# You knew it was coming: Can someone translate the French swearing in Matrix Reloaded? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 16, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774 "2003-05-16T21:45:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/1 "2003-05-16T21:45:55Z")
Your mission, French-speaking guy, should you choose to accept it: Go see _Matrix Reloaded_, wait for the character of Merovingian to start swearing in French, then let me know what he says. šŸ™‚ Or, if someone can find this online, (I couldnā€™t), a site would be great. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/2 "2003-05-16T22:51:10Z")
No idea, but I have to start using ā€œLike wiping your ass with silkā€ in conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Fang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@Fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fang)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/3 "2003-05-17T00:55:57Z")
It was way too fast for me, so all I caught was _putain_, which means ā€œwhoreā€. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/4 "2003-05-17T01:09:25Z")
Yeah, I caught a ā€œmerdeā€ I think. Only a matter of time until the IMDb has this in their Trivia section, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/5 "2003-05-17T01:16:13Z")
"I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries! " Of course. ---
**Author:** ![quasar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@quasar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quasar)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/6 "2003-05-24T23:48:38Z")
Giving this a **bump**. I just came from watching Reloaded, and am really intrigued. The only word I thought I caught was **salope** , but Iā€™m not even certain that I heard that right. That Merovingian fella is really a fast-talking motherfucka. šŸ™‚ The pathetic thing is, I caught the movie after **French class** , yet I didnā€™t understand merde. :smack: ---
**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:** [May 25, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/7 "2003-05-25T01:15:12Z")
Snagged from uesnetā€“ ā€œNom de dieu de putain de bordel de merde de saloperie de connard dā€™encul de ta mere.ā€ Something like ā€œName of god of a whore from a filthy shitty brothel jerk your mother.ā€ Or something. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/8 "2003-05-25T02:16:52Z")
> [@](#): > > salope Iā€™m pretty sure that one means ā€œbastard,ā€ which, interestingly enough, I learned from another guy in _The Vagina Monologues_. His character cursed in French a bit. ---
**Author:** ![witchwendy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@witchwendy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/witchwendy)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/9 "2003-05-25T02:41:20Z")
According to the Babel Fish translation website, itā€™s ā€œName of god of whore of bloody hell of filth of jerk of encul of your mother.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![LeprechaunPaul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@LeprechaunPaul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeprechaunPaul)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/10 "2003-05-25T02:53:15Z")
Sure it wasnā€™t canard? That would be much funnier. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/11 "2003-05-25T05:56:13Z")
Is it possible that the ā€œenculā€ is a slang term for ā€œassā€? I know a similar sounded word in Italian means ass. So the translation then would be: ā€œName of god of whore of bloody hell of filth of jerk from the ass of your motherā€ or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/12 "2003-05-25T09:34:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Nom de dieu de putain de bordel de merde de saloperie de connard dā€™encul de ta mere It basically is a string of profanities, connected by ā€˜ofā€™ (de). Iā€™m not French, but from what Iā€™ve managed to gather from French swearwords: - ā€˜Nom de Dieuā€™ is ā€˜Godā€™s nameā€™, but is used similar to people saying ā€˜Jesus!ā€™ or ā€˜Goddamitā€™. - merde - ā€˜salopeā€™ is more like ā€˜slutā€™; saloperie is used to denote some (often figurative) dirty mess that you donā€™t want to get involved- with. ā€˜Filthā€™ is close, if you imagine a prudish neighbour saying she wants nothing to do with this ā€˜filthā€™, saloperie. But I believe it may be used also in a non-prudish way to denote disgusting stuff. - connard. Iā€™m not completely sure. The Babelfish ā€˜jerkā€™ seems right to me. ā€˜conā€™ can mean the vagina. - encul. ā€˜culā€™ is ass; encul is the act of someone using anotherā€™s ass for sexual gratification, as allegedly practiced in the biblical city of Sodom. The other ones were covered by the other translations. Stringing these words all together is in itself pretty meaningless, but isnā€™t that the case with most swearwords? It sure makes for something you shouldnā€™t use in polite conversation. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2003, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/13 "2003-05-25T10:31:50Z")
> [@](#): > > salopeā€™ is more like ā€˜slutā€™; saloperie is used to denote some (often figurative) dirty mess that you donā€™t want to get involved- w Thatā€™s interesting-- ā€œSlut,ā€ in its original english usage, indicated lazy housekeeping rather than relaxed sexual mores. Itā€™s too bad that sense has gone out of fashion-- ā€œSlutā€™s woolā€ sounded so much better than ā€œDust bunnies.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![Zazie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Zazie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zazie)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/14 "2003-05-25T15:20:23Z")
French Doper singing in. Encul isnā€™t correct, weā€™re missing a letter, itā€™s probably, ā€œenculeā€ with an accent on the last ā€œeā€. The verb enculer means fuck, litterally. Good job TTT for your explanations, not being French, you pretty much nailed it. ā€œPutainā€ means whore. It is used as a swear that has nothing to do with its meaning actually. It is the French way to say ā€œmerdeā€ (shit) but very vulgar. It is comparable to the American ā€œfuckā€ used when breaking something for example. You let go of your favoriste crystal expensive vase, it shatters on the floorā€¦ youā€™ll be yelling ā€œPUTAIN!ā€ ā€œConnardā€ could be translated as ā€œassholeā€. This is directed to somebody. ā€œSalopeā€ is somehow ā€œbitchā€ or ā€œslutā€ but it kind of lost the sexual aspect of it, and if a girl is mean and dishonnest, you can use the word Salope. Hope this helps! ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/15 "2003-05-25T16:54:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zazie \* > **The verb enculer means fuck, litterally.** But if _enculer_ means fuck, then what does good old-fashioned _feutre_ mean? They canā€™t **both** mean fuck. That would be just plain wrong, in a moral sense. ---
**Author:** ![Lodrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@Lodrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lodrain)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/16 "2003-05-25T18:12:37Z")
**tracer** ā€“you mean wrong in the sense that both _bumsen_ and _ficken_ mean ā€˜to fuckā€™ in German? ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/17 "2003-05-25T18:29:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > \*\*But if _enculer_ means fuck, then what does good old-fashioned _feutre_ mean? They canā€™t **both** mean fuck. That would be just plain wrong, in a moral sense. \*\* _feutre_ means felt. You probably mean _foutre_, which originally meant sperm or jizz and now as a verb means ā€œI donā€™t give a damnā€, like in the sentence _Je me fous du monde entier_ or ā€œI donā€™t give a damn about the worldā€. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/18 "2003-05-25T18:37:50Z")
I saw Reloaded in St. Catherineā€™s Ontario last weekend with a couple of friends. Three of us were French-Canadian (all three from Quebec) and the fourth was english-Ontarian. The entire room was, most likely, non-francophone. When the Merovingian said his line, the three of us cracked up, while the fourth person, and the rest of the room, just sat there quietly until the "wiping your ass with silk"line, which got a few laughs. The annoying-brat-teenagers behind us made some comment about us being insane and laughing at ā€œnothingā€ but it was their loss for not picking up on it. I guess it did go by very fast, and unless you know a few words, itā€™ll take time to clue in on the fact that the character is swearing but stillā€¦it was damn funny to us! Anywaysā€¦ šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Zazie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Zazie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zazie)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/19 "2003-05-25T18:50:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > \*\*But if _enculer_ means fuck, then what does good old-fashioned _feutre_ mean? They canā€™t **both** mean fuck. That would be just plain wrong, in a moral sense. \*\* hehe, thatā€™s cute! A ā€œfeutreā€ is a pen, a marker šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Rapunzel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Rapunzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rapunzel)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774/20 "2003-05-25T21:09:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Larry Mudd \* > \*\*Thatā€™s interesting-- ā€œSlut,ā€ in its original english usage, indicated lazy housekeeping rather than relaxed sexual mores. Itā€™s too bad that sense has gone out of fashion-- ā€œSlutā€™s woolā€ sounded so much better than ā€œDust bunnies.ā€ \*\* I agree with you. About 20 years ago there was a wonderful book by Erin Pizzey called ā€˜The Slutā€™s Cookbookā€™ which was all about short cuts in the kitchen. You could never get away with calling it that now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-knew-it-was-coming-can-someone-translate-the-french-swearing-in-matrix-reloaded/175774.md?page=2)