French · Joy & Hype
Ça déchire !
sa day-SHEER · /sa de.ʃiʁ/
That rocks! / That's awesome!
1/5 Grandma-safe
mild, playful; fine on daytime TV
Literally
"It tears/rips"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
A concert, a game, a meal that "tears it up." Wholly positive, clean, a touch informal — the enthusiastic "this rules." "Ça déchire sa race" cranks it up (and adds mild coarseness). Safe to shout at a gig.
Heard in the wild
Le nouveau album ? Ça déchire !
The new album? It rocks!
Where it lands
France (universal)
Quick answers
- What does "Ça déchire !" mean?
- In French, "Ça déchire !" means "That rocks! / That's awesome!". Literally it's "It tears/rips". A concert, a game, a meal that "tears it up." Wholly positive, clean, a touch informal — the enthusiastic "this rules." "Ça déchire sa race" cranks it up (and adds mild coarseness). Safe to shout at a gig.
- Is "Ça déchire !" 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 "Ça déchire !"?
- Say it "sa day-SHEER" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: sa de.ʃiʁ.
Related in French
Oh la vache ! oh la VASH Holy cow! / Wow! / Whoa! C'est ouf ! say OOF That's insane! / Crazy! (good or bad) C'est de la balle ! say duh la BAL It's the bomb! / Awesome! Grave ! GRAHV Totally! / For real! / So much (intensifier) Putain, c'est trop bien ! poo-TAN say troh BYAN F***, this is so good! La classe ! la KLASS Classy! / So cool! / Stylish!
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "That's awesome".
- German Geil! Awesome! / Sick! / Hell yes!
- Greek ρε μαλάκα Hey man / dude / bro — the affectionate-insult greeting between friends.
- Italian Figo! Cool! / Awesome! / Sick!
- Japanese やばい Insane / crazy / no way — good OR bad, from context
- Korean 존나 Fucking / hella — the vulgar intensifier that goes in front of everything.
- Polish zajebisty Fucking awesome / badass — the great slang-POSITIVE of the jebać family.
- Portuguese Do caralho Fucking awesome — OR, with 'casa do', the middle of nowhere
- Russian Класс! Awesome! / Great! / Cool!
Reviewed by native speakers. Rate it differently? Tell us what we got wrong.