise   (il est très peu utilisé, ca fait un peu Merlin l'enchanteur...)



Sacrebleu est un blaphème, puisque c'est la déformation de "sacré dieu". Comme presque tous les jurons d'ailleurs!


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## se16teddy

unefemme1 said:
			
		

> Oh, but "merde" would be quite like the English word for "shit" or "damn" wouldn't it? Its considered rude to say it in public, and I did think of "oh cherie" but i didn't think it was suitable (unless you were saying it to a wife of course). Thanks for you help though. I'll wait till other natives come along and help out


In my experience, 'merde' is MUCH less taboo than English 'shit', and can sometimes translate mere 'oh dear'.


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## kylijah

I personally say 'punaise' a lot... it's kind of weird since it means ' bedbug' or 'pin' (not sure where the term comes from) but it's a good non-offensive alternative to 'putain'

To avoid to offend anyone, I usually swear in French in the UK and in English in France. hehe...


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## Cath.S.

tilt said:
			
		

> I might be wrong, but IMHO, "oh dear" doesn't mean "oh chéri(e)" at all, but is a short for "oh dear Lord".
> For this reason, I think French speakers would simply say "oh mon Dieu" (even if they don't believe in God, that's what's amazing ! )


It's not that amazing, in fact I find it quite logical: lots of believers... believe that thou should not take the name of the Lord in vain.

Atheists couldn't care less, as for them _Dieu_ is just another four-letter word.


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## unefemme1

I've heard of "sacre bleu" but only in La Belle Et la Bete of course  . I haven't heard of "mince alors", its quite a confusing one to me though, because mince also means "thin" doesn't it?


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## Monsieur Hoole

It's just a euphemism for merde, like shoot for sh*t

M.H.


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## Newangle

Unefemme1, you seem to have an extremely literal one-word-for-another view of translation, if I may say!

Just for the record, although, of course, the usage of "merde" and "shit" is very different, I am particularly fond of using "mince" in public (without the "alors") when I speak French.


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## tilt

unefemme1 said:


> I've heard of "sacre bleu" but only in La Belle Et la Bete of course  . I haven't heard of "mince alors", its quite a confusing one to me though, because mince also means "thin" doesn't it?



Yes, _mince_ means thin.
Many "normal" words like this one are used as non-offensive curse words. I think it is because they start by the same sound as the real ones : _mince_ or _mercredi_ for _merde_, _punaise _or_ purée _for _putain._


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## unefemme1

tilt said:


> Yes, _mince_ means thin.
> Many "normal" words like this one are used as non-offensive curse words.


 
This reminds me of the English, "Sugars!" or "oh sugar!" which is used in the same way as the word "dammit". Of course to a foreigner "sugars" wouldn't mean anything to them, but it would still give the same effect as "dammit". I think I'll just stick to the less-offensive curses to be on the safe side


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## Eighteen

kertek said:


> Mmm... j'en suis pas convaincu (mais ça n'a rien à voir avec ton niveau d'anglais!) - personnellement, je ne dirais jamais "ô mon dieu" en français pour les mêmes raisons que je ne dirais pas "oh my god" in English. En tant qu'athée, je préfère laisser dieu hors de mon discours quotidien... Par contre j'emploie parfois l'expression "oh dear!" Pour moi, elle a perdu son sens réligieux.
> 
> Comme quoi je préfère "zut", "mince alors", "oh la la" etc comme traduction...


Étant moi même athée, j'utilise quand même "Oh mon Dieu" et je ne dois pas être la seule dans ce cas, c'est un réflexe de la langue. Donc moi je trouve que c'est la meilleure traduction.


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## Ishtaril

> Originally Posted by *unefemme1 *
> "Oh dear" is generally heard from well-respected people or just very polite people who don't swear.


I have been living in the UK for a couple of months and I am always a bit surprised when one of my housemates (an old respectable and religious lady) says 'o dear'. At first I thought it was to show a kind of affection of some sort... I didn't know it was actually a short form of 'o dear Lord'.

I guess that even atheists would happen to say 'o dear' in everyday life, just like saying '_Mon Dieu_' in French doesn't really imply that you believe in God. Am I right?

Very informative thread indeed !


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## FanduCanadien

Est-ce que _Oh bordel_! peut être utilisé ou est-ce que ça fait trop vulgaire?


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## Flukyluc

il y a aussi : "ciel", souvent dit ironiquement
ou même "sky" 
voire "fichtre" aussi peu utilisé que sacrebleu 
ou encore "crotte" (de bique, éventuellement)
mais le plus proche me semble "oh, zut" ou "oh, merde"
Tout est dans le ton, bien sûr, et un joli "merde" avec un joli accent british fera sourire tous les français ....


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## marie5332

Je pense que c'est Allons bon ! 
Expression qui marque la surprise ou l'agacement. Selon le contexte.


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## Hildy1

Some French Canadians - maybe just older ones - say "mon doux!", a milder form of "mon dieu!"


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## Chimel

marie5332 said:


> Je pense que c'est Allons bon !
> Expression qui marque la surprise ou l'agacement. Selon le contexte.



Hmmm, pas mal comme idée: _allons bon_ peut sûrement convenir dans certains cas, mais surtout lorsque cette exaspération est empreinte d'un certain fatalisme (parce que ce n'est pas la première fois que ça se passe, parce qu'on ne peut rien y faire...). _Allons bon, voilà qu'il se met (encore) à pleurer... 
_
Mais dans l'exemple _He_ _had an accident. - Oh dear...what happened?_, _allons bon_ n'irait pas en français...


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## marie5332

Humm, en effet vous avez raison. 
Comment traduire Allons bon ! dans l'exaspération ?
ps: Un p'tit bonsoir de la Belgique en passant


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## Chimel

_Allons bon_ pourra souvent se traduire par _Oh dear_, comme vous le proposiez, j'ai juste indiqué que l'inverse n'était pas toujours vrai. Pour le dire autrement: _Oh dear_ a un champ d'utilisation plus large, qui englobe _allons bon_ mais ne se réduit pas à lui.

Et merci pour le p'tit bonsoir en passant !


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## marie5332

Merci, à la prochaine !


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