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The French quote "Ta gueule" explained

Ready to find out everything you want to know about the funny idiom "Ta gueule"? It includes a detailed guide of what it is and how to use it in everyday life with an audio example. But that's not all, we also added useful things like dialogue example, slow pronunciation audio, synonym and more!


English translation

  • Translation : Shut up

  • Literal meaning : Your mouth

  • Register : Informal - Funny - Swear

How to pronounce it?

Slow

Normal

  • IPA : / ta ɡœl /

aesthetic french quote ta gueule

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What does ta gueule mean?

Definition

The literal meaning is:

How to use it

There are many ways to say "Shut up" in French and even if it's never a pleasant thing to say, some ways are (much) more harsh than others.

You can find all the possibilities in the section "Synonyms" below, but basically if you want to say it "Politely" you can say: "Arrête de parler" or "Chut" or "Silence".

To say it "Vulgarly" use instead: "La ferme" or "Ta gueule" or "Ferme ta gueule"

But... What about "Tais-toi"? Well, it's right between these two groups: neither super polite, nor very vulgar. That's why it's better to use it with people you are comfortable with and definitely not in a work environment.

Synonyms / Related

↓ Example in a story with French audio ↓

Finally, let's see an example in a parallel story with slow audio.

L'humour au second degré

Second degree humor

En France, nous utilisons beaucoup "L'humour au second degré".
In France, we use a lot the "Second degree humor"
Pour comprendre ce que c'est, il faut savoir qu'avant le "second degré", il y a le "premier degré".
To understand what it is, you must know that before the "second degree", there is the "first degree".
Quand vous parlez au "premier degré" vous pensez vraiment ce que vous dites...
When you talk at the "first degree" you really think what you are saying.
Il n'y a pas de sous-entendu ni d'interprétation cachée.
There is no implication or hidden interpretation.
Mais quand vous parlez au "second degré" cela veut dire que vous faites de l'ironie, du sarcasme ou de l'humour.
But when you talk at the "second degree" it means that you are doing irony, sarcasm or humor.

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