{"id":1653,"date":"2010-09-29T22:32:35","date_gmt":"2010-09-29T22:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=1653"},"modified":"2017-10-18T12:48:14","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T10:48:14","slug":"mme-jesaistout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/mme-jesaistout\/","title":{"rendered":"Madame JE-SAIS-TOUT (and more of the ABC of French Slang!)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Today in our ABCs of French slang, we&#8217;re on\u00a0<em>la lettre<\/em> <em>&#8216;<strong>J.<\/strong>&#8216;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><em>&#8220;J comme&#8230;&#8221; <\/em>(&#8220;J as in&#8230;&#8221;)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>* Je-m&#8217;en-foutisme:<\/em><br \/>\nIn his book &#8220;<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Devil-France-Encounter-Summer-1940\/dp\/1406762636\">The Devil in France &#8211; My Encounter with Him in the Summer of 1940<\/a>&#8221; <\/strong>(during the Nazi invasion of France, that is), <em>le dramaturge <\/em>(playwright) <strong>Lion Feuchtwanger<\/strong> defines <em>Je-m&#8217;en-foutisme<\/em> as &#8220;an attitude toward life that may be somewhat inadequately translated as &#8216;I-don&#8217;t-give-a-damnism.'&#8221; He\u00a0further identifies with with &#8220;the Devil of Unthoughtfulness, of Sloth in good-will, of Convention, of Routine, the very Devil to whom the French have given the motto, <em>&#8220;<strong>je m&#8217;en fous&#8221;&#8212;&#8220;I don&#8217;t give a damn<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To adopt a &#8220;<em>je-m&#8217;en-foutiste<\/em>&#8221; behavior, so to speak,\u00a0is to be a <em>&#8220;<strong>je-m&#8217;en-foutiste<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>* Je-Sais-Tout:<\/strong><br \/>\n<\/span>To be <em>un monsieur<strong> je-sais-tout<\/strong> <\/em>or a <em><strong>madame je-sais-tout<\/strong> <\/em>is to be a &#8220;know-it-all.&#8221; You can also say <em>&#8220;<strong>un gros malin<\/strong>&#8220;<\/em>, which\u00a0has the sense of a\u00a0&#8220;smart alec.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">* Jetons:<br \/>\n<\/span>It usually comes in the expression &#8220;<em>foutre les jetons<\/em>&#8220;, which means &#8220;to give the freaks&#8221;, &#8220;to give the chills&#8221;, or &#8220;to give the jitters&#8221; to someone.<br \/>\nIn another expression, namely <em>&#8220;faux jeton&#8221;<\/em>, if you remember from the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/%E2%80%9Cf-b-a-ba-argot\/\"><strong><em>letter &#8216;F&#8217; of the ABC<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, we said that it literally means a &#8220;fake token&#8221;, and standing for a hypocritical or a disingenious person, a &#8220;fake&#8221;, or a &#8220;phoney.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>Pour rappel <\/em>(as a reminder),\u00a0if you have missed them,\u00a0here are <em>les liens <\/em>(the links) to the previous posts of\u00a0<em>le<\/em> <em>B.A.-BA de l&#8217;argot <\/em>(the ABC of French Slang), each corresponding to a letter of the alphabet.<\/p>\n<div><em>* <\/em><a title=\"Permalink to B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot: \u2018A\u2019 (the ABC of French Slang: \u2018A\u2019)\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/b-a-ba-de-largot-a-the-abc-of-french-slang-a\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><em>B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot: \u2018A\u2019 (the ABC of French Slang: \u2018A\u2019)<\/em><\/a><br \/>\n<em>* <\/em><a title=\"Permalink to B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot: \u2018B\u2019 (the ABC of French Slang: \u2018B\u2019)\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/b-a-ba-argot-b\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><em>B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot: \u2018B\u2019 (the ABC of French Slang: \u2018B\u2019)<\/em><\/a><br \/>\n<em>* <\/em><a title=\"Permalink to B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot: \u2018B\u2019 [Cont.] (the ABC of French Slang: \u2018B\u2019 [Cont.])\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/b-a-ba-argot-b2\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><em>B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot: \u2018B\u2019 [Cont.] (the ABC of French Slang: \u2018B\u2019 [Cont.])<\/em><\/a><br \/>\n<em>* <\/em><a title=\"Permalink to \u201cC comme\u2026\u201d B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot (the ABC of French Slang: \u2018C\u2019)\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/b-a-ba-argot-c\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><em>\u201cC comme\u2026\u201d B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot (the ABC of French Slang: \u2018C\u2019)<\/em><\/a><br \/>\n<em>* <\/em><a title=\"Permalink to \u201cC comme\u2026(\u00c7a Continue!)\u201d B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot (the ABC of French Slang: \u2018C\u2019 [cont.])\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/b-a-ba-argot-c2\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><em>\u201cC comme\u2026(\u00c7a Continue!)\u201d B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot (the ABC of French Slang: \u2018C\u2019 [cont.])<\/em><\/a><br \/>\n<em>* <\/em><a title=\"Permalink to \u201cD comme\u2026\u201d B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot (the ABC of French Slang: \u2018D\u2019)\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/%e2%80%9cd-comme%e2%80%a6%e2%80%9d-b-a-ba-de-l%e2%80%99argot-the-abc-of-french-slang-%e2%80%98d%e2%80%99\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><em>\u201cD comme\u2026\u201d B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot (the ABC of French Slang: \u2018D\u2019)<\/em><\/a><br \/>\n<em>* <\/em><a title=\"Permalink to \u201cE comme\u2026\u201d B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot (the ABC of French Slang: \u2018E\u2019)\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/%e2%80%9ce-comme%e2%80%a6%e2%80%9d-b-a-ba-de-l%e2%80%99argot-the-abc-of-french-slang-%e2%80%98e%e2%80%99\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><em>\u201cE comme\u2026\u201d B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot (the ABC of French Slang: \u2018E\u2019)<\/em><\/a><br \/>\n<em>* <\/em><a title=\"Permalink to \u201cF comme\u2026\u201d B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot [1] (the ABC of French Slang: \u2018F\u2019 [1])\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/%e2%80%9cf-b-a-ba-argot\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><em>\u201cF comme\u2026\u201d B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot: \u2018F\u2019\u00a0[1] (the ABC of French Slang: \u2018F\u2019 [1])<\/em><\/a><em><br \/>\n<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/%e2%80%9cf-comme%e2%80%a6%e2%80%9d-b-a-ba-de-l%e2%80%99argot-%e2%80%98f%e2%80%99-2-the-abc-of-french-slang-%e2%80%98f%e2%80%99-2\/\"><em>* \u201cF comme\u2026\u201d B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot: \u2018F\u2019 [2] (the ABC of French Slang: \u2018F\u2019 [2])<\/em><\/a><br \/>\n<em>* <\/em><a title=\"Permalink to More French Slang! B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot: \u201cLettre G\u201d (1\u00e8re partie)\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/more-french-slang-lettre-g-1ere-partie\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><em>More French Slang! B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot: \u201cLettre G\u201d (1\u00e8re partie)<\/em><\/a><br \/>\n<em>* <a title=\"Permalink to More French SLANG! B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot: \u201cLettre G\u201d (2\u00e8me partie)\u2014and ATTENTION aux MEUPORGs!\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/more-french-slang-g-2-meuporg\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">More French SLANG! B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot: \u201cLettre G\u201d (2\u00e8me partie)\u2014and ATTENTION aux MEUPORGs!<\/a><br \/>\n<\/em>* <a title=\"Permalink to \u201cGRATOS!\u201d and other \u2018G\u2019 French Slang words (3\u00e8me partie)\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/gratos-and-other-g-french-slang-words-3eme-partie\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><em>\u201cGRATOS!\u201d and other \u2018G\u2019 French Slang words (3\u00e8me partie)<\/em><\/a><br \/>\n* <a title=\"Permalink to \u2018I\u2019 comme \u201cIllico Presto!\u201d\u2014and more from le B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot (The ABC of French Slang)\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/illico-presto-abc-of-french-slang\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><em>\u2018I\u2019 comme \u201cIllico Presto!\u201d\u2014and more from le B.A.-BA de l\u2019Argot (The ABC of French Slang)<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2010\/09\/41SPPWV54TL._SL500_AA300_.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image tmp-hide-img\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2010\/09\/41SPPWV54TL._SL500_AA300_.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2010\/09\/41SPPWV54TL._SL500_AA300_-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p>Today in our ABCs of French slang, we&#8217;re on\u00a0la lettre &#8216;J.&#8216; &#8220;J comme&#8230;&#8221; (&#8220;J as in&#8230;&#8221;) * Je-m&#8217;en-foutisme: In his book &#8220;The Devil in France &#8211; My Encounter with Him in the Summer of 1940&#8221; (during the Nazi invasion of France, that is), le dramaturge (playwright) Lion Feuchtwanger defines Je-m&#8217;en-foutisme as &#8220;an attitude toward life&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/mme-jesaistout\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":23805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11401,9806,11629,11628,11624,11625,11627,11623,11626],"class_list":["post-1653","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abc-of-french-slang","tag-faux-jeton","tag-foutre-les-jetons","tag-gros-malin","tag-je-men-foutisme","tag-je-men-foutiste","tag-je-sais-tout","tag-lettre-j","tag-lion-feuchtwanger"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1653"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28036,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1653\/revisions\/28036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}