camp (effeminate)

[temple09]

Hi,

I am struggling to find a French word when referring to "camp" - the adjective to describe a person, or the actions of a person who is effeminate. The type who acts in a very elaborate way - which is always associated with being gay (although of course, not all camp people are gay, and vice versa).
I have heard cabotin used, but I am unsure as to whether this specifies the effeminate nature or correllates with the "gay style" of doing things.
Are there any other words or phrases which may suit?

 

[Guill]

Hello,

Doesn't "effeminé" stick ? Otherwise, I guess you'll have to make up a paraphrasis : Il agit comme un gay (or any other word, depending on how colloquial the conversation is).

 

[doinel]

Il faut, je crois, garder l'adjectif ' camp' , utilisé souvent dans la presse féminine et ailleurs

 

[philosophia]

Just like Guill, my first thought was efféminé.
Someone who acts in an elaborate way can also be called "maniéré" (but you can be maniéré without being efféminé) or "précieux" – but the latter is not very frequently used, I reckon.

Doinel, I'm not sure about keeping "camp" as such. I had never heard it until now, and I'm afraid I may not be the only one.

Edit : could "chochotte" (sissy) fit? Or is it too derogatory?
Edit2 : maybe "grande folle" would work : il est très grande folle, il fait sa grande folle, il fait son numéro de grand folle.
P.S. : Un cabotin is someone who's making a show of himself in order to attract attention, but it has nothing to do with being effeminate.

 

[missjojo]

maniéré and précieux sound appropriate to me.

 

[temple09]

Just like Guill, my first thought was efféminé.
Someone who acts in an elaborate way can also be called "maniéré" (but you c an be maniéré without being efféminé)
Edit : could "chochotte" (sissy) fit? Or is it too derogatory?

Maybe maniéré may be a good one. I may have described "camp" poorly when I said "effeminate". The two are not always synonymous.
A "camp" person exaggerates all movements, will shriek instead of laugh, will throw their hands all over the place when they are speaking, will wobble their head with each word they say, and all of this is done in a gay-style theatrical way.

 

[philosophia]

A "camp" person exaggerates all movements, will shriek instead of laugh, will throw their hands all over the place when they are speaking, will wobble their head with each word they say, and all of this is done in a gay-style theatrical way.

"Chochotte" is not at all what you're after (hence my second Edit), but "grande folle" might fit because it's not pejorative.
Would you have a few example sentences?

For instance, I read a few years ago that Rupert Everett had made a fabulous come back by playing "une grande folle" in My best Friend's wedding and it seems to me that his character is camp.

 

[missjojo]

Maybe maniéré may be a good one. I may have described "camp" poorly when I said "effeminate". The two are not always synonymous.
A "camp" person exaggerates all movements, will shriek instead of laugh, will throw their hands all over the place when they are speaking, will wobble their head with each word they say, and all of this is done in a gay-style theatrical way.

Votre explication en anglais correspond bien à l'adjectif français "maniéré" je trouve.

 

[Cath.S.]

Plein de mots différents, dont plusieurs ont déjà été cités, pourraient convenir, mais comment décider sans contexte ? Sans phrase précise ?

 

[temple09]

Plein de mots différents, dont plusieurs ont déjà été cités, pourraient convenir, mais comment décider sans contexte ? Sans phrase précise ?

I don't have a precise phrase which I am trying to translate. I was merely searching for the word when I was trying to describe someone to a French friend. The person in question acts very similarly to Jack in "Will and Grace".

 

[Cath.S.]

Ok.
Then I'll just say that grande folle always designates an effeminate gay guy and is imo fairly pejorative.
Maniéré is better imo.

 

[missjojo]

Maniéré et grande folle lui vont comme un gant !!!!!!

 

[timpeac]

Camp in English doesn't necessarily mean that the person being talked about is gay. In fact I think it's quite a common context that you mention that so-and-so isn't gay despite how camp they are. Maniéré sounds good to me from what I've read above.

 

[Keith Bradford]

Mon glossaire du transgenre (me contacter par PM pour en obtenir une copie) donne :

camp
affected, effeminate, kitsch
camp
maniéré, efféminé, tapette, kitsch

 

[Guill]

"tapette" is very rude ! It's the same as "pédale" ! Not to be used unless you want to insult the person...
I'm not that familiar with "kitsch" but for me it means "old-fashioned" rather than "camp" or "gay".

 

[temple09]

kitsch (in my experience) is used to describe objects - but has the same effect as "camp" - for example, a "kitsch" table would be very elegant, maybe quite ostentacious, but in a way which is also a little bit ... "gay".
This whole exercise is making me realise that we need more adjectives in our mutual languages!

 

[Cath.S.]

Definitely not tapette, not only for the reasons Guill wrote, but also because it's not an adjective.

 

[Punky Zoé]

Bonjour

"Affecté" est également utilisé.

 

[Keith Bradford]

Definitely not tapette, not only for the reasons Guill wrote, but also because it's not an adjective.

Ah bon ? "Il fait très tapette, lui" as a translation of "He's as camp as a row of pink tents" ????

 

[philosophia]

Ah bon ? "Il fait très tapette, lui" as a translation of "He's as camp as a row of pink tents" ????

Bof... Ce serait une traduction très plate et insultante – je suis d'accord avec Guill et Cath – pour une phrase imagée.
Je dirais plutôt :
Il est aussi folle que Priscilla dans le désert.
Plus folle que lui, tu meurs
Plus folle que lui, t'es bon pour Charles Perrens (Hôpital psychiatrique de Bordeaux – adaptation locale requise).

 

[Keith Bradford]

I agree, but I was responding to the statement: "it's not an adjective". In my sentence, "Il fait très tapette, lui" is tapette not an adjective? When qualified by très...? Or is my sentence not possible?

You know, we're very used to this in English, turning nouns into adjectives at will.

 

[Guill]

I agree, but I was responding to the statement: "it's not an adjective". In my sentence, "Il fait très tapette, lui" is tapette not an adjective? When qualified by très...? Or is my sentence not possible?

You know, we're very used to this in English, turning nouns into adjectives at will.

It's exactly what happens here in French. As if I said "T'as vu ses lunettes ? Ca fait très Laurent Blanc [= The manager of France Football Team]". It's correct when you speak, though I'm not sure it's grammatically correct if you write... So "tapette" is definitely not an adjective (No one could say "Il est tapette" but "C'est une tapette").