# L'ordinateur déconne



## vegangirl

J'ai traduit cette phrase en anglais. Vous pouvez corriger les fautes s'il vous plaît ?

phrase : L'ordi de Coleman il déconne.
traduction : Coleman's comp is fucked up.


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## Thomas1

vegangirl said:


> J'ai traduit cette phrase en anglais. Vous pouvez corriger les fautes s'il vous plaît ?
> 
> phrase : L'ordi de Coleman il déconne.
> traduction : Coleman's comp is fucked up.


Je ne pense pas qu'on utilise ce mot ici. Il est (très) vulgaire (à moins que décoler soit ainsi utilisé en français). Ma suggestion :
Coleman's computer is acting up.

Tom


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## david314

Thomas1 said:


> Je ne pense pas qu'on utilise ce mot ici. Il est (très) vulgaire (à moins que décoler soit ainsi utilisé en français). Ma suggestion :
> 
> 
> 
> Coleman's computer is *acting up*.
> 
> 
> 
> Tom
Click to expand...

 *... is on the blink .* -selon Merriam-Webster's F.E.


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## fabfab

vegangirl said:


> J'ai traduit cette phrase en anglais. Vous pouvez corriger les fautes s'il vous plaît ?
> 
> phrase : L'ordi de Coleman il déconne.
> traduction : Coleman's comp is fucked up.



Would French learners please note that the grammaticaly correct full sentence is

L'ordi(nateur) de Coleman  il déconne.


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## wildan1

_Coleman's computer/laptop is *messing up*._


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## Valse

fabfab said:


> Would French learners please note that the grammaticaly correct full sentence is
> 
> L'ordi(nateur) de Coleman  il déconne.



Although I'm not native, I had the impression that something like "L'ordi de Coleman, il déconne" would be pretty normal in spoken French. Maybe it depends on a person's sociolect, but I wouldn't say it's grammatically incorrect.


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## Oddmania

Valse said:


> Although I'm not native, I had the impression that something like "L'ordi de Coleman, il déconne" would be pretty normal in spoken French. Maybe it depends on a person's sociolect, but I wouldn't say it's grammatically incorrect.



Absolutely, it's extremely common in spoken French to mention a thing and then unnecessarily repeat it with the pronoun. Regarding the translation, I think I've heard _"It's acting up"._


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## Itisi

Valse said:


> I wouldn't say it's grammatically incorrect.


 I would.


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## Franglais1969

Autre suggestion: "playing up."


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## jamesk65

his computer's doing weird stuff / his computer is doing some weird shit (If you want to be more vulgar)


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## Itisi

WR Dictionary:

colloquialbe on the blink _vi_ Eh merde, l'ordinateur déconne encore ! My computer is on the f….. blink again


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## pointvirgule

I quite like _acting up_ as suggested earlier because _déconner_, although colloquial, is not nearly as vulgar as the F word.

Q1. – About the nuance carried by _on the blink_: does it mean that it's completely out of order (which _déconner _doesn't imply: il faut quand même fonctionner un peu pour pouvoir déconner...), or does it mean that it's just not functioning as well as it should?

Q2. – If I were in the UK and said, _my computer is all bullocksed up_, would I sound like a native?


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## Suehil

Q2.  Only if you said it with a Cockney accent.


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## pointvirgule

Suehil said:


> Q2.  Only if you said it with a Cockney accent.


Right, gov.


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## Itisi

pointvirgule said:


> il faut quand même fonctionner un peu pour pouvoir déconner...


 En effet!  'My computer is screwing up' ? I think 'acting up' is not colloquial enough!


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## loquor

pointvirgule said:


> Q1. – About the nuance carried by _on the blink_: does it mean that it's completely out of order (which _déconner _doesn't imply: il faut quand même fonctionner un peu pour pouvoir déconner...), or does it mean that it's just not functioning as well as it should?



"on the blink" I would say means sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't - at given any time you don't know if what you're doing will go through or not.


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## pointvirgule

loquor said:


> "on the blink" I would say means sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't - at given any time you don't know if what you're doing will go through or not.


OK, so it would work here. 
Welcome to WR, loquor. 


Itisi said:


> [...]  'My computer is screwing up' ? I think 'acting up' is not colloquial enough!


Yes, it's true that _acting up_ is probably not a perfect match, register-wise.


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## Nicomon

Lu sur Google : 





> If you have an appliance that is *acting up *or *on the blink *our certified technicians are here and ready to help.


 Là, faudrait trouver autre chose que «_ déconner_ » pour traduire l'une des deux expressions. 

Il serait un peu curieux de dire « _Si l'un de vos appareils déconne ou déconne _». 

I agree that register-wise_, acting up _may be closer to _fait des siennes _than _déconne. 
_However _- _and I can't, for the life of me, explain why - I somehow prefer it to "_screwing up". _

_My computer is playing stupid with me? / is acting weird ? / has a mind of its own? _Non... ce n'est toujours pas ça.

*Edit* : I think that the reason why m_y computer is screwing up_, bothers me, is that I've heard/read it the other way around. 
E.g. : _This (patch, new xyz...) is screwing up my computer_. Am I making any sense here?


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## wildan1

Hello Nicomon,

Along with _acting up, messing up, screwing up_, (all three mean the same thing but the last two are closer in register to _déconner_), I do like your suggestion of _My computer is acting weird. _ 

(The other two, not so much).


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## david314

You may also wish to consider this old classic (expression):  _to be *on* *the fritz 

*_


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## Nicomon

Thanks Wildan.  
(I wasn't sure at all about - especially - the other two suggestions). 

And I think I prefer _messing up_ to _screwing up  _(although I think the argument I added in Edit in post # 19 holds there as well - e.g. : Windows 7 update is messing up my computer).
It souds like a happy middle to me, as I don't find _déconner_ that strong. Just my francophone opinion.

*Edit *:   If  I heard "on the blink/fritz"... I'd think that the machine isn't working at all, or very close to die.

It seems from this page that it can be understood two ways, i.e.  not working correctly/the usual way *or*  not working at all.


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## Itisi

Would one say, 'my computer is messing up'?  (Incidentally, the WR Dictionary has 'déconner' for 'to mess up'.)


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## jamesk65

As a native British English speaker I still think "my computer's doing some weird shit" is closest in register and sense to the French and is milder than "screwing/fucking" yet not as mild as "on the blink" or "playing up".  You could also humoristically give your computer some living characteristics "my computer has (taken on) a will of it's own" but then its no longer slang/colloquial.  I'm with wildan, "my computer is acting weird".


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## loquor

pointvirgule said:


> Welcome to WR, loquor.


Thanks!

Re: "acting up", it is a little colloquial, in the sense of I wouldn't write it in a formal paper, and you wouldn't see it in a computer manual (unless it was a really informal one), but it is less casual/more "appropriate" than "screwing up", which, for instance, some people wouldn't say in front of small children.


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## Nicomon

Itisi said:


> Would one say, 'my computer is messing up'? (Incidentally, the WR Dictionary has 'déconner' for 'to mess up'.)


 There are several thousands Google results for this specifc sentence, but it seems that many are followed by something.  My computer is messing up my/with...



jamesk65 said:


> [...] You could also humoristically give your computer some living characteristics "my computer has (taken on) a will of it's own" but then its no longer slang/colloquial. I'm with wildan, "my computer is acting weird".


 Thank you james. Now I know it's "will", not "mind". And thank you for adding your vote to "my computer is acting weird".


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## loquor

Nicomon said:


> Now I know it's "will", not "mind".


You would indeed say "taken on a will of it's own" but you can also say "[my computer] has a mind of it's own" for it doing things without you asking it to.


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## Itisi

loquor said:


> You would indeed say "taken on a will of it's own" but you can also say "[my computer] has a mind of it's own" for it doing things without you asking it to.


Yes, you can say 'a will of its own' or ' a mind of its own'.


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## loquor

Oh my god, sorry. I know better than that!


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## Nicomon

loquor said:


> Oh my god, sorry. I know better than that!


 It's a common mistake.  
Because the sound is the same, people (that includes me) tend to mistakenly write the contraction _it's _when they mean the possessive pronoun _its. 

_And thank you for confirming - though may be not to translate « déconne » - that "_*mind* of its own_" can be said as well.


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## jamesk65

I suggested "*will* of it's own" rather than "mind of it's own"  because its funnier to think of a computer being *willfully*/deliberately perverse and uncooperative.


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## Itisi

Nicomon said:


> It's a common mistake.


 Very common (hint-hint)!


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## Nicomon

Itisi said:


> Very common (hint-hint)!


 Well, I did write (that includes me).    I corrected it.


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## Mr Swann

I was about to open à new thread calles " *mon téléphone déconne* " but i round here all the answers !!!!

But sometimes it's hard top stick tout thé native meaning ....


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## Itisi

Two and a half years later, I would like to add that 'conneries' and 'déconner' have become part of everyday vocabulary, I mean it doesn't seem to be considered vulgar any more! (But vulgarity isn't considered vulgar any more...)

And while I'm at it, l agree with NIco that 'on the blink' means about to die.


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## Phil512

Hi,
While many of those suggestions are excellent, I simply say : "my computer is going wild".


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## Itisi

Phil512 said:


> "my computer is going wild".


That sounds like 'Mon ordinateur s'emballe'.


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## Cath.S.

jamesk65 said:


> his computer's *doing weird stuff* / his computer is *doing some weird shit* (If you want to be more vulgar)


These get my vote.


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## Phil512

Itisi said:


> That sounds like 'Mon ordinateur s'emballe


It does, indeed ! This was just my usual way of putting things, right or wrong.
But if I had to justify it, I would say : to go wild = (also) to go out off control = to act in its own way, not obeying my instructions = *to do weird things *(which can include "s'emballer")
So, maybe "to go wild" is not only "s'emballer" (no critique, it is correct !) but also "déconner".


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## Itisi

Another possiblity: Doing its own thing


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## Oddmania

I think I remember hearing "My computer's jacked up" once or twice, but that's probably more American English.


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