# C'est n'importe quoi



## Welshie

Literally, "it's anything" ??

Hoping for a little more enlightenment if possible...thanks.


----------



## RobInAustin

"It does not matter what" or just "It doesn't matter" would be the closest in English I think. Literally it is "It is of no importance what/which."


----------



## 80s Queen

You can also say "It's whatever"


----------



## DDT

Welshie said:
			
		

> Literally, "it's anything" ??
> 
> Hoping for a little more enlightenment if possible...thanks.



Let me add you can also find "(c'est) n'importe *qui*" when referring to a person

DDT


----------



## la grive solitaire

Hi Welshie,

It seems to depend on the context in which it's said, but "N'importe quoi can also mean something like, "What's next?!" or "I guess anything goes!" I've most often heard it either said in exasperation, or as a response to someone who's exasperated:

"She not only came home last night at 3 a.m. but slammed the door, can you imagine?"

"Good grief--_n'importe quoi_!"

I'm sure others will have much better examples.


----------



## Agnès E.

Careful! 

Sometimes *n'importe quoi *is a derogatory term meaning: bullshit! (but much more politely, sorry, I don't know a better term) to someone else whose opinion is thought stupid/irrelevant/wrong, etc. It means: *[ce que tu dis], c'est n'importe quoi ! = [tu dis] n'importe quoi !*


----------



## Gil

Ça serait utile d'avoir des exemples d'emploi de "n'importe quoi" dans l'Hexagone...


----------



## Agnès E.

Bien sûr, Gil !

- Cesse donc de dire n'importe quoi !
- Comment ça, je dis n'importe quoi ? N'importe quoi ! _(et l'on hausse les épaules, les yeux au ciel)_


----------



## Jean-Michel Carrère

n'importe quoi ! 
( exprimant l'exaspération, ma désapprobation ) = what next ?
( exprimant la moquerie face à des propos jugés stupides ) = rubbish !


----------



## Kelly B

I'll shake my head and say it to myself once in a while when I realize I've said something completely wrong in French -- _what nonsense_ just came out of my mouth?!


----------



## Starcreator

It's garbage, nonsense, rubbish.


----------



## LV4-26

En verlan : _n'importe naouac_.


----------



## timpeac

LV4-26 said:
			
		

> En verlan : _n'importe naouac_.


 
How do you pronounce naouac - is it roughly like nawac?


----------



## LV4-26

timpeac said:
			
		

> How do you pronounce naouac - is it roughly like nawac?


Exactly....


----------



## JazzByChas

*



n'importe quoi is a derogatory term meaning: bullshit! (but much more politely, sorry, I don't know a better term) to someone else whose opinion is thought stupid/irrelevant/wrong, etc.
		
Click to expand...

*
Or. 
"That's ridiculous!"
"That is so stupid!"
"That is crazy!"
"That is totally wack" (see AAVE M.L.G.)


----------



## fabfab

> En verlan : _n'importe naouac_.


I'm overkeen on that one 

I wish to mention this famous one too: "C'est du grand n'importe quoi!"


----------



## JeanDeSponde

LV4-26 said:


> En verlan : _n'importe naouac_.


L'expression a commencé sa vie comme _importe naouac - _le "n" de "n'importe" devenant de "n" de "naouac" ...!


----------



## nb7

"Pau, c'est n'importe quoi."

Pau refers to the French basketball club, if I'm not mistaken one of the most famous clubs who aren't doing so well at the moment (last in the league).  How would I translate the "c'est n'importe quoi" though?  The best I can come up with is "Pau suck," but that doesn't really capture it, does it?


----------



## timpeac

nb7 said:


> "Pau, c'est n'importe quoi."
> 
> Pau refers to the French basketball club, if I'm not mistaken one of the most famous clubs who aren't doing so well at the moment (last in the league).  How would I translate the "c'est n'importe quoi" though?  The best I can come up with is "Pau suck," but that doesn't really capture it, does it?


How about "Pau are all over the place"? I don't know if you have the idiom in American English, but here "to be all over the place" means to be in disarray.


----------



## wildan1

timpeac said:


> How about "Pau are all over the place"? I don't know if you have the idiom in American English, but here "to be all over the place" means to be in disarray.


 
Yes, we do, except the verb would always be in the singular: 
_Pau suck*s*_ (whether you are talking about the town itself being awful, or commenting on its team)
_Pau* is* all over the place._ (referring to Pau's team)


----------



## xtrasystole

timpeac said:


> "to be all over the place" means to be in disarray


Can you say _'to be all over the streets'_ too? (that's about a joke I'm not sure I understood well in an old Marx Brothers film).


----------



## timpeac

xtrasystole said:


> Can you say _'to be all over the streets'_ too? (that's about a joke I'm not sure I understood well in an old Marx Brothers film).


No - and I don't get the joke either, I'm afraid!

You can say "to be all over the shop", though, with the same meaning (don't ask me why "shop" as opposed to anywhere else).


----------



## wildan1

timpeac said:


> No - and I don't get the joke either, I'm afraid!
> 
> You can say "to be all over the shop", though, with the same meaning (don't ask me why "shop" as opposed to anywhere else).


 
In AE we would say _someone is all over the *map*_


----------



## timpeac

wildan1 said:


> In AE we would say _someone is all over the *map*_


Ah, I knew we could find a BE-AE difference if we tried hard enough!


----------



## Fred_C

JeanDeSponde said:


> L'expression a commencé sa vie comme _importe naouac - _le "n" de "n'importe" devenant de "n" de "naouac" ...!


Je crois que ça a plutôt commencé comme "porte-nain ouac". (où porte-nain est l'envers de n'importe, et ouac l'envers de quoi.)
Ensuite nain-ouac est devenu "nawak".

Enfin, ce que j'en dis...


----------



## xtrasystole

Agnès E. said:


> ... someone else whose opinion is thought stupid/irrelevant/wrong, etc. It means: [ce que tu dis], c'est n'importe quoi ! = [tu dis] n'importe quoi !


Est-ce que 
_'Ne dis pas *n'importe quoi* !' _
n'est pas 
_'Don't say *any old thing* !'_
?​


----------



## wildan1

xtrasystole said:


> Est-ce que _'Ne dis pas *n'importe quoi* !' _n'est pas _'Don't say *any old thing* !' _?


Yes, if you were a polite older lady, or speaking to one!

Otherwise:

_Stop talking trash_
_Cut the crap!_
_Don't give me that line (of bullshit)_


----------



## xtrasystole

wildan1 said:


> _Stop talking trash_
> _Cut the crap!_
> _Don't give me that line (of bullshit)_




En moins fort, _'Don't talk nonsense'_ marche, n'est-ce pas ?


----------



## wildan1

xtrasystole said:


> En moins fort, _'Don't talk nonsense'_ marche, n'est-ce pas ?


 
Oui, tout à fait juste, et anodin, xtra !


----------



## mattdelm

Hi,

N'importe quoi can mean "thats a load of rubbish" and it can also mean "whatever".

Hope this helps.


----------



## shaloo

Wow... thats really enlightening to know so many variants of n'importe quoi!
Cheers!

And if I may add another dimension to the question, I'd like to know if it can be used as an equivalent to "de rien" colloquially,when somebody says "thanks" to you...

Like... 
A: Merci mille fois!
B: Ah, n'importe quoi!

Will it be practically possible to say that way?


----------



## timpeac

shaloo said:


> Wow... thats really enlightening to know so many variants of n'importe quoi!
> Cheers!
> 
> And if I may add another dimension to the question, I'd like to know if it can be used as an equivalent to "de rien" colloquially,when somebody says "thanks" to you...
> 
> Like...
> A: Merci mille fois!
> B: Ah, n'importe quoi!
> 
> Will it be practically possible to say that way?


Are you thinking of "il n'y a pas de quoi" ?


----------



## broglet

timpeac said:


> No - and I don't get the joke either, I'm afraid!
> 
> You can say "to be all over the shop", though, with the same meaning (don't ask me why "shop" as opposed to anywhere else).


 We also say "all over the show" (your quote by the way should read 'continent isolated' - otherwise it misses the point)


----------



## staticmouse

I overheard my kids the other day (little Brits but born and educated in France). 
She said: Mais c'est n'importe quoi !
He replied: Yes it it porte quoi !

I'd say that's vraiment n'importe quoi !!


----------



## tilt

Like Fred C, in verlan, I more often hear _portnawak _than anything else.


----------



## seadew

I quite like 'balderdash' when I can refrain from something more vulgar.


----------



## timpeac

seadew said:


> I quite like 'balderdash' when I can refrain from something more vulgar.


So you'd say "Pau is balderdash"?


----------



## wildan1

timpeac said:


> So you'd say "Pau is balderdash"?


 
I think seadew is being cute--no one has seriously used _balderdash _in AE in the last 100 years! You do hear it said as a way to be quaint--and of course it's the name of a game.


----------



## seadew

No, I would not say "Pau is balderdash". I think I'd say something like 'What a bunch of monkeys!" In fact, "Pau est n'importe quoi" doesn't seem to fit with the other more usual uses of n'importe quoi, in my experience.
Not trying to be cute or quaint with balderdash just trying to come up with alternatives. Because we don't say something everyday does not relegate it to the blacklist.


----------



## shaloo

timpeac said:


> Are you thinking of "il n'y a pas de quoi" ?


 
Spot on!! You're right timpeac... Its "il n'y a pas de quoi".. Merci


----------



## timpeac

shaloo said:


> Spot on!! You're right timpeac... Its "il n'y a pas de quoi".. Merci


Il n'y a pas de quoi !


----------

