# bisous



## Mateo34

*Moderator note: 
Several threads merged.*

VF
Bonjour,

J'aimerais savoir quelle est la meilleure façon de traduire "bisous" à la fin d'une lettre ou d'un email. En fait, je me demande si "kisses" peut s'utiliser entre simples amis dans les pays anglophones (USA en  l'occurrence), étant donné que justement ils ne s'embrassent pas. Peut-être quelque chose avec "hug" serait plus approprié?

Merci d'avance

EV
Hi,

I would like to know what is the best way to translate the French expression "bisous" that we often use at the end of a letter or an email. In France, we use "bisous" between males and females friends, between two females or sometimes between males (members of a family or really good friends - in that last case, it means that you want to be a bit funny).
So, if you're a male, would you say "kisses" in an email to a girl that you (only) met 2 or 3 times during parties (but that you appreciate)?

Thanks in advance

Mateo

- Please correct my English  -


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## sillybilly123

Non , ça ne va pas vraiment de dire 'kisses' ou 'hugs'. Il vaut mieux de dire 'Love, [Nom du personne]' ou 'xox' qui veut dire kisses et hugs mais c'est plus agréable.


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## Mateo34

sillybilly123 said:


> Non , ça ne va pas vraiment de dire 'kisses' ou 'hugs'. Il vaut mieux de dire 'Love, [Nom du personne]' ou 'xox' qui veut dire kisses et hugs mais c'est plus agréable.



OK, merci.
Donc si j'ai bien compris "xox" est un peu plus affectueux. Parfait! 

Je ne connaissais pas ce mot. Par curiosité, est-ce les initiales ou l'abréviation d'une expression (parce-que ça n'y est pas dans le dictionnaire)?


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## sillybilly123

Le 'x' veut dire 'kiss' et le 'o' veut dire 'hug'

J'ai aussi un question à propos de 'bisous' 

Je vais venir chez une famille en France et j'écris un lettre à eux. Est-ce que ça va d'écrire 'bisous' au fin, ou est-ce que c'est trop personelle et affectueux?

Merci.


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## MarcB

Mateo34 said:


> OK, merci.
> Donc si j'ai bien compris "xox" est un peu plus affectueux. Parfait!
> 
> Je ne connaissais pas ce mot. Par curiosité, est-ce les initiales ou l'abréviation d'une expression (parce-que ça n'y est pas dans le dictionnaire)?


vois ceci


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## Mateo34

Si tu les as déjà rencontrés avant, non.
Dans le cas contraire, cela dépend du nombre d'échanges par courrier/email/téléphone/chat que vous avez eus, mais en général, je te conseillerais de réserver "bisous" aux personnes que tu as déjà rencontrées.

PS: veux-tu que je corrige les quelques rares fautes que tu as faites?


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## lola brown

hi! so i received an email from a french guy signed with "bisous" and another email signed "gros baisers". are these just similar words for "kisses" in a friendly way??


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## Helianthus

yes it is similar to kisses and just friendly


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## gribouille

*bisou *s'emploi plutot en general pour les enfants ou entre amoureux.
Ca peut donc etre interpreter de plusieurs manieres (just friendly ... or not).


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## lola brown

thanks but i dont speak french gribouille?? what did you say? what could i write back to him that was perhaps a bit flirtatious but still friendly??


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## gribouille

I said *bisou *is usualy for kids or between lovers, so that it can be interpretated in many ways ...


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## bigbird

I'm finishing off an email to a female friend of mine who is newly married and whom I'm terribly fond of. 

Is 'Bisous, bisous' un peu de trop? Or is it even used at all?

Merci en avance.


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## bellygroove99

If you want to say something stronger than Bisous you can say Gros bisous.


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## Fishingcap

If you know each other very well Bisous bisous would be fine, but still i would go just for one Bisous.

Otherwise just write BIZ ( and then she will decide to translate it as Bise ou Bisous)


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## Franglais1969

I use *bisous *and *gros bisous *all the time; although I have never seen bisous, bisous.


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## bigbird

Thank you all for the advice!


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## lalih

when a new friend signs off "bisous one love"...what does that mean? i am so lost! thanks


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## Stumpy457

Bisou=kiss, but it's a childish way of saying it.

http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/bisou

So, your friend is saying something along the lines of 'xoxo', basically !


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## nexia

"bisou" means "a little kiss on the cheek"... 

but "bisous one love", never saw that...


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## akaAJ

I don't have a problem with "bisous", which is not particularly childish, even when used with children.  It is frequently used in a familiar, friendly way, without romantic connotations.  What a new friend (youtube, etc ???) means with "one love" I can only guess: [You are my] one [and only] love ????


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## lalih

thank you so much your prompt help. much appreciated. im learning much from this exciting forum


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## Pedro y La Torre

Stumpy457 said:


> Bisou=kiss, but it's a childish way of saying it.



I don't know about that, I know 50 year old women who write bisous at the end of their emails to their friends so I don't think you can call it childish.


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## Stumpy457

Well, Wiktionary said it, so I figured...also, things can be childish but still used by older people...but. The definition is right, and that's what matters! XD


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## Eric75

Pedro y La Torre said:


> I don't know about that, I know 50 year old women who write bisous at the end of their emails to their friends so I don't think you can call it childish.


I agree with Stumpy, it's a bit childish, but it is still widely used between people who are friends, feeling something for each other.
For instance, when meeting a woman for the first time at a party, I (or she) would never say " On se fait un bisou ? " (which would convey some ambiguity, because it implies a feeling), but rather " On se fait la bise ? " (just a way to say hello to someone).

Be careful: attitude towards kissing somebody hello/goodbye differs deeply from one reagion to another in France. People do kiss each other a lot in the South of France.


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## akaAJ

I would never say either " On se fait un bisou ? "or " On se fait la bise ? " to a woman I met for the first time, but if I were introduced to a woman who clearly had an intimate relationship with a friend, whom my wife and I had each embraced, I might well exchange between two and four bisous with her [as has happened in Paris].  The custom is not just regional, but reflects different _mores_ in different milieux.


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## Jocaste

Eric75 said:


> Stumpy457 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well, Wiktionary said it, so I figured...also, things can be childish but still used by older people...but. The definition is right, and that's what matters! XD
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I agree with Stumpy, it's a bit childish, but it is still widely used between people who are friends, feeling something for each other.
Click to expand...

 
Well, I disagree with both of you. "_Bisous_" is not childish but colloquial for me. Everyone uses it (young and old people). It sounds more friendly but certainly not childish.



Eric75 said:


> For instance, when meeting a woman for the first time at a party, I (or she) would never say " On se fait un bisou ? " (which would convey some ambiguity, because it implies a feeling), but rather " On se fait la bise ? " (just a way to say hello to someone).
> 
> Be careful: attitude towards kissing somebody hello/goodbye differs deeply from one reagion to another in France. People do kiss each other a lot in the South of France.


 
Chez moi, on dit (même avec des gens du boulot etc) à qui on fait la bise pour la première fois : "_combien on fait de bisous chez vous ?_". Et au travail, le cadre est relativement formel.


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## Eric75

Jocaste said:


> Chez moi, on dit (même avec des gens du boulot etc) à qui on fait la bise pour la première fois : "_combien on fait de bisous chez vous ?_". Et au travail, le cadre est relativement formel.



Question de génération ou de milieu, sans doute, comme le dit akaAJ, en plus des particularités régionales...

Mais dis-moi, si on se rencontre dans une soirée, si on hésite à se serrer la main ou à s'embrasser, est-ce que tu me dirais " on se fait un bisou ? " ?
Pour ma part, je dirais " on se fait la bise ? "


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## Jocaste

Eric75 said:


> Question de génération ou de milieu, sans doute, comme le dit akaAJ, en plus des particularités régionales...



Génération ... encore une fois, comme je l'ai déjà écrit, dans mon département, les jeunes et *les plus âgés* l'utilisent. Quant au milieu concerné, il faut arrêter de tout stigmatiser. 

Pour en revenir au sujet, tu as écrit "_a bit __childish_". Je viens de vérifier dans plusieurs dictionnaires et tous écrivent "_plutôt familier_", sans limite d'âge (ni de milieu).


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## Pedro y La Torre

Eric75 said:


> I agree with Stumpy, it's a bit childish, but it is still widely used between people who are friends, feeling something for each other.
> For instance, when meeting a woman for the first time at a party, I (or she) would never say " On se fait un bisou ? " (which would convey some ambiguity, because it implies a feeling), but rather " On se fait la bise ? " (just a way to say hello to someone).



Indeed, but I said it was used among friends, both young and old, nothing more. 

I can't agree that it's "a bit childish", at least not in the south. Maybe it's seen as being so in certain areas of Paris, but Paris isn't France.


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## OLN

_Bisou_ est dans ma région aussi plutôt synonyme de _petit_ baiser et réservé à des intimes ou des enfants. 
C'est pour sûr peu viril — et «on se fait des bisous» ne peut pas y remplacer «on s'embrasse».


*Bisous. One love. *: référence à Bob Marley ?


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## xaipete

I figured out "bisous" when my Burkinabè friend signed off that way, and decided it was not romantic, since he has adopted me as his mother (no. 10)!  But I have wondered since then: does the non-romantic use of "bisous" correspond to the non-romantic kisses on both cheeks that seem standard in Burkina Faso (and, I am told, in France)?  In Wisconsin people would never greet acquaintances by kissing them on the cheeks, even air-kissing.  Nor would they sign an e-mail "love" or "xox" or "hugs & kisses".


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## akaAJ

Yes, they do, xaipete.  I'd never sign an email "hugs and kisses" to anyone but my immediate family, but since my friends and family span Europe and South America, I'd never hesitate to greet a close male friend with an "abrazo" (a really tight hug), or American friends with similar experience with a couple of bisous.


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## lalih

this website continues to amaze me...so many helpful and knowledgeable people. ONL's post 26July "_Bisous.One Love" (Bob Marley?)_ This reference to marley has given me a good inkling to my original post. many thanks


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## david.watty

For any anglophones out there thinking "bisous" sounds too familiar or even flirtatious: dont forget that kissing is the normal greeting in france!


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## Calikid

Here is my question.  My Girlfriend is from France and when she speaks to her male friends she will end the conversation or sometimes emails with Bisous.  Is this a common practice for a female and male friend?


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## SunnyS

Yes, it's common. It's a friendly, affectionate way of signing off. It does not imply they are having a personal relationship. She might write the same thing to her good female friends too, as well as family members.


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## coursic

I confirm. 
and I will not sign this off with "bisous" since I do not know you ...


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## Calikid

I would like to thank you both for your reply


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## Maurice92

Calikid said:


> Is this a common practice for a female and male friend?


  To me, a "bisou" is a kiss on the cheek.


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## John McCloud

A bit less informal would be "Bises". But "bisous" is more familiar and more affectionate. You can also say "Je te fais des bisous" which might indicate a more personal relationship.


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## Logorrhoeic

Would it be less appropriate for males to this expression to each other?


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## John McCloud

Actually, "bisous" is more something that you say at the end of a phone conversation or write at the end of an email. You can also say "Je t'embrasse". It really means "goodbye". In real life, you would kiss the person on the cheek. 
With my male friends here in France, we do give each other a kiss on the cheek or a hug to say goodbye. (We are all in our fifties, but I've often seen younger people doing it too.)
But we wouldn't say "bisous" to a male friend on the phone - that would be more appropriate for gay people. We simply say "salut", "tchao" or "à pluss !" (meaning "à plus tard"). But we would definitely say "bisous" to a woman friend and accept that she says "bisous" to a male friend at the end of a phone call. Same for an email.


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## Moojemoose

does it change the meaning if the writer (native french speaker) writes it with many uuuuuus, like bisouuuuus?  Would that make it more friendly or more romantic?


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## franc 91

no you'd just say plein, plein de bisous (you could add partout but that really would be intime) - en fait Bienvenu au Forum


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## Moojemoose

thanks for the prompt response!


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## John McCloud

Bisouuuuuuuuuus means you are friendlier, closer to the person you write to. It means you really like the person (or love him or her). So it would be only for a close friend or a lover. Yes, franc 91, "bisous partout" would mean you are really intimate enough to be allowed to kiss the person everywhere...


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