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On this page, we are going to explain you all the things you need to know about the basic French idiom “Tu me casses les noisettes”.
To be clear, this includes a full explanation of what it is and how to use it in a normal conversation with an audio example. Not to mention the useful things we sprinkled like slow pronunciation audio, dialogue example, synonyms and more!
Oh and before I forget, you will find more of these idioms pages on this page and the ultimate list of all our French words guides on this page. Wish you a good learning!
Slow pronunciation
Normal pronunciation
Sometimes you might get so annoyed by someone that you feel like a physical pain in your body. Like if someone was crushing a part of you… your nuts for example! Isn’t it annoying (and painful) to have someone crushing your nuts?
Every time someone annoys you with their behavior, their words or even just their presence you can say: “Tu me casses les noisettes“. For a more complete sentence, you can add before “Arrête !” (Stop!) or “Ça suffit !” (That’s enough!)
This is not something very nice to say, but it’s actually one of the nicest ways to express this feeling in French. The softest would be “Tu m’embêtes” (You annoy me).
But as you probably guessed, you should be careful with this one anyway and avoid using it in a formal situation, at work for example.
This structure is super powerful because you can adapt it to infinite situations. To be more precise, you can play with three things: the angriness level, the vulgarity level and reason why you are angry,
To increase the angriness level, you can replace the verb “casser” by “briser” (to crush) or “péter” (“to break” but more violent)
Then, if you are really pissed and don’t care about being vulgar, you can replace “Noisettes” (Hazelnuts) by “Couilles” (Balls).
Finally, if you want to be more precise about why you are pissed, you can replace “Noisettes” with the part of your body that is concerned. For example, if someone is talking loudly, you can say: “Tu me casses les oreilles.” (You are breaking my ears.)
Basically, you just have to start with “Tu me casses…” (You are breaking my…) and be creative.