# Ça craint !



## Catani

MODERATOR NOTE: Several threads on the same topic have been merged here. 
NOTE DE LA MODÉRATION : Plusieurs fils sur le même thème ont été fusionnés ici.
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Je vois cette expression de temps en temps. J'imagine qu'elle signifie "that sucks!", mais j'en suis pas certain.

Catani


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## hald

You are right


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## kertek

It does depend on the context though...

"Mon coloc ne sort jamais de sa chambre, il dort toute la journee. *Ca craint*, non?"

for me the translation here would be more like "that's a bit worrying, right?"


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## Catani

So, kertek

you're probably saying that "[bit of a] bummer, eh?" is the better translation with the above situation (flatmate hibernating in the bedroom all day long)?
Catani


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## geve

and let's not forget also that "ça craint" can also be used for a place where you feel unsecure, that can be dangerous... eg: "_ne va pas faire ton footing au bois de Boulogne le soir, ça craint trop_"

It is possible to say "it sucks" when talking about that hibernating flatmate ?


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## kertek

Heh, I like how this thread has turned into a discussion of my flatmate!

I don't think I was very clear - I was trying to say that "ca craint" can be used to talk about something that is worrying or dangerous. I hear this use of "ca craint" much more often than to describe something disappointing (something that sucks, etc)



> It is possible to say "it sucks" when talking about that hibernating flatmate ?


 
This is possible too (hence why my explanation wasn't too clear) - and it is also very true!


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## hald

Well, "ça craint" also conveys that "disappointing" meaning.

For example :

"Mon colocataire m'a offert des chaussettes pour Noël."
"Oh l'autre, ça craint comme cadeau !"


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## Ludi

Bonjour à tous,

Je suis actuellement en train de traduire un texte et j'ai beaucoup de mal.

Je bute sur quelques expresssions familères comme :

ça craint ici [...]
Si quelqu'un pouvait m'aider, il ferait une heureuse


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## kertek

"ça craint ici" - it's dodgy round here.
[...]


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## charlyboy81

En language familier, "ca craint" peut avoir deux sens: 

- "ca craint par ici" -----> c'est dangereux par ici

- "ca craint ici"----> c'est un quartier "pourri" (crappy neighborhood??)

I guess we should wait for the experts's advices


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## Agnès E.

It sucks, here?


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## kertek

> It sucks, here?


Cette traduction est mieux si c'est qu'on trouve l'endroit nul: "They've played nothing but Star Academy records since we got to this club! It sucks, here!" ou bien "This place sucks!"

"It's dodgy round here," c'est mieux si c'est un endroit louche, qui fait peur.


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## charlyboy81

"It sucks, here?" Je pense que cette expression se rapproche plus de "c'est nul" (n'inclue pas la notion de danger ou de delabration architecturale)


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## badgrammar

I would have said "This place sucks/stinks/bites"

si c'est un endroit nul, ou si c'est un endroit qui fait peur:

"This place gives me the creeps/the hebegeebees (sp?)"
"It's really creepy here"

[...]

But also it depends on who is saying it - is it someone's granny or a teenager, or an 8 year old?  Different vocab for different generations, y'know?


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## verbivore

kertek said:


> It does depend on the context though...
> 
> "Mon coloc ne sort jamais de sa chambre, il dort toute la journee. *Ca craint*, non?"
> 
> for me the translation here would be more like "that's a bit worrying, right?"


 
For this one, I'd translate it as "creepy". For example: Regarde un peu ce dingue là-bas. Qu'il craint !


For me, the other 2 translations from the other posts are : pas très bon et dangereux.


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## carls25

Carrying on from this thread, how do you pronounce the "craint" - as in, do you sound the "t"? 

Merci!


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## Helianthus

you don't prononce the "t". 
ca crain (sounds like "du pain")


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## jrd9368

I agree with all of this but ça craint can also be used kind of like slang if you want to say something like "that's creepy" or "it's freaky". This is a very common usage of the saying.


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## franc 91

For me it means - I fear the worst ie danger's brewing, but of course slang never stays still and it has become slightly devalued to mean anything that could eventually be impressive in some way, that could come out of the blue at you - ça craint un max - you'd better watch out, you never know what's coming your way or as they say in Scots - mind yer back Jimmie!


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## Uncle Bob

Hello,
Just out of curiosity.
[…] in an advert video which, again out of curiosity, I watched, the "bad boy" in a scruffy neighbourhood warns "...fais attention ça craint par ici".

[…] the only translation proposed (that I saw) that could apply was "it's dodgy here". I can't imagine many people using "dodgy", especially if they live in such a place.

All I can think of is "it's tough round here" but surely there is something better. Is there?


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## franc 91

For another way of saying - it's dodgy round here (ça craint par ici) I suggest - Round here it ain't safe - or -  you've got to watch it round here - I wouldn't have thought that - ça craint - could be translated by - it sucks - (an expression, which in any case, I find pretty distasteful)


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## Pedro y La Torre

franc 91 said:


> For another way of saying - it's dodgy round here (ça craint par ici) I suggest - Round here it ain't safe - or -  you've got to watch it round here - I wouldn't have thought that - ça craint - could be translated by - it sucks - (an expression, which in any case, I find pretty distasteful)



Neither would I. It/That sucks is mainly AE to my ear in any case - whether that makes it distasteful or not, is another question.


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## Itisi

_*L'Été, ça craint*_ (_Summer sucks_ en version originale) est le huitième épisode de la deuxième saison de la série animée _South Park_.

Apparently, it can also mean 'it sucks'...  This is from WIkipedia.


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## Uncle Bob

Many thanks for the answers, including to Lart01 who suggested "unsafe" and "dangerous" in a PM while my post was locked for moving.
Itisi, I may be wrong but I feel "it sucks" (ugh!) has more the implication of something being boring or distasteful rather than dangerous. Perhaps franc91's "you've got to watch it round here" fits this particular context best (just my opinion ...and that of franc91 I suppose).


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## FrogFrench

How familiar is ça craint?  I don't ever say "it sucks" in English because it is rather vulgar.  How does ça craint sound coming from a female?


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## Micia93

"ça craint" isn't vulgar at all! I use it when the situation requires it.
It's familiar of course!


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## franc 91

Yes I agree it's not vulgar as such, but definitely slang and typically urban. I wouldn't expect to hear it from my neighbours in the Midi, for example. More often than not, it's used ironically for a situation that isn't quite as bad as it's made out to be. - ça craint un max isn't to be taken literally.


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## Micia93

I agree that the situation isn't bad. For instance, speaking of a film :
"t'as vu le dernier Johnny Deep"?
"oui, ça craint! il est nul ce film"


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## franc 91

Yes but that's another way of using this expression. In that context it would mean - it's not worth seeing, that film - you'd be wasting your time because it's rubbish.


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## Micia93

Yes, it's just an example among others ...


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## sound shift

Micia93 said:


> "ça craint" isn't vulgar at all! I use it when the situation requires it.
> It's familiar of course!


Is it used by all generations? If so, the translation shouldn't be something too 'trendy'/'street'.


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## Micia93

It's mainly used by young people aged 15-30 (and not especially urban, Franc!)


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## sound shift

Thanks. I think we need a few members of that age to make some suggestions. (Dinosaurs like me can't speak convincingly for them.)


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## Pedro y La Torre

Micia93 said:


> It's mainly used by young people aged 15-30 (and not especially urban, Franc!)



I've heard older people using it (i.e. 40 and up) but such people were generally trying to sound ''cool''. I doubt a Papi in some small village in Limousin would be heard using it though, however ''cool'' he might wish to appear.


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## FrogFrench

My friend who uses "ça craint" constantly is native French, 51 years old and split his adolescence between Paris and Cannes.  
I'm 46 and a native Texan.  French is my second language.  I don't use the expression "that sucks" because it is slightly vulgar and not very expressive, but many people my age would have no problem with it.  It sounds too juvenile to me. 

I've seen "ça craint" translated as "that sucks" which it clearly doesn't mean literally. 

Thanks for the feedback.  This is my first post on WR.  I've been reading the threads for years, but just worked up my courage to participate.


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## Pedro y La Torre

Welcome ''FrogFrench''. One hopes you will post more regularly.


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