# FR: let oneself be hit on - double reflexive verb?



## Rouleau

"Se laisser faire draguer" (ou "séduit") was all I could come up with after using every bona fide French-English translation site I typically refer to. But neither WordReference nor any other site translates that phrase as "let yourself [or one's self] be hit on," as "hit on" signifies "forcefully or aggressively flirted with."

I wanted to say this: "Il est assez jeune pour croire qu'il se laissait faire draguer." (Ça s'agit de deux garçons.)

"Se laisser draguer" would seem to translate as "let yourself flirt," rather than let yourself be flirted _with_. "Se faire draguer" seems to translate as "to be _subjected to_ flirting," and since "se faire" with any verb of violence suggests, if nothing else, aggression, "se faire draguer" seems contradictory, because "draguer" is not inherently violent or aggressive. 

Thank you for any help given.


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## tartopom

Il se laissait se faire draguer.


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## Rouleau

Thank you, Tartopom. That was actually my first choice, but I have gotten sufficiently distant from the language not to know if "double-reflexives" are correct. Thanks again.


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## Itisi

It's simple, 'Il se laissait draguer' means 'he allowed himself to be hit on


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## Rouleau

My translation as « flirt » is wrong, but how would yours be different from « se laisser se faire draguer? »


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## Itisi

I see 'se laissr se faire draguer' as a tautology.


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## Gérard Napalinex

Itisi said:


> I see 'se laisser se faire draguer' as a tautology.


Supported 
This is utmost clumsy, strongly discourage it.
Replace _draguer_ with any other transitive verb this should convince you - it really should.


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## Gérard Napalinex

Itisi said:


> It's simple, 'Il se laissait draguer' means 'he allowed himself to be hit on


Beg to differ here.
Most of the times this means he would let someone hit him on (hit on him?)


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## Rouleau

Gérard Napalinex said:


> Beg to differ here.
> Most of the times this means he would let someone hit him on (hit on him?)



Yes, this is what I thought. (So that there is no misconception: this translation referred to a younger major world leader perhaps believing that his magnetism in regard to a much, much older major world leader was much stronger than it ultimately proved to be.) 

*1) *I do not understand what you good folks mean by a double reflexive forming a tautology.

*2) *What, then, is the proper way to say « he would allow himself » [reflexive] « to be subjected to » [strange French way of personalizing agency regarding victimization, and therefore also reflexive]—take your pick: being hit on, being deceived, being mocked, bullied, etc.?

Thank you for any clarification.


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## Gérard Napalinex

Got to admit I'm getting a bit confused with regards to your quest right now.
So I'll stick to your two questions
1. Not sure what double reflexive means, and if we have it in French. I'd name this passive form. Anyway, since the subject is not doing the action, but indeed letting someone do it, "se faire" is superfluous, hence the tautology.
This is where I realize that you and I may assume different subjects for "laisser".
2. I'd say "il s'autorise à se laisser draguer".
I'd missed the notion of violence, so probably _draguer_ is wrong, but the verb construction I trust still.

Maybe eventually we should consider a translation of a totally different form more true to the overall meaning, like:
"il a cru pouvoir se laisser draguer, mais s'est finalement fait brutaliser, son magnétisme se révélant moins puissant qu'il l'imaginait"


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## Maître Capello

Rouleau said:


> "Se laisser draguer" would seem to translate as "let yourself flirt," rather than let yourself be flirted _with_.


You are mistaken: it means only the latter, not the former. (To mean the former, you would need to say something like, _Il s'autorisait à draguer_, possibly _Il se laissait *aller à* draguer_.)



Itisi said:


> It's simple, 'Il se laissait draguer' means 'he allowed himself to be hit on




That's the simplest and most idiomatic way to translate "allow oneself to be subject to something."


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## Rouleau

Maître Capello said:


> That's the simplest and most idiomatic way to translate "allow oneself to be subject to something."



Very well; I'll stick with this. If there is a thread where agency is discussed, by which I mean where the nuances of, for example, "se faire braquer," "se faire matraquer," etc., etc. [_any verb implying that one has become a victim of a crime or aggression_], I would appreciate a link. I'd like to clarify the difference if any between "se faire" and "se laisser." The example you and other posters give--"se laisser draguer"--seems to elide an additional verb, one of agency (agency specific to the French language), either "être" or "faire." I say specific to the French language because in English we do not say "I made myself killed," "I made myself robbed," "I made myself assaulted." ("Get" is synonymous but does not imply agency.)

Thanks to everyone.


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## Itisi

Se faire draguer = to be picked up
Se laisser draguer = to allow oneself to be picked up

Does this answer your question ?


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## Rouleau

Itisi, 
Thank you. Your explanation certainly makes this clearer. "Se laisser draguer" will have to conclude my question. Thanks again.


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## Maître Capello

*se faire* + infinitif = to get (oneself) + past participle

_Il s'est fait braquer_ = He got held up.
_Il s'est fait tuer_ = He got killed.
_Il s'est fait draguer_ = He got hit on.

*se laisser* + infinitif = to allow oneself + to-infinitive / to let oneself + infinitive

_Il s'est laissé draguer_ = He allowed himself to be hit on.
_Il s'est laissé convaincre_ = He let himself be convinced.
_Il s'est laissé mourir_ = He let himself die.

Sometimes both verbs are possible though:

_Il s'est laissé surprendre ~ Il s'est fait surprendre_ = He let himself be surprised ~ He got caught out.


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## Rouleau

*@ Maître Capello: *_Thank_ you. The lack of a preposition with « laisser » is unlike «faire » for English speakers, insofar as faire translates directly as get. Laisser on the other hand translates _much _more « wordy. » « I got robbed » uses no prepositional phrases; « I let myself get taken [fill in the blank—by a scam artist, by a hustler...] »: _this _clearly requires more, like, _language._ So the French way of expressing the latter elides a lot in conveying the meaning.

Thank you again.


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