# French translation: ''La Cage aux Folles'' **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 1, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433 "2005-06-01T20:04:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/1 "2005-06-01T20:04:23Z")
I know that the adjective _folle_ is the feminine of _fou_ meaning “crazy.” So, does the title in French mean “The Crazies Cage” or “The Nut House?” Or is it an French idiom that shouldn’t be translated word for word. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/2 "2005-06-01T20:05:54Z")
I ask because the play did not seem to deal much with crazy people. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/3 "2005-06-01T20:11:19Z")
I believe it’s kind of like “The Mad Cage” Sounds to me like it would have the same meaning as Americans saying “the nut house”, “the cuckoo’s nest” etc. I’m sure someone will come along with more detail. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/4 "2005-06-01T20:13:02Z")
In the play (and later movie), “ **La Cage aux Folles** ” is the name of the night club owned by Renato. The name refers to the “crazy things” that go on there (drag queens! oh my!) rather than to a mental institution as such. The word “folly” (as in _Ziegfeld Follies_) is from the same origin. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/5 "2005-06-01T20:15:44Z")
[Turner Classic Movies](http://www.tcm.turner.com/ThisMonth/Article/0,,1207%7C1208%7C1213,00.html) has an article about the 1978 version of _La Cage aux Folles_. They give the translation as “Mad Cage”, which does seem to idiomatically suggest “cuckoo’s nest” (as **Chao** posits). Knowing that the 1996 remake _The Birdcage_ was based on LCAF, I was kind of thinking that _folles_ was an alternative word for “birds” instead of the more conventional _oiseaux_). That is apparently incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/6 "2005-06-01T20:39:07Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > [Turner Classic Movies](http://www.tcm.turner.com/ThisMonth/Article/0,,1207%7C1208%7C1213,00.html) has an article about the 1978 version of _La Cage aux Folles_. They give the translation as “Mad Cage”, which does seem to idiomatically suggest “cuckoo’s nest” (as **Chao** posits). Another bird-related english idiom for mental institution: “Booby hatch.” (The use of “Loony bin” also has some avian influence, in addition to the primary association with the moon.) Hmmm… perhaps it might be possible to gull people into accepting a hypothesis that seabirds were thought to make people crazy. “It is an ancient mariner, and he stoppeth one of three…” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/7 "2005-06-01T20:53:02Z")
> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#): > > I know that the adjective _folle_ is the feminine of _fou_ meaning “crazy.” So, does the title in French mean “The Crazies Cage” or “The Nut House?” Or is it an French idiom that shouldn’t be translated word for word. In addition to being an adjective, _fou/folle_ can also be used as a noun, meaning “a crazy man/woman.” > [@Antonius Block](#): > > The word “folly” (as in Ziegfeld Follies) is from the same origin. Yup. It comes from the French noun _folie_. > [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Another bird-related english idiom for mental institution: “Booby hatch.” And interestingly enough, “booby” (the bird) translates as _un fou_ in French. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/8 "2005-06-01T21:15:19Z")
[QUOTE=bordelond Knowing that the 1996 remake _The Birdcage_ was based on LCAF, I was kind of thinking that _folles_ was an alternative word for “birds” instead of the more conventional _oiseaux_). That is apparently incorrect.[/QUOTE] I remember still another translation: when seeing ads for the movie (I think), the main title would be given as LCAF, with a ‘translation’ in parentheses below, “Birds Of A Feather”. I never quite understood why translations of movie and book titles can be so far off the mark. Sometimes they can be downright wrong, or at least seem to have little to do with the meaning of the original title. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/9 "2005-06-01T21:30:03Z")
Umberto Eco’s _Il Secundo Diario Minimo_ (literally, The Second Little Diary) is published in English as “How To Travel With a Salmon, & Other Essays.” And you thought “The Birdcage” was a bit of a jump! 😉 –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/10 "2005-06-01T21:37:57Z")
> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#): > > I know that the adjective _folle_ is the feminine of _fou_ meaning “crazy.” So, does the title in French mean “The Crazies Cage” or “The Nut House?” Or is it an French idiom that shouldn’t be translated word for word. It shouldn’t be, indeed. Though “folle” is normally the feminine form of “fou” (crazy), it’s also a slang word refering to blatantly effeminated homosexual men, like one of the character in the play/movie. ---
**Author:** ![BleizDu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@BleizDu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BleizDu)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/11 "2005-06-01T21:38:17Z")
“folle” is also slang for an effeminate gay guy. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/12 "2005-06-01T22:12:31Z")
> [@Lazz](#): > > “folle” is also slang for an effeminate gay guy. “Birdie” has this sense in English. What a tangle! ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/13 "2005-06-02T02:03:35Z")
And faygelah in Yiddish means little bird/gay man. ---
**Author:** ![Zahava424](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/76d3ee/32.png) [@Zahava424](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zahava424)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/14 "2005-06-02T02:18:05Z")
Whoa-- and all this time I thought it literally meant “the birdcage,” with folles somehow related to the English fowl. Live and learn, and other cliches. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/15 "2005-06-02T03:47:33Z")
Spectre of Pithecanthropus: \> I never quite understood why translations of movie and book titles can be so \> far off the mark. That’s often the best way to translate a title. If the title has a double meaning, it pften doesn’t work to translate it as either the literal or the figurative meaning. If you translate it as the literal meaning, the title sometimes just sounds irrelevant to the movie. If you translate it as the figurative meaning, it sometimes sounds like you’re being too blatant about the theme of the film. Often the best thing to do is to choose a different double meaning in the language that you’re translating the title into that’s relevant to the film. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Kenneth\_Noisewater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@Dr.Kenneth\_Noisewater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Kenneth_Noisewater)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/16 "2005-06-02T08:20:05Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > I never quite understood why translations of movie and book titles can be so far off the mark. Sometimes they can be downright wrong, or at least seem to have little to do with the meaning of the original title. Chalk it up to the fact that four words in French are often ten in English and vice versa. Not everything translates smoothly, and the person marketing the flick isn’t always a trained linguist. To get a similar effect of an idiomatic title in another language might involve turning the whole thing topsy turvy. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/17 "2005-06-02T08:46:44Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > Spectre of Pithecanthropus: > > \> I never quite understood why translations of movie and book titles can be so > \> far off the mark. > > That’s often the best way to translate a title. If the title has a double meaning, it pften doesn’t work to translate it as either the literal or the figurative meaning. If you translate it as the literal meaning, the title sometimes just sounds irrelevant to the movie. If you translate it as the figurative meaning, it sometimes sounds like you’re being too blatant about the theme of the film. Often the best thing to do is to choose a different double meaning in the language that you’re translating the title into that’s relevant to the film. The example I always think of as a _well_ translated film title is the 1984 French film _Poulet au Vinaigre,_ which was released in the UK as _Cop au Vin._ ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/18 "2005-06-02T10:33:19Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > “Birdie” has this sense in English. What a tangle! And of course ‘Ducky’, as in “Oooh, Ducky!”… ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/19 "2005-06-02T12:31:54Z")
The Spanish production was called “La Jaula de los Locas” and the German “Ein Kofig voller Narren.” ---
**Author:** ![rwjefferson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a6a055/32.png) [@rwjefferson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rwjefferson)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433/20 "2005-06-02T17:49:12Z")
> [@Gaudere](#): > > And faygelah in Yiddish means little bird/gay man. Could this be the basis for “fag”? rwj [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-translation-la-cage-aux-folles/306433.md?page=2)