brain fart , brain burp, brain cramp, brain laps
- Thread starter Bamérique
- Start date
Kind of. It's when your brain lapses and you are at a loss to explain it otherwise. Not just when you say something stupid, but also when you forget something important, like someone's name you should definitely know.
So then, my question would be, is this still un pet d'esprit?
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I would say j'ai zappé sur son nom
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"ça m'a échappé" (meaning my mouth was faster to speak than my brain to think it through... I didn't mean to say that / to say it like that, etc.)
"je l'ai sur le bout de la langue" (meaning I know I know it but I can't seem to put my finger on it right now, hopefully it will come if I keep raking my brains out)
"je perds la tête" or "où j'avais la tête !" (probably closer to BE "senior moments", the first one would be more for something you can't manage to remember, and the second for something stupid you said)
"pet de l'esprit" definitely doesn't exist in French! If somebody said that, people would stare in confusion
"je l'ai sur le bout de la langue" (meaning I know I know it but I can't seem to put my finger on it right now, hopefully it will come if I keep raking my brains out)
"je perds la tête" or "où j'avais la tête !" (probably closer to BE "senior moments", the first one would be more for something you can't manage to remember, and the second for something stupid you said)
"pet de l'esprit" definitely doesn't exist in French! If somebody said that, people would stare in confusion
J'appellerais cela "un trou de mémoire".
Et je suis d'accord avec Jessila, je n'ai jamais entendu l'expression "pet de l'esprit"!
"Excusez-moi pour cet oubli, j'ai quelques neurones qui ont du claquer/péter (populaire)".
Un trou de mémoire, un blanc.
As explained in #6 and #7 "pet de l'esprit" or "pet" in any other form, would not fit here. As an equivalent, in addition to my #8, I would suggest :
J'ai des ratés (misfire) dans la cervelle.
J'ai des ratés (misfire) dans la cervelle.
In Québec, "J'ai un blanc" and "J'ai un blanc de mémoire" are commonly used.
I understand brain fart the same way that Bamérique does in the original post: an error due to a lapse in judgment or reasoning ability, attributed to a momentary dysfunction of the brain as an excuse. Brain cramp is sometimes used. A senior moment is a cuter way to say it.
Please disregard my suggestion, I had a brain fart.
Ne tenez pas compte de ma suggestion, j'ai eu un moment d'aberration.
Please disregard my suggestion, I had a brain fart.
Ne tenez pas compte de ma suggestion, j'ai eu un moment d'aberration.
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I actually heard that one more often than brain fart.
Or rather, its litteral French equivalent : une crampe au cerveau. As in... Oubliez ma suggestion; j'ai eu une (petite) crampe au cerveau.
I think we can safely assume that this one is a quebecism.
« pet de l'esprit » does exist in french, but only in a famous quote « un calembour est un pet de l'esprit », meaning that a « calembour » is a form of word play rated so low in regard to wits and spirits that it can be considered as a fart.
A « calembour » is a cheap way of putting words or parts of words togethers to make them sound as another phrase. Latest example that comes to my mind : « Laclos rit des lilas » for « La Closerie des Lilas » (Laclos is a famous french writer of the XVIIIth century)
Pierre Desproges came up with that phrase, in reference to Victor Hugo, who said it in a slightly different way : "The calembour is the droppings of the flying spirit"
A « calembour » is a cheap way of putting words or parts of words togethers to make them sound as another phrase. Latest example that comes to my mind : « Laclos rit des lilas » for « La Closerie des Lilas » (Laclos is a famous french writer of the XVIIIth century)
Pierre Desproges came up with that phrase, in reference to Victor Hugo, who said it in a slightly different way : "The calembour is the droppings of the flying spirit"
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Depending whom i am talking to, but with my friends i usually use: "mon cerveau a buggé"/ "j'ai le cerveau qui bug" or "j'ai eu un bug de cerveau" though i dont know if someone else says this too.
The exquisite phrase means that you really do know something, but just cannot remember it at the moment; temporary forgetfulness. Also rather indelicately called a "brain fart" as well. Would this simply be "bloquer" as in "Je bloque"?
"J'ai un trou de mémoire" works really well. Perhaps more colloquial is "J'ai un blanc." I can't think of anything carrying the same flavour as your American phrase.
Hello,
While a literal translation such as « pet du cerveau » or « pet cérébral » wouldn't work, in my opinion, both the meaning and register aren't exactly the same if you say « trou de mémoire ». That, in English, would normally be "a memory lapse/blank".
I think pointvirgule's suggestion of moment d'aberration, is closer to the exact meaning.
I wonder what a Franco-French equivalent of the quebecism crampe au cerveau would be.
While a literal translation such as « pet du cerveau » or « pet cérébral » wouldn't work, in my opinion, both the meaning and register aren't exactly the same if you say « trou de mémoire ». That, in English, would normally be "a memory lapse/blank".
I think pointvirgule's suggestion of moment d'aberration, is closer to the exact meaning.
I wonder what a Franco-French equivalent of the quebecism crampe au cerveau would be.
Hi Nicomon,
In my #8 I suggested des neurônes qui claquent/pètent.
I believe these are quite close to crampe au cerveau.
In my #8 I suggested des neurônes qui claquent/pètent.
I believe these are quite close to crampe au cerveau.
That sounds similar to snapped synapses -- this medical term has also become a humorous description for memory loss. It's probably popular because of its alliteration.
I must have had some snapped synapses when I said that...
Merci rolmich. Je devais avoir le cerveau endormi, à 0:45 h du matin... j'ai zappé le post #8.
J'aime bien aussi ta suggestion suivante (#13) : « ratés dans la cervelle. »
J'aime bien aussi ta suggestion suivante (#13) : « ratés dans la cervelle. »
A"brain cramp" is when you can't think of something like a name), "je cale", "j'ai un trou de mémoire; a "senior moment" (see Golf Brooks's hilarious song "Senior Moments...Brain Farts") is when you can't remember why you've come into a room, for instance - the type of incident that makes you aware you're aging and, if it begins to happen fairly frequently, makes you wonder if it's the onset of Alzheimer's. For "brain cramp", I sometimes say "My neurons misfired" ("J'ai une panne de neurones"), as I mentioned in a much earlier diferent thread.
Hello. How would one translate "brain cramp" into French?
For example, if a soccer player kicked the ball into his own goal, one would say he had a brain cramp.
Would "Il a eu un moment de folie" or "Il a eu une panne de cerveau" fit in this situation?
Thank-you
For example, if a soccer player kicked the ball into his own goal, one would say he had a brain cramp.
Would "Il a eu un moment de folie" or "Il a eu une panne de cerveau" fit in this situation?
Thank-you
You'll notice that the participants didn't seem to agree on the exact definition of those terms. I do like your suggestion of panne de cerveau, though.
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There is also the use of "disjoncter"( = to fuse, to short-circuit) in french, not very far , I think . The popular /slang version "péter un plomb" (with the same electric origin) carries an idea of violence but "disjoncter" could convey an idea like "brain breakdown".
I was told the brain is an electrical machine
I was told the brain is an electrical machine
or in the same register "Il a (complètement) vrillé", but note that it's very popular/slang expression
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Merci beaucoup tout le monde!