Since I started learning French, I have always looked for the best way to express "I don't care." I, of course, learned the most neutral expression, which can be found in the dictionary, when I was at AU- "Ça m'est égal," literally "It is equal to me." This is fine for expressing simple lack of interest or stating that you don't care whether you go to this restaurant or that one. However, when stronger emotion is needed, "Ça m'est égal" just won't do.
One reason that I love being able to live in France for 10 months is learning some very useful, though sometimes vulgar, expressions. There are so many ways to express "I don't care" in English, from "It doesn't matter to me" or "I couldn't care less" to Rhett Butler's stronger expression or the same expression with the f word. As in English, there are a variety of expressions in French. Here are those I've learned and heard frequently since being in France. They go from weak to strong, from polite to vulgar.
Ça m'est égal- Again, this is simply, "I don't care," "I don't have a preference."
Je m'en moque- Still pretty polite. I've heard teachers use this in front of their students.
Je m'en fiche- Not the strongest, or the most polite.
Je m'en fous - The strongest. It is vulgar. I've heard kids at school use this, and then tattle on each other for saying it.
Now, I can be pretty sure that Rhett Butler would have said something like, "Franchement chérie, je m'en fous." What may be stranger than my wonderment about the translation of this phrase, is that I've never actually seen Gone with the Wind! Maybe I should put that on my to do list. Do you think there is a version that has French subtitles, so I can see if I'm right about the translation?
Actually the French translation in the film is pretty awful: Franchement, ma chère, c'est le cadet de mes soucis.
ReplyDeleteSo not the same meaning!!!