French · The Basics
Bordel !
bor-DEL · /bɔʁ.dɛl/
What a mess! / Chaos! — also 'what the hell' as an intensifier
2/5 Bar-safe
coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances
Literally
"Brothel"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
Literally a brothel, functionally "a total mess." "Quel bordel !" for a messy room, a disorganised office, a shambolic situation. Also freestanding as an angry "Bordel !" or wedged into "c'est quoi ce bordel ?" (what the hell is this?). Roughly merde-level, near-acceptable among peers at work; a standalone angry "Bordel !" has a bit more bite.
Heard in the wild
C'est quoi ce bordel ?
What the hell is this mess?
Where it lands
France (universal)
Quick answers
- What does "Bordel !" mean?
- In French, "Bordel !" means "What a mess! / Chaos! — also 'what the hell' as an intensifier". Literally it's "Brothel". Literally a brothel, functionally "a total mess." "Quel bordel !" for a messy room, a disorganised office, a shambolic situation. Also freestanding as an angry "Bordel !" or wedged into "c'est quoi ce bordel ?" (what the hell is this?). Roughly merde-level, near-acceptable among peers at work; a standalone angry "Bordel !" has a bit more bite.
- Is "Bordel !" offensive?
- It's on the mild end — 2/5 (Bar-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances.
- How do you pronounce "Bordel !"?
- Say it "bor-DEL" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: bɔʁ.dɛl.
Related in French
Putain ! poo-TAN Damn! / F***! / The all-purpose intensifier — punctuation, really Merde ! MEHRD Shit! / Damn! — and, bizarrely, 'good luck' Putain de merde ! poo-TAN duh MEHRD For f***'s sake! / Goddammit! Ta gueule ! ta GUHL Shut up! / Shut your mouth! Zut ! ZOOT Darn! / Shoot! Crotte ! KROT Poop! / Darn! — the polite-company dodge for 'merde'
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "What a mess".
- German Scheiße! Shit! / Damn! — the all-purpose German expletive
- Greek σκατά Shit! / Crap! — and 'garbage / terrible' for anything low quality.
- Italian Che casino! What a mess! / What chaos!
- Japanese めちゃくちゃ A total mess / all messed up (or: super, as an intensifier)
- Korean 어떡해 Oh no / what do I do?! — the national noise of small panic.
- Polish masakra A disaster / unbelievable / total carnage — the all-purpose 'this is insane.'
- Portuguese Merda! Shit! / Crap!
- Russian Капец! That's it, it's over / Damn / Whoa
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