Jul 12, 2008 01:09
15 yrs ago
1 viewer *
French term

Laisse tomber, c'est mort !!!

Non-PRO French to English Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings Langage courant
J'entends cette expression tous les jours et toute la journée avec mes enfants et leurs copains. Ca commence à m'énerver, car toutes les phrases contiennent "laisse tomber", même si la situation est joyeuse.
Exemple : "j'ai acheté des super chaussures, laisse tomber, elles sont trop bien, j'adore !!!".
"Mais j'avais pas assez d'argent pour acheter un ticket de train pour voir mon pote, là c'est mort"...

Et aussi "on est allé à une soirée, c'était trop de la looz"...

Ca, c'est le jargon des jeunes et j'aimerais bien savoir comment on dit ça en anglais. Car ça m'arrive de leur parler dans la langue de Shakespeare, et là, ce charmant homme ferait des bonds dans sa tombe.....

Vive la jeunesse !

Merci si vous avez des idées. Ce serait marrant pour moi.
Change log

Jul 12, 2008 08:10: Tony M changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"

Discussion

Martin Cassell Jul 12, 2008:
Safe! Laters, yeah?
Catherine CHAUVIN (asker) Jul 12, 2008:
Merci o-ci à Martin, koa et en fait o-ci à Juan, ki mon bi1 fé marrer, laisse tomber ! C-té trop de la kief, trop grave, koa !
Bon week les potes, C-rieux !... :))
Martin Cassell Jul 12, 2008:
and my 18-y.o. recommends http://www.urbandictionary.com/
Martin Cassell Jul 12, 2008:
Required reading for all contributors to this question: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-458937/Thats-phat-br...
Juan Jacob Jul 12, 2008:
Marrant, en effet.
Genre: "Du coup", "Arrête !", "T'inquiète !", "Mortel !", "À l'arrache !"
Faut s'y faire ! J'essaie d'en placer parfois avec les gosses, mais ils me regardent un peu de travers ! ("Le vieux schnock", pensent-ils certainement !)

Proposed translations

+4
8 hrs
Selected

like, innit

This seems to be pretty much urban slang, and fairly meaningless.

Some people pepper their speech with "like": "I got these gorgeous shoes, like, and ..."

"Innit" is often tagged on to the end of a sentence or phrase

For a sort of explanation, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/yourvoice/conversation3.shtml
Peer comment(s):

agree Tony M : Excellent, like! Am I bovver'd?
4 mins
thanks Tony :))
agree Martin Cassell : yeah, cool, naameen?
15 mins
thanks Martin, more for the list!
agree Assimina Vavoula
1 hr
thanks Assimina!
agree Harald Moelzer (medical-translator)
3 hrs
thanks Harald!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Génial ! J'ai bien rigolé avec toutes les réponses des collègues aussi. Ta version explique bien le "nonsense" de la phrase. (Meaningless). Je ne peux pas l'entrer dans le glossaire like, car ma question était trop particulière, innit ? Ce serait trop de la looz. En fait, ce serait mort, quoi ! :-) Merci trop, koa !"
4 hrs

drop it, it's dead!

we do say drop it in English, not sure if it's the same context though.
Note from asker:
Merci, c'était une bonne idée.
Peer comment(s):

neutral markworthy : asker probably knows that
2 hrs
neutral Martin Cassell : asker clearly requested idiomatic equivalents (not literal) -- I haven't heard, and can't imagine, this being said except in a completely literal context
3 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
7 hrs

too bad / tough / (need I say more)

Catherine, I think that there are probably not exactly parallel 'yoofspeek' expressions that would fit in all cases; you can really only translate on a case-by-case basis, in the individual situations. The informal, highly dynamic language of young people is by jnature pretty unstructured, and I think we would be naïve if we thought any kind of real one-to-one equivalence existed in most cases, at least. What I think is funny is the way young people pick up on EN words from songs, films, etc., and then adapt them to suit their own needs — just as I do when short of a word in FR that has just the right tone for what I need to express on the spur of the moment. I have had great success with my invented verb 'pinguer', meaning 'to pop it in the microwave'!

In the case of 'laisse tomber', the way I hear it being used all the time by my young friends, in the negative sense at least, I think expressions along the lines of 'too bad', 'tought', etc. need to be carefully selected for the context.

I've not actually encountered it used very much in a positive sense, more neutral, really, but only in the sense of 'need I say more?' — although off course I'm not seriously suggesting that as being the equivalent 'djeunz' register!

Regarding 'looz', and the verb 'loozer', this is apparently derived from the EN noun 'loser', but converted to mean 'hanging around in a generally aimless fashion feeling bored' — usually, because incapable of doing anything else after a heavy night the night before. "Tu t'es couché à quelle heure samedi ?" – "à cinq heures du mat... et j'ai loozé toute la journée dimanche !"

Again, I don't know what the equivalent EN expression would be in this, or your own context; 'veg out' is certainly one possibility, though wouldn't fit in the sentence you've quoted, of course.

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Note added at 7 hrs (2008-07-12 08:23:44 GMT)
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Like Juan, my feeble attempts at joining in and using these words myself are usually greeted with puzzled or derisory smiles!
Note from asker:
Super ! Tu es intarissable sur cette question. J'ai bien rigolé. Merci.
Peer comment(s):

agree Martin Cassell : wikkid! // er, not very, I'm sure!
1 hr
How kewl R U, Martin?!
Something went wrong...
+2
7 hrs

Forget it

"Forget it" for "laisse tomber" but only in certain contexts... As for "c'est mort" that can also mean "forget it" or "don't bother." Can't think of an English equivalent of mortel but my brother and all his pals (Liverpool, UK) say "class" to mean the same thing.

I think looz comes from loser, maybe I'm wrong though!

This makes me feel so old!
Note from asker:
Merci, j'ai souvent entendu ta version aussi.
Peer comment(s):

agree Tony M
1 hr
neutral Martin Cassell : not sure that "laisse tomber" is used in this meaning in the "yoof-speak" described by the asker, and certainly not in her first example
1 hr
agree Harald Moelzer (medical-translator)
5 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
9 hrs

It's wicked!/It's really bad!/It's cool!

'Wicked' generally said without the 'it's'. 'Really bad' meaning the opposite (in oldie speak). 'Cool' still used a lot (thank goodness for some intergenerational communication!)
Note from asker:
Merci beaucoup !
Peer comment(s):

agree Martin Cassell : well wikkid!
6 mins
or, indeed, well bad!
Something went wrong...
10 hrs
French term (edited): Laisse tomber

Oh my God !

As in : Oh (pause), my (pause), god (pause). Used by girls 13-28 in the States to express, for example, how unbelievably amazing they find a pair of shoes to be. Only for when "laisse tomber" means "there is no way to possibly understand how great this is, so don't even try"
Note from asker:
Merci pour ta version américaine.
Something went wrong...
5 days

how about "cool, man!" (for laisse tomber) and "it's a killer" (for c'est mort)

On entend ces expressions anglaises parmi les jeunes dans des circonstances, telles que vous avez decrites.
Example sentence:

"Cool, man! Dig your jacket" (dig = I like it) ; "Can't believe they've sold out (the shop has sold all it's stock) of those trainers! It's a killer!"

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