# random (person)



## harrypotterfreak

How do you say 'random' in french if you are talking about a peron. For example: Harry Potter Freak is very random. 

HARRY POTTER FREAK WAS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## orlando09

Do you mean in the sense of "eccentric" - maybe eccentrique, bizarre, farfelu, original


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## wildan1

You would have to provide a true context about what you wanted to describe, HPF--_random_, as you are using it, doesn't really mean much of anything in English.


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## harrypotterfreak

By random I'm describing a person..an adjective. Random meaning someone who brings up things that dont really relate to anything being said by others...you know what i mean?


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## JeanDeSponde

harrypotterfreak said:


> By random I'm describing a person..an adjective. Random meaning someone who brings up things that dont really relate to anything being said by others...you know what i mean?


You mean, you're being random?... I'm lost...


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## litchi

"ce que dit HPF n'a ni queue ni tête", maybe ?


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## harrypotterfreak

I meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeean how would you say random in french. Random as in an adjective describing a person.


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## Gil

une personne aux interventions stochastiques...


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## wildan1

_il raconte/dit/fait n'importe quoi_


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## harrypotterfreak

but is those adjectives??? LOL...this is so funny. Would "aléatoire" or "aveugle" work????????/ Thank you for all your replies by the way.


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## litchi

You know HPF, sometimes, English adjectives can't be translated by French adjectives; translation is not only switching a word for a word...


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## litchi

"il est tout le temps à côté de ses pompes" is maybe a possibility.


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## Gil

Which one of those "random persons" do you mean?


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## JeanDeSponde

HPF, if we search in a dictionary, we just find _random = aléatoire (unpredictable).
_If you are referring to another meaning, please explain_.
_"Random as in an adjective describing a person" does not describe what _random_ means for you!


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## Gil

JeanDeSponde said:


> HPF, if we search in a dictionary, we just find _random = aléatoire (unpredictable).
> _If you are referring to another meaning, please explain_.
> _"Random as in an adjective describing a person" does not describe what _random_ means for you!


Peut-être "qu'imprévisible" ferait l'affaire?


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## harrypotterfreak

ok i am so confused...LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. I was just wondering if "aléatoire" or aveugle" would work. Thank you everyone!!!!!!!!!!


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## Outsider

harrypotterfreak said:


> Random meaning someone who brings up things that dont really relate to anything being said by others...you know what i mean?


I can't say that I do.

Do you mean:

- an idiot?
- a clueless person?
- a person who rambles?
- a person in some sort of trance?
- a genius?

Please explain.


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## litchi

harrypotterfreak said:


> ok i am so confused...LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. I was just wondering if "aléatoire" or aveugle" would work. Thank you everyone!!!!!!!!!!


 
It's not working, that's for sure but we can't help you more if you don't answer our questions...


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## JeanDeSponde

HarryPotterFreak, let me take an example
If I were to ask you, is a _random person = quelqu'un de barge_, would you agree?...
Hopefully, your answer would be "hey, what does _barge_ mean?... I don't have it in my dictionary as an adjective for a person!"


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## Cath.S.

Pretty... random suggestions!

Polite:
il est _déconnecté_
ruder:
il _déconne / il est complètement schizo._


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## harrypotterfreak

Ok i feel like such an idiot....

Litchi, im sorry im not answering your questions. Its just that im getting so confused!

Jeandesponde: hey, what does _barge_ mean?... I don't have it in my dictionary as an adjective for a person! haha. No really, what does it mean...

And finally eguele, deconnecté sounds like a good one but it also sounds like it means something like 'stupid'..does it not??? Thanks though!

Wow, grade 10 french is way harder than i thought!!!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP. SORRY IF I GAVE YOU A HARD TIME..HAHA....THANKS!!1


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## Tresley

I'm in the UK, and 'random' seems to have a new meaning these days for British teenagers. Both my daughters use this word in a way that I would not. It's a word that is in vogue with teenagers over here at the moment. My daughters say things like:

'This random person came up to me and said ...' (I think that it means 'a strange person', but I'm not sure! It could just mean 'someone')

'My friend came out with a random phrase and said ...' (I think that this means a phrase that is unrelated to what was previously being talked about or 'a strange' phrase)

'How random was that'! (I think this means 'how strange' or 'what a coincidence')

I have just phoned one of my daughters to check what I have written here, and she agrees that my explanations seem to fit. She said that it's just a word to mean 'odd', 'strange' or 'unexpected'.

British youth has changed the meaning of the word 'random', just like they have changed the meaning of the word 'wicked'!

By the way, in the UK, 'wicked' now means 'great', fantastic', 'wonderful'.

I hope this helps and that HarryPotterFreak agrees with what I have written.


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## Cath.S.

> And finally eguele, deconnecté sounds like a good one but it also sounds like it means something like 'stupid'..does it not??? Thanks though!


No, it doesn't mean stupid at all, simply not in touch with reality or practical matters.



> By the way, in the UK, 'wicked' now means 'great', fantastic', 'wonderful'.


It already did 20 years ago...


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## Tresley

egueule said:


> It already did 20 years ago...


 
Yes, I know, I just wrote that as an example of how words change meaning! LOL!

You are wicked!!!!


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## catay

> I'm in the UK, and 'random' seems to have a new meaning these days for British teenagers. Both my daughters use this word in a way that I would not. It's a word that is in vogue with teenagers over here at the moment......


 
A great explanation in post #22, Tresley. And "random" is currently used by young people in just this way over here, too. A few more expressions used by my teen-ager and her friends, similar to those you have given.

"She's just so random" (she expresses herself in a goofy, sometimes funny way)
"How random can you get" (Wasn't that weird?)


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## orlando09

As you can see from Wildan's link to the Urban Dictionary, some people tend to use "random"i n quite a _random _sort of way... so if you (HPF) mean a person who says unexpected things, not very related to what was said before in the conversation, some of the suggestions, like posts 6,9,12, 15, 20 might do the job. There's not always a precise translation for everything, ie one adjective for one adjective. I don;t think aléatoire can describe a person, and I don;t see what "aveugle" (blind) has to do with it (ah - I guess it refers to picking something from a choice without thinking - making a random selection - which aléatoire could be used for too). You also need to ideally think of a word that is at the same level of formality/informality or slanginess etc, so I'm not sure about GIl's "interventions stochastiques" - I can't imagine the typical teenager using that


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## Gil

orlando09 said:


> so I'm not sure about GIl's "interventions stochastiques" - I can't imagine the typical teenager using that


Neither can I


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## Avignonaddict

HPF

I can't really add anything to the definitions given, and particularly agree with Tresley. However can I suggest that when you are struggling to express an idea in a foreign language, you think as widely as possible in your native language. In other words, find all the synonyms you can for 'random' in your context, then try searching, and asking on this forum, for those. As Litchi says, translation is not as straightforward as substituting one word for a direct equivalent in your target language. If you need proof, try taking a section of French text from one of your Grade 10 school books, and getting Babelfish or one of the other translation engines to translate it into English. In almost all cases (except the simplest, shortest text) you will get back ungrammatical, or meaningless English. People are always better at languages than machines, because we appreciate context and nuance.

Good luck


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## orlando09

or even better - translate it from one langauge to the other and then back again, and see what you get


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## harrypotterfreak

Thank you all very much for your help. I am using imprévisible and alléatoire. THANK YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## lfeb

The problem is that the word random is not used to describe a person in English--not in the sense you're trying for.  If one were to say a random person, that would mean any person/no specific person.  Like pointing at a name in a phonebook.


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## pumpkin

If you say je suis une fille alléatoire, you sound like a statistic.  Je suis excentrique makes much more sense.
I am a Spanish and French teacher and it is nearly impossible to convince students that translating word-for-word doesn't work!!!


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## Nicklondon

[…]
I like litchi's suggestion in that it does describe a rather zany and unpredictable person. However, what others have also suggested should help you decide.


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## LV4-26

[…]

I think I would say 
_HPF est très space._

...at least for those who don't find it intolerable to translate an English word to another English word.


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