Translating hackneyed sayings into French

Some things I say far too often, so I’d like to be able to say them in French for a fresh and exotic twist:

“It’s not rocket science”

“You’re only young once” (I’ve got as far as “On est seulement jeun un fois (…???))

“What’s the worst that could happen?”

Google translate doesn’t quite capture the desired sentiments…

Your help is much appreciated, and feel free to add more sayings!

La derriere de ma tante ist Große und Blau.

I’m well aware of that, and I love it just the way it is, though votre mère’s just beats it…

Je pète dans votre direction générale

Le singe est dans l’abre

Ou est le singe?

Au coin de la rue

In seriousness,

Direct translations of sayings are usually nonsensical. I’ve seen some that have come the other way from various languages (can’t remember where I saw it now, google?) and they’re gibberish.

Montrez-moi le singe! Montrez-moi le singe! – Jerry MacGuire

Thank you for your contributions. 😉

Yeah, I’m aware that direct translations are usually nonsense, hence the disappointment with Google translate. What I’m looking for are translations of these phrases that are as close as possible whilst still retaining the spirit of the original. Does that make any sense…?

Cougar is right, idiom doesn’t usually translate well.

Aw, but surely there is a way…

Like, I dunno, “C’est n’est pas science d’rocket!” but more accurate.

c’est la vie = that’s life. pretty literal translation.

thank you “Not The Nine O’Clock News”

Suppose it depends who you’re planning to say it to; if it’s fellow Brits it probably doesn’t matter if it’s wrong!

I can’t help you though, I don’t speak french.

It’s not rocket science = Ce n’est pas sorcier (closest)

Nice idea. More here for you. Most are a bit junk but I like the idea of being able to translate muffin top

“It’s not rocket science”

“C’est pas sorcier” or “Il fuat pas avoir fait Saint Cyr”

“You’re only young once” (I’ve got as far as “On est seulement jeun un fois (…???))[/quote] “On a vingt ans qu’une fois”

“What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Quel est le pire qu’il puisse arriver/que pourrait-il y avoir de pire”

Hackney saying = proverbe 😉

This book was very useful for me during my year in France at Uni 😉

Quite old fashioned phrases in many cases though, much to the amusement of my peers.

Il fuat pas avoir fait Saint Cyr

What’s that mean literally?

BOEUF!

SOUPE DU JOUR!

I was thinking the other day about how you would explain the term “rubbernecker” to a foreign.

French? You’re just not trying hard enough…

“Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.”

When on a work placement during my year in France I called someone a “brown noser” loosely translated into French without really thinking about its connotations. After I’d painfully explained the meaning behind the phrase (with some light acting and gesturing thrown in) my colleagues looked at me with a mixture of pity and disgust and I really wish I’d never said it in the first place…

hackney patois to French would be a challenge er innit

The motto of the French Navy is “A l’eau c’est l’heure” [To the water, it is time].

In the original French it has a whole layer of meaning that is lost when its translated. Try saying it out loud in French and I’m sure you’ll agree.

“Tout bouche, aucun pantalons”

“Facile, Tigre!”

bu**er than for un jeu de soldats

to molgrips
Saint Cyr is a military school created by the short tempered one (no not the actual president the old one who ruled most of Europe). It was created with the concept of excellence in mind. Graduating from Saint Cyr is still nowadays something regarded as a difficult accomplishment (lets face it it’s not to be honest it’s a military school). So basically the proverbs means that something is easy so even is you didn’t graduated from Saint Cyr you should be able to understand/make it. The conundrum of this is you can actually say: “Il faut avoir fait Saint Cyr” meaning it’s rocket science 😉

Thank you all again for your continuing contributions. Thanks for the link, leffeboy, and thank you so much, juan, for your lovely nativeness.

Erm… laissez le bon temps rouler! (Quite want to have the opportunity to use that phrase everyday.)