What is the putain meaning in French, what is the putain meaning in English, and is this one of the French curse words you should be using as a foreigner?
**If you’re offended by French curse words, this putain meaning post is not the one for you, so please stop reading now!**
Today’s topic is something that’s come up in my life on more than one occasion. We’re talking about cursing in French, and more specifically, the use of the French word “putain” in professional settings and around kids.
First, let’s get the definition out of the way. The French word putain literally translates to whore and is used like an American would use shit or fuck. Sometimes you’ll only hear the second syllable in fast speech, just the ‘tain part, because the person will cut the “pu” part out of the word (but it means the same thing).
I feel like the French use putain a bit more casually than we use fuck in English, almost like it’s a lighter version of fuck in a sense.
I’ve always thought of the word putain in English as the equivalent of fuck and a word you don’t use around kids or in a professional context. Then two things happened (and keep happening) that made me question this and want to learn more about cursing in French.
Read on about French curse words: what does putain mean in French?
Putain meaning in English: Is this French curse word that bad?
OK, so I was going to make this post an Ask Tom Tuesday question, but Tom said he’s not really comfortable answering it because he’s never lived in the US and can’t accurately weigh in on fuck versus putain like a native of both cultures would. He’s sharing his opinion below on swearing in French, but I’d love it if any truly bilingual readers out there who have lived in both places and learned both languages at the same time can chime in about swearing in French and the putain meaning in English.
What does putain mean? As I said, the putain in English literally translates to whore. It is used like an English speaker would use shit or fuck even though the meaning of the word is whore.
Putain is not a word kids can use at school or at home (in most households, that is) without being disciplined. You wouldn’t say it in a job interview or to a server. Basically, wherever you’d feel weird saying fuck is where you should also avoid using putain in French. It’s strong and might be offensive to some.
So… I said above that two things happened:
First thing about putain in French:
1. I was at the park walking Dagny a few months ago and a dad was supervising his young kids no more than 3 years old on the playground when one kid slipped and spilled his drink all over himself. The dad’s natural reaction was to curse out of frustration and I heard a ‘tain as I walked by. Remeber, this is the shortened form of putain.
Since then, I’ve heard parents exclaim the same thing around their kids in a moment of annoyance. I cringe every time. It just sounds crude to me. If an American mom said fuck (in earshot of others) in front of her young kid at the park, I think she’d see a few folks raising their eyebrows and backing away slowly. Like she wasn’t super classy. Maybe even not the best parent. Let the judgment begin.
Is it a matter of culture? Class? Differences in language? Is saying putain in front of a young kid that bad? What does putain mean in English and are French swear words seen the same way as their English equivalents?
Tom’s thoughts: “In my opinion, you shouldn’t say putain in front of your young kid. I don’t have kids but when I’m around our niece and nephew, I restrain myself. As parents, I guess you get used to restraining yourself from cursing. Sometimes it’s a reflex and inevitable like if you whack your knee on the corner of a table. For me, saying putain around kids is not a habit I’d want to pick up.”
Second putain in French example:
2. At the gym the other day (not the first time I’ve heard it from a group fitness instructor during class), the instructor’s microphone fell out of her pouch onto the floor and she said putain in frustration. I wasn’t sure I heard her right and then it happened again and I was sure I heard correctly. The crowd is a mix of men and women of all ages and we’re more or less friendly with each other in a casual gym setting.
For me, if an instructor in the USA said shit or fuck in frustration (anything beyond damn basically) while teaching, I think the gym management would get a few complaints and maybe have to fire the person. It wouldn’t be considered professional at all.
In French, we have zut, mince, flute, merde, but everyone’s go-to seems to be putain/’tain in a moment of frustration. It’s almost like putain in French is more socially acceptable than saying fuck in English.
Tom’s thoughts: “Putain is not that bad, but in French, we don’t have a ton of equivalent options. It’s not the most professional thing to say at all, but it’s also not a huge deal in casual company. I can’t really tell you if it’s the same as saying fuck.”
Is saying putain in front of clients or customers that bad? What do you think about French curse words? Is putain in French bad?
I equate it to saying fuck which would be a major no-no in America if you’re in a professional setting. Even shit. Especially in front of customers! Imagine checking in at a hotel and hearing the employee curse when her computer freezes. Or a postal worker or drops some mail. Or dog walker who stepped in some poop. It’s just not classy. Depending on who is listening, it’s cringe-worthy or even offensive. I don’t say putain in French.
For me, when you’re representing a company and in a client-facing role — no matter how friendly or casual — saying fuck in English would make you look like you’re majorly out of touch with professional norms and you’d just come across as uncultured and abrasive to some people.
As I said above, I’d love to hear from anyone out there reading who grew up in both cultures. Now that you know the putain translation in English, is it OK to say? Is putain in French more socially acceptable than fuck? Do you say it at work in front of clients or young kids?
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What do you think of French curse words, specifically the use of putain?
For a really well-done post that has a comprehensive list of French curse words with audio, click here.
PIN my French curse words post with the putain meaning in English and French:
This used to really surprise me too, until I realized that putain by itself really isn’t an equivalent of f*ck – it just doesn’t carry as much as weight as f*ck does in English. I mean, you even hear little kids saying it (plus merde etc) and no one bats an eye. I’d say it’s more so an equivalent of “crap”, at least until you start adding other words to it (putain de bordel de merde) – and *then* it becomes the equivalent of f*ck.
I always thought merde (though literally means shit) has the same connotation as crap and that putain is a step more vulgar. If a 5-year-old in my family said putain, he’d be reprimanded, I feel. To me putain de merde is more like “fucking shit!” and super rude and putain on its own is still kind of severe and not something you’d say to a kid or at work in front of a client. But maybe I’m misinformed. Thank you so much for weighing in. Happy you got the discussion started. Hope all is well! 😉
i used to swear a lot with ‘tain, and I suppressed that from my vocabulary when I got kids (which was pretty hard). dropping something would mostly cause me to say “et merde…”, although when the need of a good curse arise, I may have to resort to “putain de bordel de merde”, but it needs to be a big big issue!
from what I’ve heard since living in California, fuck is a lot worse. In the course of a year, I heard one woman say it because she joined the conversation about the use of it (and others told me she was unconventional!), and another one mouth it, inside a story of something that happened to her. Actually, I’m not sure I heard anyone swear, here….
Yeah, the use of fuck really depends on the social situation. Among friends, people might be totally comfortable using it but other groups not so much. We have a lot of great variations that are less harsh, like frickin, friggin, just FFFFFFFF, or F THIS. Some people even say FUDGE! instead of fuck.
It’s interesting to read that you think a gym in the US would get complaints if a fitness instructor dropped the f bomb or said ‘shit’ during a class. Maybe it’s because I’m from Florida, but I couldn’t imagine a gym getting complaints for an instructor saying ‘shit,’ maybe if they said ‘f***’. It would be impossible for them to find an eligible instructor if that were the case (again, this is probably just the case for Florida lol.)
Hi there, Jenny! I’m just basing that on my personal experience. In a gym I worked at in NYC (as well as a corporate one), our employee manual had a section on swearing in front of clients and it wasn’t allowed. Then as just a participant at my local NJ YMCA, all the instructors were very well-behaved haha. I could see a religious type get really offended by an instructor in a spin class saying, “Let’s get ready to fucking kill it!” Just my opinion though. In spin classes I taught among friends, I’d say anything to motivate but I’d never say fuck in front of a client or anything. ;’-)
Oh I absolutely agree! I think it’s unprofessional and can be offensive, as you pointed out, to a lot of people. It was just funny to me because it reminded me of what a weirdo place Florida is compared to the rest of the country, even in something as random as gym etiquette 🙂
Gotta love Florida! My family lives down there now and the local news is always nuts! The gym I worked at had a very high-end clientele. They’d complain about anything (like the sauna being 1 degree too hot) so cursing? Forget it hahaha
Hi Dianne! My story is almost like Cal-expat’s, except I used to say a lot to say “putain” not even just “tain”. Since I live in California, I keep going with this word, and thank God, nobody can understand me (oh wait my husband now understand this word) lol. However, when I was living in France, I used saying this word when I was just with my family (not when my kids were young), or with friends, That’s it. I worked for 29 years in EDF, as a customer service representative, and I have never used this bad word while talking with customers, obviously. Unless I am totally wrong, but I am not sure that in the French’s mind, when using this word, is really “vulgar” although we do know it is. We use is when we are really fed up, or when we are surprised of something etc. Like said cal-expat, I am not sure I heard anyone swear here either, even my husband as a good American, does not swear! Seriously, how he does? haha
Something I noticed here, I used to hear in the college where I am studying a lot of my young classmates saying “fucking good, of fucking something”. It is mostly young people say this, not the older.
Yes, that is the benefit to living abroad! Since most Americans don’t know French it’ s easy to get away with cursing in French hahahha.
I think what I’ve gathered is that putain is a curse but not HORRIBLE or anything and shouldn’t really be used in professional settings but some people do and the response is just a shrug or simply ignoring it and not outrage.
I think Americans were taught that cursing is really bad and that we shouldn’t do it. You’ll never hear shit or fuck on prime time TV. So we kind of grew up with that mindset. Of course I curse now but never in front of kids or with customers.
I have the bad habit of saying “‘tain!” quite often, but I never think of it as a “bad” word, I mean I KNOW that it is but when I’m saying it, it’s like a “flute!” or “zut!”, I don’t intend to be offensive. My mum HATES that I speak like that and always reprimanded me for not speaking “lady-like” enough (I’ve always been a bit of a tomboy). But ONE time, I really felt bad about it, and since then I try to be careful when using it : I was in the car with my mum and my little cousin (he must’ve been 2 or 3 at the time), I don’t remember what I was talking about with my mum, but I said something like “rah putain ça va être chiant” or something, and then I heard a little “…putain…” at the back… totally forgotten my cousin was in the back + didn’t notice that I used the word (it was a “reflex”), and there was my little cousin with a big smile saying “putain” on repeat, and me thinking “oh god what have I done” lol
And another anecdote : we do use the word “fuck” (the actual English word) in Belgium, but not with the same use as in the original English…we use it kind of like “‘tain”, well it’s even less powerful than “tain” I feel… so yeah I sometimes casually say “fuck” without thinking about it.
Cue to Early July : I was in London, and I got on the wrong metro line. I noticed it after getting on it, so I let a “rah fuck!” while stepping out. I felt really bad afterwards because for me it was the “Belgian use” for the word, I didn’t think about the fact that everyone around me was English natives… I must have sounded like the rudest girl in London… :/
Yeah, I know what you mean about cursing in front of your parents. I try to rein it in myself. Aww I bet your little cousin forgot all about putain or is now like 15 and uses it himself! But yes, little kids are like sponges. They soak in everything and then just repeat what they hear.
Well, the good thing about saying fuck in a busy London tube station is that you’ll never see any of those people again so even if they thought you were rude, they’re just strangers. But yea, everyone curses I think unless they’re super conservative/religious. And even then sometimes you just have to!
I am a 68 year old man and grew up in both France and the US. From my point of view, we began cursing at about 13 or so bin both cultures. In both cultures, It was older boys or my older cousins who taught me. I never heard French adults curse but my American raised Dad did occasionally curse. I Never curse in French but do in English. Never at work.
Thank you for sharing your perspective, Philip!
Hey Diane, This same question has occurred to me. The only conclusion I can reach is that putain is just not as offensive as fuck. I’ve heard some very polite people say putain it in front of their children here in Toulouse, that would never happen with “fuck” in the U.S. Maybe the French just aren’t uptight enough to have a word that is so absolutely off limits in certain situations. It is just a word after all…
Yah, have to agree. Putain might translate as fuck but it’s not considered to be as offensive by the French. That said, seems the consensus here is to never say it in front of clients in formal setting at work. And avoid it in front of kids.
It is just a word but at the same time, I think it can speak to how one is raised too. I had a friend growing up that I was embarrassed for sometimes. She’d curse and do what I felt were stupid things. I would never have her over when my parents were home because I was afraid she’d embarrass me with her lack of manners. Wasn’t polite at all and would say fuck around my family. I didn’t like that at all!
In Chicago, I hear cursing all the time… on the sidewalks, at work, in line for lunch somewhere… people are too casual about it, and it sounds uneducated and ugly. I’ve been very guilty myself, but recently decided to clean up my mouth because I want to be a better Christian and a lady, and a foul mouth doesn’t match either one. I don’t think it’s good to curse in front of children. They copy everything they hear and see. They’ll just be developing an ugly habit that they will probably want to break later. In either language it’s not cool and it’s not necessary.
That’s exactly it. It sounds uneducated and ugly and when I curse I know that’s how I’m coming across. At least that’s how I perceive it when I hear someone curse in a professional setting or in front of kids. Among friends, eh they get a pass. I try to not go nuts with the f-bombs just for that reason and not religious ones but sometimes it’s only natural to blurt out something.
Thanks for sharing your point of view, Mary!
I always thought putain meant whore or bitch. I never related it to the F word. I guess I don’t know how to really say that in French.
Hi there, so definitely not an expert here, but putain as a noun translates to whore or prostitute. Although Tom said if you told someone you are a putain it would sound weird, that people use pute or conasse more frequently. Putain is most commonly used as an exclamation like we’d say fuck! Kind of like shit, I guess. Shit as a noun is excrement but we can say you are a little shit or just shit if we drop an egg on the floor.
Thanks for explaining! 🙂
Hello as French i laugh a lot when i read this article about the word “putain” this word is more used in the South of France than in the North, especially in Marseille where one can ear say “putain” every three words and at the end of the sentence. It’s not easy to exactly determine what does this word mean. Hard to compare with fuck, bitch or whore. The meaning is close to but not exactly the same.Putain is used when people get angry, when they are astonished, to strongly emphasis what we feel, just about anything and everything. But in any case putain wants to mean whore or prostitute on the case in point. To talk about a whore or bitch we use to say “pute” or prostitute. We say look at this girl or women she looks like a whore in french regarde on dirait une “pute” ! for putain. The right word for pute is really putain but is no longer in use right now.
Thank you for your explanations, Kathy! I’ve heard from a bunch of people that the cursing is more prevalent in the south. I try to just say mince personally. I haven’t graduated to big French curse words yet. Thx again
Hi Diane!
I’m indecise about the ressemblance of Putain to F*ck, but I agree on the inconvenience in the experiences above. Parents ought to take the habit of swearing in a less vulgar way in front of children.
But “Merde” for instance is as depreciated as the former. I think “zut”or “mince” would sound more appropriate.
Agreed, I feel like the “well-behaved French kids” stereotype we so often see in books and in the media would not be saying putain!
On a walking tour of shopping arcades in Paris this morning, the Rue du Pélican was pointed out and the guide said this was the “cleaned up” name. It used to be a favorite of one of the world’s oldest professions. I recognized the similar sound…
As an Irish woman I’m astonished at the thought that someone could use their job for swearing. A primary school teacher who constantly dropped the f bomb, yes, or a nurse. Beyond that, not so much. The French attitude to swearing struck me as quite similar to the one we have in Ireland. The English are somewhere between us and America.
I have often told French people that there is absolutely no equivalent to fuck in french because putain can be used on the radio. I think it can be dangerous if French people think Fuck and putain are the same. Fuck holds wayyyy more meaning…
Hi Diane,
I grew up in the US and lived/worked 12 years in Paris.
I would say that “putain” is slightly more acceptable in a work setting than “fuck” would be in the US. I wouldn’t drop it on the first meeting, but it you have some familiarity with a customer you might say “putain, c’est froid” to describe a cold plate over lunch.
We recently wrote an article on French Swear Words (https://vidalingua.com/blog/french-swear-words) that cites examples you definitely would want to use in a professional setting like “Putain de merde” and “Putain de bordel de merde” by they are fun for other settings
This is a really interesting topic lol. As a non-native speaker in English and a starter in French, I personally feel that “putain” is not as “severe” as the F-word. I use putain a lot just because people around me don’t know what it means (but they do understand the F-word). BTW I learnt the word “putain” in the movie The Intouchables.
I’ve been pretty invested in learning French for about a year, so I’m not an expert or even fluent yet so maybe take this with a grain of salt.
Fuck in English is used in many different ways. While in French it seems like they have different words for all the variety of ways that English speakers use it.
case in point:
Je veux te baiser means “I want to fuck you.”
putain ca means “Fuck that”
c’est foutu means “it’s fucked up”
there is also the word niquer which I think is the same as baiser.
so fuck as an exclamation is one word, to have sex another word etc.
In english its used in a variety of different contexts all being quite equally bad.
In french they use different words for the different contexts that we would just say fuck in. The french words do not all have the same level of severity, which is why its more acceptable to say “putain”.
So the words fill a similar context, but do not have equal severity. I hope I helped and if I’m wrong I hope someone corrects me!
In France we don’t use “Putain ça” to mean “fuck that”, there is no litteral equivalent I guess, so we only say “Putain” or “merde”.
“Je veux te baiser” is kinda rude, unless people are close and on the same wavelenght I believe nobody say that. At least not seriously.
Originally putain means pute (whore), in old french, but the meaning derivated, and now we use it in the same case as “shit”. When we are really angry we even combine the two word to say “putain de merde” (fucking shit) lol.
Putain is really common because we, french people, curse a lot (no wonder why people think we are rude haha), but we try to avoid saying it in front of children (as well as every curse word) because it’s not a good exemple.
Somehow we all end up to curse, even young children now, so, putain is not the worst word they can ear, it’s still bad though, don’t get me wrong.
I apologize for my english, I may have made some mistakes, but I’m still learning!
I suspect the issue here is the author does not live in a big city lake Paris is. fuck in american english is heard in the major american cities, especially in the north and west.
I am originally from Chicago, but I lived in France for one year as an exchange student. I still remember how casual it would be for my French classmates to say “Putain” – this can’t be compared to English swear words, as it has a much more casual and lighter feel. It wouldn’t be considered particularly offensive among my high school peers at all.
That is true, we have a similar meaning in Spanish. It actually sounds very similar. I don’t know whether is that offensive in french too
I agree with cursing being generally more common in France than in the USA, even in front of children. I made the same observation as you, and I am truly bilingual. I lived on the west coast (Nantes), and didn’t know that cursing was more common in the South.
It might just be my friends but I thought they use it every 2 or 3 sentences at least. It has so many meanings so goes in every sentence.
People need to understand the French are not shocked by words, censorship isn’t a thing in France, swear words (or sexual words) are not beeped on the telly, etc. There is no point in superimposing American rules onto a French context. it is NOT a huge deal to swear, and we expect children to hear swear words sometimes, we just explain to them that they’re not to use those and that’s it!
We even expect to hear to in heated political debates.
As a French I find it completely acceptable someone would say Merde or Putain if they drop something or if a computer isn’t working, even in front of customers. Of course not if I’m their boss, but if I’m the customer, I mean it happens! If the company wants to appear as elevated/luxury of course they’ll refrain from using such words but a French person wouldn’t be personally offended or think of complaining to management. Someone swearing in front of you just isn’t about you.
In France you can explain to your kids that someone is a potty mouth, but CERTAINLY NOT demand that person stops swearing because YOUR KIDS are around.
That’s why in this context I don’t thing making equivalents really works – it’s cultural. An American person thinking a French person is being rude for saying putain in France, not knowing how it’s regarded by other French people, is just wrong.
However, in the UK the F-word is a MUCH bigger deal, I curse a lot less speaking English than when in France, and in the UK someone talking to me using several F words (not directed to me) I would consider it rude to me. Now if an employee swears in front of me because there’s an issue or something that they’re annoyed about, I would find it perfectly fine – because I’m French!
thanks for your post
When people around you always curse a lot, it’s hard not to get affected…and sometimes when you go to foreign countries, it’d better to know some curse words, or you don’t even know when people try to hurt you. 畢業 |