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The original meaning of "con" is cunt. It's also used for very unpleasant or stupid people (like cunt, but much more).
by kgwgk 2y ago
The original meaning of "con" is cunt. It's also used for very unpleasant or stupid people (like cunt, but much more).
- 082349872349872 2y agoAround here, people will say of actions or other people that they are stupid, but not con, so I get the impression it goes well beyond stupidity, into sheer bloody-mindedness. (whether the latter rates cusswordedness I prefer to leave to L1 speakers) Lagniappe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWCNFzdE31A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWCNFzdE31A (fr-u-sd-caqc)
- kgwgk 2y agoI don't where is "around there" but https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/con/17848 https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/con/17848 says: Très familier. Stupide, imbécile, idiot.
- 082349872349872 2y agoGuess it depends upon the region; https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/con#Nom_commun_1 https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/con#Nom_commun_1 has an example (sense 3) with the valence I tend to hear: – C'est un imbécile..., lâcha le garçon. – Non, c'est un con. – C'est pareil. M. Pelletier s'arrêta de jouer. – Non, c'est pas pareil. Si tu expliques trois fois un truc à quelqu'un et qu'il ne le comprend pas, c'est un imbécile. Mais si, à la fin, il est certain de l'avoir compris mieux que toi, alors, tu as affaire à un con. — (Pierre Lemaître, Le Grand Monde, Calmann-Lévy, 2022, pages 20-21) (it does seem very mild compared to the evolution and use in russian: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/пиздец#Etymology https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/пиздец#Etymology )
- cryptonector 2y agohttps://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/d%C3%A9conner https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/d%C3%A9conner > Ferme ton déconophone, dit Alexandre. Je veux dormir, moi. "déconophone" (laughter emoji deleted by HN)
- cryptonector 2y agoNah, "con" must have been a very bad word a few hundred years ago. The French people I grew up with used it like it was nothing. Much like "merde". Doesn't mean that you should be saying it willy nilly. I'm sure if you call a stranger a "con" they won't take it well -- you need some familiarity to do that. "Espèce de con" ("some kind of cunt") is for when you mean it a bit more.