# French insult - petit joue? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 8, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-insult-petit-joue/459321 "2008-08-08T19:17:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-insult-petit-joue/459321/21 "2008-08-10T05:18:15Z")
Welcome, **Laudenum**. Bet you can’t stay just a month! ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-insult-petit-joue/459321/22 "2008-08-10T08:59:34Z")
Francophone here. First you’d have to let us know where you heard it: Quebec or Europe ? Petit joue is non-existent Petit jouir is certainly not French Petit jouet, little toy, is not an insult, or it might be a mild insult you tell a woman “tu n’es qu’un petit jouet” (you’re but a little plaything"). Petit chou should not be translated as “little cabbage”. It’s never understood that way. It simply means “little darling”. ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-insult-petit-joue/459321/23 "2008-08-10T11:43:43Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] Welcome, **Laudenum**. Bet you can’t stay just a month! [/QUOTE] I don’t think I’ll have a choice ☹ I’ll make the most of my time here though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-insult-petit-joue/459321/24 "2008-08-10T15:46:13Z")
Hi Gymnopithys, it was France French. The definition given by Busy Scissors seems to fit the context but if you have any other thoughts I’d be glad to hear them. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-insult-petit-joue/459321/25 "2008-08-10T15:54:54Z")
[QUOTE=Laudenum] I don’t think I’ll have a choice ☹ I’ll make the most of my time here though. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Do your best to make a good impression, and then post a request in the [Request to Sponsor My Membership](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=415370) thread, and you may find that it’s not entirely up to you. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-insult-petit-joue/459321/26 "2008-08-10T15:55:30Z")
Maybe it was really _petit chou_ but meant sarcastically? ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-insult-petit-joue/459321/27 "2008-08-10T16:53:36Z")
The expression is “petit joueUR”. Literally “small player”. It would conjures the image of someone who would place a ludicrously small bet during, say, a poker game. So, it could refer to someone who isn’t daring enough, or isn’t in the same league as the person uttering the insult, or isn’t performing enough to be taken seriously. In any case, an expression of despise. In French, I would say it’s relatively similar to “minable”. I’m not sure how to translate it in English. Maybe simply “loser”. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-insult-petit-joue/459321/28 "2008-08-10T17:34:32Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] Maybe it was really _petit chou_ but meant sarcastically? [/QUOTE] That’s my guess. Like, “Sayonara, sweetheart.” Or . . . perhaps the key word was _petit_. . . . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-insult-petit-joue/459321.md?page=1)