# Balance ton porc !



## jontxuBCN

How would you say 'balance ton porc' in English ?

It's all in the news about Harvey Weinstein and this website and hashtag:
Balance Ton Porc
#BalanceTonPorc


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## atcheque

Bonjour,

Dictionary


> *balancer* _vtr familier_ (dénoncer)
> (_UK, slang_) grass up _vtr phrasal sep_
> (_US, slang_) rat out _vtr phrasal sep_
> (_slang_) snitch on _vi + prep_
> Son complice l'a balancé à la police.
> His accomplice grassed him up to the police.





> *porc* _nm figuré, péjoratif_ (personne mal élevée)
> (_figurative, pejorative_) pig, swine _n
> Note_: Pas de féminin.
> Ce mec m'a mis la main aux fesses : quel porc !
> That guy put his hand on my butt: what a pig!


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## jontxuBCN

Thanks, at first I thought it meant 'swing you pig' but that didn't sound right in the context. So I see it means 'don't keep quiet, i.e. report it, about sexual harassment'.

Thanks a lot.


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## Keith Bradford

As the title of a website, I guess "Spill the beans" might do it, or "Call him out".


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## Kecha

A number of journalists have tried different translations of it: "rat on your dirty old man"  (BBC news), "expose your pig" (the Guardian), "squeal on your pig" (the Guardian and CNN), "grass up your pig"...


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## Carcassonnaise

Squeal on your pig has to be the best, surely...


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## ostreologist

Carcassonnaise said:


> Squeal on your pig has to be the best, surely...


I think ’rat on your pig’ sounds quite apt! And funny!


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## Tandis_que

Porc n'est pas de tout un reference aux parties, alors?  Moi, j'aurais pensé, du context, que ca se traduit comme "keep it in your pants".


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## Kecha

While there are many colourful ways to qualify the nether regions, "porc" is not one of them to the best of my knowledge.
And if it was the case, "balance" would then seem to intimate to swing it around, rather than keep it in.


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## Pendrick Arrow

I think the closest slang/colloquial translation in English would be “to rat him out” or “to call him out”, especially for a guy’s crude behaviour towards women.

I prefer the formerly over the latter. However, there is a negative connotation to the person being called “a rat” when the onus should be squarely placed on “le porc” as it is clearly shown in the French expression.


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## Grop

Report your swein.


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## pointvirgule

For my part, I still think that _Squeal on your pig_ (quoted by Kecha, #5) is brilliant.


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## LART01

Tandis_que said:


> Porc n'est pas de tout un reference aux parties, alors?  Moi, j'aurais pensé, du context, que ca se traduit comme "keep it in your pants".



Bonsoir

Non pas du tout. _Se conduire comme un porc/ Etre un vrai avec les femmes = avoir un comportement inacceptable ( understatement)_


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## Language Hound

A little looser translation, but one I think could work:
_Expose the pig!_
N.B.  I would not use "your" here in place of "the."


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## tomy1

_balance ton porc _is the french equivalent of _me too _in the usa but instead of being first oriented towards the victim it is ment to denounce the agressor.
_balancer quelqu'un_ is the slang for _dénoncer quelqu'un _and _porc_ means a person acting as a pig (un cochon)


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## Language Hound

tomy1 said:


> _balance ton porc _is the french equivalent of _me too _in the usa but instead of being first oriented towards the victim it is ment to denounce the agressor...


If you add two hashtags and/or the word "movement," I would agree with you 100%.
_#balancetonporc is the French equivalent of #MeToo in the USA but, instead of primarily focusing on the victim, it is meant to denounce the aggressor._
 (Not sure if caps are used in the French hashtag)


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## wildan1

Keith Bradford said:


> "Call him out".


But that misses the important description of _ton porc_

Maybe _Call the letch out!
_
(The problem with_ pig _in English is that it often refers to gluttony more than sexual perversion.)


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## ForeverHis

Hi Wildan. Actually, we women often refer to men as pigs in the context of sexual harassment.


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## tomy1

In french also we have the two meanings _manger comme un cochon _(bad manners) et _se comporter comme un porc _(sexual behaviour toward women)
tomy1


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## wildan1

ForeverHis said:


> Hi Wildan. Actually, we women often refer to men as pigs in the context of sexual harassment.


Of course, but my point, as was also made by tomy1 above, is that French has two words that both translate into pig_--porc_ and _cochon_, and that disambiguates the meaning more clearly than calling someone a "pig", which can have two meanings. You can also use _"hog"_ for gluttony or avarice, but that still doesn't make _"pig"_ just as clear.


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## Pedro y La Torre

wildan1 said:


> But that misses the important description of _ton porc_
> 
> Maybe _Call the letch out!
> _
> (The problem with_ pig _in English is that it often refers to gluttony more than sexual perversion.)



Right. The English "pig" is not a good translation for "porc" in this context. A porc is an aggressive pervert/sexual assailant. Why not just use the English-language equivalent "Me Too"?


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## pointvirgule

wildan1 said:


> (The problem with_ pig _in English is that it often refers to gluttony more than sexual perversion.)


Apparently, these people in the media didn't get your memo:

Marriage Is Declining Because Men Are Pigs (_Mother Jones_)
Our sex-obsessed culture is turning men into pigs (_NY Post_)

As well as the women who coined the phrase _male chauvinist pig_.

Context makes it clear that _pig _is meant as "disgusting person" rather than "glutton."

Anyway.


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## Soleil_Couchant

I agree with ForeverHis and pointvirgule... I was thinking of the chauvinist thing, too. I obviously can't say what the nuance of "porc" is in French, but in English (in America anyway) "pig" is definitely commonly used to describe a chauvinist type of guy who just sees women as objects and lusts after them... that kind of thing. Like, he'd see a women and only ever look at her boobs, or commonly comments on female strangers' physical body parts... He'd get the reaction "what a pig"...type of thing. So if porc means an "aggressive pervert"...okay, I guess that's not exactly a "pig" in English, lol, but... close enough. I think of male pigs as crass, lusty, immature, only caring about the sexual aspect of women.


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## ForeverHis

Beautifully said Soleil Couchant! I've had reason to use that epithet many times in my life in order to call out an out-of-control lecher. 



pointvirgule said:


> Context makes it clear that _pig _is meant as "disgusting person" rather than "glutton."



Exactly! As we've all said before, context is everything.


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## Pedro y La Torre

The sexual perversion aspect in the English 'pig' doesn't pack the same punch as the French 'porc'. It can be used, obviously, but it's not ideal.


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## Blougouz

So basically:
Porc=pig
And 
Pork=(gros) cochon

?!
And depending on the context, either bad manners in eating or towards women?


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## Azarosa

“Squeal on your pig” (loosely translated).


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## janpol

En français il me semble que "porc" est le terme  le plus neutre pour désigner cet animal même s'il peut être riche de certaines connotations.
En argot, "balancer" signifie aussi "jeter", se débarrasser de"


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## wildan1

pointvirgule said:


> As well as the women who coined the phrase _male chauvinist pig_.


This now outdated expression was popular at the same time many people called the police _pigs_, too.

Hence my suggestion that while _"pig"_ can refer to someone with crude sexual behavior, but also to a glutton or, in the 1960s, a cop. Hence my suggestion of an alternative, unambiguous term like _letch_.


tomy1 said:


> _balance ton porc _is the french equivalent of _me too _in the usa but instead of being first oriented towards the victim it is ment to denounce the agressor.


Quite true. Two different cultures reacting to a similar social situation with different approaches and emphases.


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## Soleil_Couchant

But wildan1, I'm not sure about your insistence that "pig" can't (or ideally shouldn't) be used in this instance. While, yes, it can mean other things, apparently so can "porc." Both porc in French and pig in English have to do with men being gross letches, so what's the problem?


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## wildan1

No quibble that _pig_ can mean _letch_. But colloquially _pig _can mean several other things but _letch_ is only, well... _a lecherous person_.

That gives an unequivocal sense of the intended meaning to someone who doesn't have any other context.


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## Soleil_Couchant

True. And, in this case, there certainly is context.


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

I'm not sure "letch" is commonly used in the US, although it'd be understood. I too like "Squeal on the pig". Given the atmosphere since Weinstein _et al._, I'd think it's clear what kind of pig or _porc_ we're talking about - an "MCP".


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## Gérard Napalinex

As it's been mentioned earlier, "balance" also means "swing".
Now "balance ton corps" (swing your body) happens to be a pretty common sexual harrasment sentence.

"Balance ton porc" is hence a wonderful pun, as well as a powerful catchword.

Now I'm not saying this will make translation easier


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## ForeverHis

wildan1 said:


> No quibble that _pig_ can mean _letch_. But colloquially _pig _can mean several other things but _letch_ is only, well... _a lecherous person_.



There's a difference between a lecher and a pig, at least sometimes. 

According to Dictionary.com the definiton of "lecher" is: 
a man given to excessive sexual indulgence; a lascivious or licentious man. 

Now, a lecher is not necessarily an overt pig. A pig, in this context, is a man who crosses the line and engages in an overtly offensive sexual manner. A guy who likes to ogle women but isn't too creepy about it probably wouldn't be called out as a pig by many women. A lecherous guy who makes unwelcome sexual comments or advances is a pig. But an otherwise decent guy who momentarily loses self-control and kisses me on the mouth without permission would be neither a lecher or a pig in my opinion.

"Squeal on the pig" gets my vote.


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## Nicomon

I agree with pv, S_C, ain'tt and FH.   If I were to translate _letch / lecher _to French, it would be _vicieux / pervers_... not _porc_.

Add my vote to _Squeal on the pig. _I prefer_ the _even if the French says _your. _


> The rise, described as “exceptional” is believed to have been prompted by victims feeling empowered to come forward after the *#MeToo and #BalanceTonPorc
> (squeal on the pig)* campaigns on social media.


   Extrait de l'article  Dénonce ton cochon (je suis plus portée à dire « cochon » que « porc ») : 





> De manière on ne peut plus prévisible, le chœur des néo-cons(ervateurs) s’est déchaîné contre le hashtag «balancetonporc». _«Délation»_ dit Alain Finkielkraut, _«dégueulis»_ dit Christine Boutin, _«délathon»_ dit Elisabeth Lévy, etc. C’est un fait que l’intitulé de la rubrique Twitter n’est pas d’une extrême élégance. Que fallait-il dire ? «Cochon» ? Ce n’est guère plus flatteur. «Vieux dégueulasse» ? Mais il y en a de jeunes. «Violeur» ? Tous ne le sont pas, loin de là. «Gros beauf» ? Certains sont maigres. «Satyre» ? Encore faut-il connaître ce mot un peu désuet. Aux dires de l’auteure du hashtag, il s’agissait de provoquer une libération de la parole par un sarcasme volontairement vulgaire. Sur ce point, la réussite est totale. _«Harceleur»,_ plus clinique, aurait été moins efficace.


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## JClaudeK

> Aux dires de l’auteure du hashtag, il s’agissait de provoquer une libération de la parole par un sarcasme volontairement vulgaire.


C'est sans doute pour ça qu'elle n'a pas choisi "Dénonce ton cochon", beaucoup trop "soft".



Language Hound said:


> #balancetonporc is the French equivalent of #MeToo in the USA


Je ne dirais pas ça. Ce sont deux appels à agir contre le harcèlement sexuel consécutifs (en France en tout cas), n'ayant pas tout à fait les mêmes visées:

Après #BalanceTonPorc, # MeToo fait le tour du monde pour dénoncer le harcèlement sexuel 
_"Si toutes les femmes harcelées ou agressées sexuellement écrivaient “moi aussi” dans leur statut, on pourrait donner aux gens une idée de l’ampleur du problème" _a-t-elle publié sur Twitter.


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## Nicomon

JClaudeK said:


> C'est sans doute pour ça qu'elle n'a pas choisi "Dénonce ton cochon", beaucoup trop "soft".


  C'est bien ce que j'avais compris.

Mais je n'y peux rien si  « cochon » - que je ne trouve pas "soft" -  me vient plus naturellement que « porc » dans ce sens extrait du CNRTL sous B 2. b) : 





> Personne à la sensualité grossière. _Ce bon vivant, ce goinfre,* ce cochon *d'Anthelme_ (Bernanos, _Monsieur Ouine,_1943, p. 1358):
> 4. Avouez-le! ... Que c'est du nouveau qu'il vous faut! ... De la partouze! ... Pourquoi pas de la pucelle? Bande de dépravés! Bande de *cochons*! ...
> Céline, _Voyage au bout de la nuit,_1932, p. 609.
> − _Le cochon qui sommeille._ [P. allus. au vers attribué à l'écrivain Ch. Monselet (1825-1888). _Tout homme a dans son cœur *un cochon qui sommeille*_]
> Vice latent en tout homme


   Ou celui-ci, du Petit Robert : 





> Individu qui a le goût des obscénités. ➙ vicieux. _C'est un vieux cochon_.


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## wendyredredrobin

Unless I'm mistaken, nobody has mentioned the equivalent hashtag for English speakers: #MeToo where women (and some men), including me, flooded Twitter with their experiences of various levels of harassment from verbal remarks to serious sexual assault women-worldwide-use-hashtag-metoo-against-sexual-harassment


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## Nicomon

Actually, the  hahstag _#MeToo_ has been mentioned several times.  You may have missed/skipped  a few posts.  

But a translation to French would be :  _#MoiAussi.   _


> La vague du mot-clic #_MoiAussi_ — #_MeToo_ en anglais — a déferlé lundi partout dans le monde après que, dans la foulée de l'affaire Harvey Weinstein, l'actrice Alyssa Milano eut invité les femmes à dénoncer sur Twitter le harcèlement sexuel dont elles ont été victimes.
> 
> Avec son équivalent francophone #_MoiAussi_, le mouvement #_MeToo_ a aussi gagné le Québec. Le fondateur de Juste pour rire, Gilbert Rozon, l'animateur Éric Salvail et l'éditeur Michel Brûlé sont au nombre de ceux qui ont été dénoncés pour leurs agissements à caractère sexuel condamnables.


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## wendyredredrobin

Oops, I did skim through, I have to say, and I am capable of translating "me too" into French, believe it or not!


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## Nicomon

wendyredredrobin said:


> I am capable of translating "me too" into French, believe it or not!


  I never thought otherwise.I just meant to add - with sample sentences - that this exact French equivalent does exist, at least in Quebec.

Whereas  _balance ton porc_ seems to be mostly in France.


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## justAthought

the game’s up


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

Welcome to the forums, justAthought! I think, though, that "the game's up" may be too general.


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## Soleil_Couchant

Was "game's up" a spin on the new "time's up!" thing emerging in Hollywood lol? (about not allowing a system that permits sexual abusers or silences victims)


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## justAthought

Pedro y La Torre said:


> The sexual perversion aspect in the English 'pig' doesn't pack the same punch as the French 'porc'. It can be used, obviously, but it's not ideal.


9o7


ain'ttranslationfun? said:


> Welcome to the forums, justAthought! I think, though, that "the game's up" may be too general.


I agree also that in such situations Brave is A VERB


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

Come to think of it, though, an MCP can refer to a man who thinks that women are inferior. Although it is usually associated with thinking of women as sex objects, it can be said of a man who only speaks about or treats (non-physically) women in this way. It's when he harasses women that a "pig" is a molester. But that's the context in the hashtag and the particular aspect of sexual behavior that it addresses. 

By the way, speaking of political correctness, we thankfully have not yet seen "gender offender" and "gender crime" coined.


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## Pedro y La Torre

justAthought said:


> 9o7



What is this supposed to mean exactly?


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## janpol

Si nous tournons un peu en rond autour des termes porc,  pig, cochon, pork appelons-le "gros verrat"d'autant que, n'ayant pas été castré, celui-ci devrait être encore plus crédible.


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

_'_verrat' means 'hog', and 'hog' in EN is associated with greed, not sexual behavior. Maybe 'goret', to belittle the oinker? And "Expose the pig!" does relate to the fact that some of the men discussed expose their genitals to women.


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## JClaudeK

ain'ttranslationfun? said:


> Maybe 'goret', to belittle the oinker?


Le diminutif 'goret' ne convient pas du tout ici,  un '(petit) goret' est qc. d'inoffensif.
− _Au fig., fam._ Personne, en particulier enfant, malpropre.


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## Blougouz

"Squeal" sounds more like the scream of the pig you just cut the throat, and could refer to dark history (about torture of Black people by KKK...)
I personnally prefer:
_Rat your pig out!_


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## justAthought

Pedro y La Torre said:


> What is this supposed to mean exactly?


« balancetonporc » suggests  « ne pas avoir froid aux yeux » or
be brave. « The game’s over » on the other hand states a fact rather
than an action.

The translation should likely be a verb. Sorry for the anagram.


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## Blougouz

A NYT recent article from Jan12th translated it as:
"_The French equivalent to the #MeToo movement, known as #BalanceTonPorc (which translates as #ExposeYourPig), “has had consequences that I think are very profound,” she said."_
I still prefer "rat your pig out!" to avoid any risk of a misunderstood like in the posts #8 and#50!


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## Soleil_Couchant

I wonder if they read this thread  Expose Your Pig gets the point across, anyway...


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

"Keep It In Your Pants" would be addressed to the offenders, not to their victims.


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## Jaykew

I think "*Squeal on the pig*" is brilliant because of the double meaning of "squeal" (pig's cry + squeal on : rat out, snitch on).
Can't think of a better translation!


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## ForeverHis

I'm with you Jaykew! That's my choice too. 


Blougouz said:


> Rat your pig out!


Sorry that just sounds weird.


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## Hildy1

I agree with those who say "Squeal on your pig" is good. It is also the translation that I see in English-language newspaper articles.


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## Soleil_Couchant

I had to laugh ... I saw a newspaper in my grocery store (in France) and the headline literally spelled it "Me*e*Too" .... I almost took a picture because I was thinking of this thread. The title was something like "#MeeToo a liberé la parole des femmes" (or something, I tried to memorize it)...I might have found the article online but it's spelled correctly there. So, clearly a typo, but it made me think of this thread and those questions about whether/when to use the native English phrase or the French version, and vice versa...


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