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French · Exclamations

Purée !

poo-RAY · /py.ʁe/

Sheesh! / Dang! — the clean stand-in for 'putain'

1/5 Grandma-safe

mild, playful; fine on daytime TV

Literally

"Mashed potato / purée"

Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.

How to use it

"Putain" starts with the same sound, so "purée" is the reflex swerve when kids, parents, or clients are in earshot — like saying "shoot" to avoid "shit." Totally clean, faintly comic, and extremely common. "Punaise" (thumbtack/bedbug) is the other favourite dodge.

Heard in the wild

Purée, il fait froid ce matin !

Sheesh, it's cold this morning!

Where it lands

France (universal)

Quick answers

What does "Purée !" mean?
In French, "Purée !" means "Sheesh! / Dang! — the clean stand-in for 'putain'". Literally it's "Mashed potato / purée". "Putain" starts with the same sound, so "purée" is the reflex swerve when kids, parents, or clients are in earshot — like saying "shoot" to avoid "shit." Totally clean, faintly comic, and extremely common. "Punaise" (thumbtack/bedbug) is the other favourite dodge.
Is "Purée !" offensive?
It's on the mild end — 1/5 (Grandma-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. mild, playful; fine on daytime TV.
How do you pronounce "Purée !"?
Say it "poo-RAY" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: py.ʁe.

Related in French

Putain ! poo-TAN Damn! / F***! / The all-purpose intensifier — punctuation, really Merde ! MEHRD Shit! / Damn! — and, bizarrely, 'good luck' Bordel ! bor-DEL What a mess! / Chaos! — also 'what the hell' as an intensifier Putain de merde ! poo-TAN duh MEHRD For f***'s sake! / Goddammit! Zut ! ZOOT Darn! / Shoot! Crotte ! KROT Poop! / Darn! — the polite-company dodge for 'merde'

The same idea, elsewhere

Via concepts like "Damn".

how to say "Damn" →

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