bombarder (intransitif)

S

Sam302

Senior Member
New York
American English
Bonjour,

This is in the French reality series L'Agence. Facing the camera, the 'character' has just finished recounting the contre-temps that nearly caused him to be late for his brother's wedding. He's about to drive from Paris to Ile de Ré.
"C'est bon, maintenant c'est derrière moi. Il me reste cinq heures. Je bombarde."
Je connais les usages de bombarder au figuré, mais pas celui-ci, et je n'ai rien trouvé dans les dictionnaires.
C'est de l'argot relativement récent peut-être?
Je suppose que c'est l'équivalent de "je fonce"?
Merci beaucoup d'avance
 
    • I forgot to suggest an English translation: in AE, "to haul ass" is what immediately comes to mind, a very common expression. "Put the pedal to the metal" is great, except you're probably more likely to hear that in a song than in actual speech (for no serious reason I imagine it in a country song 🤠)
     
    Last edited:
    Sam302 said:
    I forgot to suggest an English translation: in AE, "to haul ass" is what immediately comes to mind, a very common expression. "Put the pedal to the medal" is great, except you're probably more likely to hear that in a song than in actual speech (for no serious reason I imagine it in a country song 😁)
    Click to expand...
    It was just for fun, but don't expect to get a "medal" for that.:)
     
    Sam302 said:
    I forgot to suggest an English translation: in AE, "to haul ass" is what immediately comes to mind, a very common expression.
    Click to expand...
    When I hear "haul ass," the image I have is of someone leaving a place (on foot, or in a vehicle) as quickly as possible.
    In this particular context, the emphasis is not on getting out/away from something unpleasant or dangerous, but rather of speeding in a car over a long distance.
    Perhaps: "I had my pedal to the metal the whole way there."
     
    Last edited:
    FYI I've started a dictionary suggestion thread on this subject, French to English - bombarder, if you'd like to follow its progress.

    (To do that, I went to the dictionary entry page and clicked the link that says Un oubli important ? Signalez une erreur ou suggérez une amélioration.)
     
    misterk said:
    When I hear "haul ass," the image I have is of someone leaving a place (on foot, or in a vehicle) as quickly as possible.
    In this particular context, the emphasis is not on getting out/away from something unpleasant or dangerous, but rather of speeding in a car over a long distance.
    Perhaps: "I had my pedal to the metal the whole way there."
    Click to expand...
    We need to be precise here. Yes, the context is one of recounting the past. But as a language question, it is important to note that the sentence I quoted is not in the past tense.

    So our question here is: how do you say "je bombarde" in English. Furthermore, as I explained, "he is about to drive from Paris to Ile de Re". So that's the perspective of the actual sentence. Therefore, I'd say "I gotta haul ass" works pretty well. It's important that when we're translating speech we choose words that would sound just as natural as the original content (not sure "I gotta put the pedal to the metal" can be said with a straight face).

    As a final point, I'll mention that 'haul ass' does not necessarily express leaving -- it can simply mean to go really fast, or both, which is how it was commonly used when I was growing up. (I had to look it up in several places to be sure, as I'm the first to admit my brain is going soft in my middle age).

    PS. There is perhaps one problem with haul ass, and it's the vulgarity -- which of course you don't have in bombarder.
     
    Last edited:
    Bonjour,

    Je me demande s'il n'y a pas une confusion avec bomber. Je ne trouve aucune référence à ce sens même dans les dictionnaires d'argot. Ou alors c'est régional ?
     
    J'ai la flemme de chercher des références, mais je confirme que dans mon entourage on utilise "bombarder", que ça soit sur la route, ou lorsqu'on a du travail en retard et qu'on va devoir s'y mettre de façon intensive, par exemple.
     
    You must log in or register to reply here.
    Back
    Top