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The French expression "Je m'en bats les couilles"

You are in the right place to discover everything you need to know about the funny French idiom "Je m'en bats les couilles". It includes a detailed guide of what it is and how to use it in a casual conversation with an audio example. As well as the useful stuff we added like slow pronunciation audio, synonyms, dialogue example and more!

English translation

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  Translation : I don't give a f*ck

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  Literal meaning : I'm beating my balls with it

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  Register : Informal - Funny - Swear

Pronunciation example

Slow

Normal

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  IPA : / ʒə mɑ̃ ba le kuj /

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What does it mean?

Definition

This vulgar French expression means “I don't give a fuck”. But it literally means “I'm beating my balls with it”.

As you probably guessed, it's extremely vulgar and you shouldn't use it in official situations, like with teachers, boss, etc.

It's also useful to know that a "polite" way of saying it exists and it's "Peu importe" (It doesn't matter much). Ça m'est égal. ("It's egal to me") is quite polite too. Check the "Synonyms" chapter below for more variations.

How to use it

Someone asks you which is your favorite football team, but you don't care about football... you can say "Le foot, je m'en bats les couilles." (I don't give a fuck about football)

Now your boss asks you if you prefer working tomorrow or the day after, you can say: "Peu importe." (It doesn't matter much).

Funny stuff

There are infinite ways to express this feeling in French, most of them very vulgar, but I personally have a favourite one...

And it's: "Ça m'en touche une sans faire bouger l'autre." which means "It's touching one without the second one moving". And it's talking about...men's genitals. Classy, huh?

Check the list below if you want to find your favorite one!

Synonyms / Related

They are sorted from the more "formal" to the more "vulgar", even though this is not an exact science and can vary depending on people, culture, religion, etc.

• Peu importe. ("It doesn't matter much")
• Ça m'est égal. ("It's equal to me")
• Je m'en moque. ("I'm mocking it")
• Ça me passe par dessus la tête. ("It's going above my head")
• Ça me passe par dessus la jambe. ("It's going above my leg")
• J'en ai rien à faire. ("I have nothing to do with it")
• Rien à cirer. ("Nothing to wax")
• Je m'en fiche. ("I don't care")
• Je m'en fous. ("I don't care")
• Je m'en bats l'oeil. ("I'm beating my eye with it")
• Je m'en balance. ("I'm swinging with it")
• Je m'en tape. ("I'm beating myself with it")
• Je m'en contre fiche. ("I don't give a f**k")
• Je m'en contrefous. ("I don't give a f**k")
• J'en m'en tamponne le coquillard. ("I'm stamping my shell with it")
• J'en m'en tamponne le coquillard avec une queue de hareng. ("I'm stamping my shell with a herring's tail")
• Ça m'en touche une sans faire bouger l'autre. ("It's touching one without the second one moving")
• J'en ai rien à foutre. ("I have nothing to f**k with it")
• J'en ai rien à branler. ("I have nothing to masturbate with it")
• Je m'en branle. ("I'm masturbating with it")
• Je m'en bats les steaks. ("I'm beating my steaks with it")
• Je m'en bats les couilles. ("I'm beating my balls with it")
• Je m'en bats la race. ("I'm beating my race with it")