[tduberne]

> Another French slang expression (also testicle-related) for not giving a fuck is “I’m painting my balls with the brush of indifference”

If anyone has an idea of the original in french, I would be interested. I am French and I have no clue what he refers to.

[FrankSansC]

Neither do I and I'm also french. I've checked on the french wiktionary[1] and in fact that's a real french saying. But I've never heard someone say this in my all life.

[1] https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/s%E2%80%99en_badigeonner_les_...

[baby]

I read a lot of Achille Talon and I have no memory of this, I was a kid though... it's really from a different generation.

[obruchez]

You wouldn't find anything vulgar in Achille Talon, anyway.

[notagoodidea]

Seems to be a mix betwen of "Je m'en bats les couilles" and "Le train de tes injures roule sur les rails de mon indifférence", never heard the author version. I stand wrong on the etymology, see below. French-speaking here.

It exists as an entry in the https://fr.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/s%E2%80%99en_badigeonner_le... but I don't think I ever heard someone uses it. The non vulgar original version seems to be "s'en brosser le nombril avec le pinceau de l'indifférence" (To brush one navel with the brush of indifference) and found it's origin in the comic strip Achille Talon.

[seszett]

There are just a lot of different ways to say it, and although this one isn't very popular most people would still get the meaning fine and it does have some attested use, so I think it has its place in such a list.

My own personal favorite would be (it's very inelegantly translated) it touches one [of my testicles] without making the other move (maybe invented by former president Chirac, at least made popular by him). It's well known and understood and has the advantage to be vulgar enough without actually making an explicit reference to testicles.

[azinman2]

What is it in French?

[xfennec]

"Ça m'en touche une sans faire bouger l'autre."

[azinman2]

I like how it’s implied.

Isn’t this quite long if you don’t care?

[riffraff]

ah, I see a ahared romance trait here, "me ne sbatto i coglioni" in italian :)

[xmcqdpt2]

I'm French from Québec and the usual expression here would be the Catholic inspired "I'm X-ing myself of it" where X is one of Christ (je m'en crisse), the Holy Chalice (je m'en câlice), the Tabernacle (je m'en tabarnac) etc.

Although these swears seem extremely mild, they are actually quite heavy in Québec, even though no one goes to church anymore, because of how dominant the Catholic Church was until the sixties. They would be censored on TV, for example.

[wiz21c]

French speaking, never heard of this one. For the sake of human advancement, I'll share with you the one that I hear more often "je m'en bats les coui*es" (literally "I hit my ba*s with it" or something like that; which means "I don't care).

[ivegotnoaccount]

It's a more vulgar version of "https://fr.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/s%E2%80%99en_brosser_le_nom...". However, I found it quite surprising to add such a rare thing but not the most usual things like "I've got nothing to wax" and its vulgar form.

[dirkt]

That happens when you google idioms in other languages ... you have no clue about the actual usage. And they are usually not one-to-one.

German "das ist mir Wurst" is also a lot weaker than "zero fucks given", at least use something stronger like "das interessiert keinen Arsch" (no asshole cares). Also "zero fucks given" in the sense of "irresponsible, he just does it and doesn't care who gets hurt" doesn't really have an equivalent idiom. Maybe "als druff" (just go full power straight ahead) or something.

[hnbad]

I've never heard "als druff" but I'd like to add "das ist mir Latte" as a variant as well as "das ist Jacke wie Hose" ("jacket like trousers", which is more like "potayto, potuhto") and as others have pointed out "das geht mir am Arsch vorbei".

But none of them is an exact match as there's no perfect overlap for all situations to which "zero fucks given" can be applied. Which isn't too surprising as most idioms and even most words don't map 1-to-1 between languages even when they share a common root.

[tannhaeuser]

How about "Geht mir am Arsch vorbei"?

[qwertox]

"It walks/goes past my ass"

[tannhaeuser]

"It's passing by at about the height of my ass"

[rndgermandude]

Yeah, "das ist mir Wurst" doesn't seem strong enough. "Drauf geschissen"/"Scheiß drauf" ("shit on it") maybe? Kinda close to "not giving a shit" (or "fuck") and also kinda works for the irresponsible case, "Er scheißt drauf, ob er jemanden verletzt".

[jansan]

"drauf geschissen" comes close to "zero fucks given"

[NumberCruncher]

It is the same in Hungarian. "szarni rá" is the exact translation of the German expression.

[simonke]

Das interessiert keine Sau.

No (female) pig cares about it / No sow cares about it

[ofrzeta]

Even stronger (and more like "zero fucks ..." imho): Das ist (mir) scheißegal ("indifferent as shit" ot something like it).

[poulsbohemian]

Yes, scheißegal strikes me as exactly the right translation, and once again there is a single German word for an entire English phrase.

[rzzzt]

The last one sounds like "send it".

[SuoDuanDao]

"das ist mir Wurst" may not be as weak as you think - 'Wurst' can also be a euphemism for a large, firm piece of excrement.

[bambax]

I'm French too and have never heard of that one.

Also, "I slap my balls on it" is probably the translation of "je m'en bats les coulles", but a better translation would be "I slap my balls with it".

It is sometimes shortened as "j'm'en balec" or even just "balec".

[d--b]

In the same vein, there are lot of variations.

One I heard in the army is “je m’en tamponne le coquillard avec une patte d’alligator femelle”. “I pat my butt with a female alligator’s leg”

In fact when you search google for “je m’en tamponne le coquillard avec”, google will autocomplete with “a lobster’s tibia”, “a morrocan shoe”, etc.

[glandium]

Je m'en fustige le cristallin avec un fémur d'alligator femelle.

[belugacat]

https://fr.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/s’en_badigeonner_les_testic...

Never heard it either.

[ggambetta]

That sounds beautifully poetic, compared to versions from other languages (mine included). I can see how Monty Python came up with "I fart in your general direction" :)

[ggrelet]

You know, it's someone saying something on the Internet, so it must be true... Never heard of this one either (I'm also French).

[Qiu_Zhanxuan]

"Je m'en badigeonne les testicules avec le pinceau de l'indifférence"

[AtlasLion]

not the same but "je m'en bas les couilles" works too.

[dakotian]

s’en badigeonner les testicules avec le pinceau de l’indifférence

[rich_sasha]

By my pre-coffee count, 19 syllables of indifference... a lot of words to say “meh” :)

[MayeulC]

"Je m'en fous" is the short version. Using a longer version is obviously done for fun, and to tell at great lengths how much you don't care. Usually people will spice it up with a version of their own to add to the comical effect.

[dakotian]

french pronounce 1 out of every 5 syllables

[baby]

that's how poetic French people are

[WastingMyTime89]

Gallic shrug

Why talk when you can physically convey the idea. I must say that this discussion makes me somewhat uncomfortable with the centrality of not caring in my culture.

[dcpit]

never heard this one before.