FR: Ça la fout mal

[t k]

Bonjour.
In the expression "Ça la fout mal", is "la" a pronoun?
I cannot think of anything else it may be.
If it is, why is it "la" in stead of "le"?
Merci. --- tk

 

[Maître Capello]

It is indeed a pronoun. It is just part of a set expression where la doesn't really refer to anything specific.

See also this blog:

Puisque « ça la fout mal » est l'équivalent très familier de « ça fait mauvais effet », on peut être tenté par les féminins situation, affaire, etc. Mais, l'hypothèse à peine avancée, on ressent aussitôt ce qu'elle recèle d'éminemment subjectif.

 

[alex_s]

Wouldn't "le" sound unnatural in this phrase's literal meaning?

 

[Maître Capello]

Yes, le wouldn't be idiomatic here.

 

[Swatters]

There's a lot of expressions with a dummy la pronoun: se la jouer, se la péter, se la croire, (se) la ramener, ça la donne (+adj), ça la fout (+adj), etc.

I'm not sure sure there needs to have been a specific feminine NP source for all of these, they probably all influence each other