Des bretelles tatouées sur le corps? Il doit VRAIMENT aimer ça se péter les bretelles…
In entry #731, we looked at one of the different meanings of the verb péter, which is… to fart.
As usual, Rabii Rammal provides us with an illustrative example:
J’ai pété sur une fille.
I farted on a girl.
I assume you’d like to know a bit more than just how to talk about farting on people in French, so let’s look at some other uses of the verb péter.
In Québec, péter is pronounced pèter. The first vowel sounds like è rather than é. This is true for all the tenses of the verb péter.
In Québec, if someone farts “higher than the hole,” it’s because he’s acting like a pretentious ass! It’s a rude expression in French: péter plus haut que le trou. The French (in France) have a similar expression: péter plus haut que son cul, which literally means to fart higher than one’s ass.
When things burst, snap or explode, or if you break something, you can use the verb péter.
La bombe a pété. / La corde a pété.
The bomb exploded. / The rope snapped.
J’ai pété mes lunettes.
I smashed my glasses.
J’ai pété la vitre de l’auto.
I smashed the car window.
If it’s your temper that snapped, you could say…
J’ai pété une coche!
I went ballistic! I lost it!
Are you in really good health? Then…
Tu pètes de santé!
You’re bursting with health!
If you fart fire, it’s not because of something spicy you ate — it’s because you’re full of energy:
Je pète le feu!
I’m full of energy!
I’m in top shape!
In Québec, someone who brags will “snap his suspenders.”
se péter les bretelles
to brag, to boast
(literally: to snap one’s suspenders/braces)
Y’a pas de quoi se péter les bretelles!
There’s no reason to brag!
That’s nothing to brag about!
A graphic designer quoted on canoe.ca thinks Montrealers are full of themselves: À Montréal, on se pète toujours les bretelles en croyant qu’on est les meilleurs. (In Montréal, people always brag thinking they’re the best.)
There’s even a noun form: le pétage de bretelles.
A reader of the Journal de Montréal described the Olympics as an étalage superficiel et dégoûtant de pétage de bretelles (a superficial and disgusting display of boasting).
Or, if you prefer, you can speak of le pétage de broue, which means the same thing. In Québec, la broue is the foamy head that forms on beer. If you’re farting that stuff (tu pètes de la broue), then you’re bragging in Québec!
Arrête donc de péter de la broue!
(sounds like: arrête don de pèter d’la broue)
Will you stop bragging!
That’s a lot of vocab, so here it all is again in list form. The québécois expressions are followed by Québec.
1. péter sur une fille (to fart on a girl)
2. péter plus haut que le trou (to be a pretentious ass) Québec
3. une bombe qui pète (a bomb that explodes)
4. une corde qui pète (a rope that snaps)
5. péter ses lunettes (to smash one’s glasses)
6. péter une vitre (to smash a window)
7. péter une coche (to go ballistic) Québec
8. péter de santé (to be in perfect health)
9. péter le feu (to be full of energy)
10. se péter les bretelles (to brag) Québec
11. péter de la broue (to brag) Québec
12. le pétage de bretelles (bragging) Québec
13. le pétage de broue (bragging) Québec
Image credit: Evilox
I’ve made a change to the title. It originally said there were 5 québécois expressions in this post, but there are actually 6. I missed including péter une coche as québécois, but I’ve now added Québec to it in the list above.
Merci beaucoup Felix!
Another use of péter — I’m thinking of lyrics from the song “Nicole” by Les Trois Accords … “Nicole ramène moi au saloun … tu ma pété ma baloune …” — I had heard “péter la baloune” as a term for maxing out the Breathalyzer (“ivressomètre” in Canada; “éthylotest” in France), so I assumed that this use in the song basically means “you knocked my socks off” (i.e., I’m crazy about you) or something to that effect … do you agree? Merci Felix!
We could probably say “to burst one’s bubble” (péter la balloune de qn), in the sense of disappointing someone… see Johanne’s explanation, which sounds right. I forgot about this expression; it’s even already come up in a past entry: https://offqc.com/2011/02/17/quebec-french-expression-peter-la-balloune/
“Péter la balloune de quelqu’un” is more “to bring them down to earth” or to be disappointed – example: quand j’ai reçu les résultats de mon examen de philo, ça a pété ma balloune (when I was handed the results of my philosophy exams, I was disappointed)… and there’s another expression with “péter” also – “péter dans les fleurs” as in “vas donc péter dans les fleurs” which I have to confess, I haven’t heard in donkey’s years – meaning “go away” or “mind your own business” – hope this helps!
Va donc péter dans les fleurs (take a hike)… Forgot about that one. Is it even still used?
LOL – haven’t heard it since 1975 – “survival” French for U of T engineers during Frosh Week, just before a football game against McGill …