Thursday, March 5, 2020
Avoir Le Cafard - French Expression Explained
Avoir Le Cafard - French Expression Explained The French expression Avoir le cafard means to feel low, to be down in the dumps, to be depressed. It literally translates to to have the cockroach and is pronounced [ah vwar leu kah far]. It has an informal register. Etymology The French word cafard, which is probably from Arabic kafr, miscreant, non-believer (according to Le Grand Robert CD-ROM) has several meanings: a person who pretends to believe in Godtattletalecockroachmelancholy It was the poet, Charles Baudelaire, in Les Fleurs du mal, who first imbued cafard (and also spleen, incidentally) with the fourth meaning. So the French expression avoir le cafard isnt related to cockroaches at all (even though it kind of makes sense- who wouldnt feel bad about having cockroaches?) Example In order to use the phrase, you need to conjugate the verb avoir. Je ne peux pas me concentrer aujourdhui - jai le cafard.I cant concentrate today - Im depressed. Source Le Robert Staff. Le Grand Robert CD ROM. Edition 1, The Robert, 2004.
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