Discover the French phrase "Fait chier"

We are going to explain you all the things you want to know about the funny phrase “Fait chier”.

This include a detailed explanation of what it is and how you can use it in a casual conversation with an audio example. And because learning a new language is a big deal, we also added some super useful stuff like slow pronunciation audio, dialogue example and more!

Oh and before I forget, you will also find more of these phrases pages on this page plus all our French words explained on this page. Ready to learn? Let’s go!

Table of Contents

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French to English

Pronunciation guide

Slow pronunciation

Normal pronunciation

What does fait chier ! mean?

Definition

“Fait chier” literally means “makes poop” but implies “It makes me poop“. That’s a common French swear expression used to say “Shit” or “Crap” or “Damn“.

How to use

“Merde / Putain / Bordel / Fait chier” are used exactly like “Crap / Fuck / Shit / etc.” in English. But we like to make a sentence out of them according to the level of angriness and vulgarity we want.

So the more of “Merde / Putain / Bordel / Fait chier” we use in one sentence and the more pissed we are. And we also often add “Oh” before to make it more dramatic, let’s see how it works…

Vulgar (Just one swear word):

  • Merde. → Shit
  • Putain. → Fuck (Literally: whore)
  • Bordel. → Fuck (Literally: brothel)
  • Fait chier. → It pisses me off (Literally: (it) makes (me) poop)
  • Oh merde. → Oh shit
  • Oh putain. → Oh fuck
  • Oh bordel. →Oh fuck
  • Oh fait chier. → Oh, it pisses me off

Super vulgar (x2 combo):

  • (Oh) Putain de merde. → (Oh) Fucking shit
  • (Oh) Bordel de merde. → (Oh) Fucking shit
  • (Oh) Fait chier putain. → (Oh) Fuck, it pisses me off
  • (Oh) Fait chier bordel. → (Oh) Fuck, it pisses me off
  • (Oh) Merde, fait chier. → (Oh) Fucking shit
  • (Oh) Putain, fait chier. → (Oh) Fucking shit

Super mega vulgar (x3 combo):

Infinite vulgarity (x4 combo):

  • (Oh) Fait chier putain de bordel de merde. → This shit pisses me off bloody fucking hell
  • (Oh) Fait chier bordel de putain de merde. → This shit pisses me off bloody fucking hell
  • (Oh) Putain de bordel de merde fait chier. → Bloody fucking hell, this shit pisses me off
  • (Oh) Bordel de putain de merde fait chier. → Bloody fucking hell, this shit pisses me off

Finally, if you really want to express your frustration in formal contexts without using bad swear words, you can use instead:

  • Mince. → Darn
  • Zut. → Heck
  • Flûte. → Heck (Literally: flute)
  • Oh mince. → Oh darn
  • Oh zut. → Oh heck
  • Oh flûte. → Oh heck (Literally: oh flute)

N.B: It’s not “formal” per se but “neutral” and so it won’t be shocking

N.B.2: some translations above are a bit approximative since there is no direct English equivalent, but it reflects the spirit of each possibility as close as possible from the French version.

Fun fact

French pro trick: sometimes you start to say naturally “Merde” (Shit) but before finishing the first syllable you realize you are in a formal context and that it wouldn’t be appropriate.

So, if you just said “Mmm” you can switch to “Mince” which is not vulgar and has the same meaning → Mmmm…ince.

But if you already said “Merrrr“, instead of finishing the word “Merde” you say “Mercredi” (Wednesday) instead → Mer…credi. In this case people will know you almost said “Merde” but it’s still better than actually saying it.)

Dialogue example

Audio dialogue by French natives

Dialogue audio

Dialogue script

Bordel ! Il pleut comme vache qui pisse ! “
” Dammit, it’s raining like a peeing cow! “
” Oh non, ça fait chier ! “
” Oh crap! “
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