{"id":30733,"date":"2018-09-12T17:34:58","date_gmt":"2018-09-12T15:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=30733"},"modified":"2018-09-12T17:34:58","modified_gmt":"2018-09-12T15:34:58","slug":"close-to-la-flemme-feeling-lazy-in-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/close-to-la-flemme-feeling-lazy-in-french\/","title":{"rendered":"Close To La Flemme – Feeling Lazy In French"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you ever feel like you just need a fat morning<\/a>? That lazy feeling of les t\u00e2ches m\u00e9nag\u00e8res et les devoirs<\/strong> (chores and homework) piling up while you struggle to find motivation is pretty common, but knowing how to express it in French can be difficult.<\/p>\n

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Image from Pixabay. Licensed under CC0.<\/p><\/div>\n

Un jour<\/strong> (one day), I was sitting in class before le professeur<\/strong> (the professor) had arrived and wanted to spark up a simple conversation to help pass the time. I turned to mon camarade de classe<\/strong> (my classmate) and started talking:<\/p>\n

Les devoirs n’\u00e9taient pas trop difficile cette fois.<\/strong>
\nOuais, mais je ne les ai pas encore fait.<\/strong>
\nPourquoi ?<\/strong>
\nJ’ai la flemme.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The homework wasn’t too difficult.<\/em>
\nYeah, but I haven’t done it yet.<\/em>
\nWhy?<\/em>
\nToo lazy.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I was immediately confused by the word la flemme<\/strong><\/em>. En fait<\/strong> (in fact), when mon camarade de classe<\/strong> used the new word, I didn’t even hear the right word. All of this became clear when I tried to ask them to explain l’expression<\/strong> (the expression).<\/p>\n

Tu as la flamme ? Comme le feu ?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You have the flame? Like fire?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After a good minute of laughter<\/a>, mon camarade de classe<\/strong> explained l’expression<\/strong> in a way I could understand:<\/p>\n

Non, non, non. \u00c7a veut dire que je suis trop faignant !<\/strong>
\nAh d’accord ! Alors pourquoi la flamme ?<\/strong>
\nCe n’est pas la flamme, c’est la flemme !<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, no, no. It just means I am too lazy.<\/em>
\nAh alright! So why the flame?<\/em>
\nIt’s not the flame, it’s the flemge!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Realizing la faute<\/a><\/strong> (the mistake), I was too embarrassed to push for a clearer answer, but I made sure to practice saying the two words over and over une fois<\/strong> (once) I was at home.<\/p>\n

La flemme<\/strong> – Laziness
\nLa flamme<\/strong> – Flame<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The similar sounding words mean very different things and more importantly, sound very different to les francophones<\/strong> (French speakers). I was still curious how having flemme <\/strong><\/em>could mean being lazy, and decided to look up l\u2019origine<\/a> de l’expression<\/strong> (the origin of the expression).<\/p>\n

La flemme<\/strong> dates to at least the le Moyen \u00c2ge <\/strong>(the Middle Ages), with traces all the way back in le XIIIe si\u00e8cle<\/strong> (the 13th century). Historically, la flemme<\/strong> was a reference to le glaire<\/strong> (mucus) or le phlegme<\/strong> (phlegme). To understand why, we have to look at la th\u00e9orie des humeurs<\/strong> (Humorism), an ancient form of Western medicine where illnesses and temperaments could all explained by les saisons<\/strong><\/a> (the seasons), les \u00e9l\u00e9ments<\/strong> (the elements), or having too much of something in your body.<\/p>\n

According to cette th\u00e9orie<\/strong>, laziness is caused by having too much of le phlegme<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Alors pourquoi la flemme en fran\u00e7ais ?<\/strong>
\nSo why la flemme<\/strong> in French?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Le mot et l’expression<\/strong> first entered le fran\u00e7ais<\/strong> via le mot italien<\/strong> (the Italian word), la flemma<\/em>. An interesting thing to note is how le phlegme<\/strong> <\/em>was already a word, but strictly medical like the English word, phlegm<\/em>. Cependant<\/strong> (however), le phlegme<\/strong> is masculin<\/strong><\/a>, while le mot italien<\/strong> is feminin<\/strong>, leading to la flemme<\/strong> <\/em>being feminine<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

To make things more confusing, its spelling<\/a> en fran\u00e7ais<\/strong> has changed over the centuries<\/a>. Le mot <\/strong>was first written as la fl\u00e8me<\/strong> <\/em>before changing to its modern variant la flemme<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Phlegma <\/em><\/strong>(latin)<\/em> \u2192 la flemma <\/em><\/strong>(italien) <\/em>\u2192 la fl\u00e8me \u2192 la flemme<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is also an older version of l’expression<\/strong> that is slightly different from the common avoir la flemme<\/strong> <\/em>that is heard today:<\/p>\n

Avoir le caract\u00e8re flemme<\/strong>
\nTo have the lazy character<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Avoir la flemme<\/strong> <\/em>may have nothing to do with le feu<\/strong>, but if you have it and find yourself being a bit too paresseux<\/strong> (lazy), you may not get around to carrying the torch to les jeux Olympiques<\/strong><\/a> and just tirer sa flemme<\/strong> (loaf around) instead!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Do you ever feel like you just need a fat morning? That lazy feeling of les t\u00e2ches m\u00e9nag\u00e8res et les devoirs (chores and homework) piling up while you struggle to find motivation is pretty common, but knowing how to express it in French can be difficult. Un jour (one day), I was sitting in class…<\/p>\n

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