Advertisement

French word of the day: Arrière-pensée

The Local France
The Local France - [email protected]
French word of the day: Arrière-pensée
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond"

Do you know what people are really thinking?

Advertisement

Why do I need to know arrière-pensée?

Because it's one of those expressions that you'll be keen to directly translate from English, but it won't make sense if you do.

What does it mean?

Arrière-pensée literally translates to 'behind-thought', which is the French way of saying that someone has an 'ulterior motive' or a 'hidden agenda'.
 
You can't say agenda caché (hidden agenda) or mobile ultérieure (ulterior motive) in French. It doesn't sound too bad, but a French person would not understand what you meant (they would perhaps even think you'd taken their journal and hidden it from them).
 

Advertisement

 
When you think about it, arrière-pensée is a pretty good way of phrasing it, as the real thought literally is hidden behind the expressed thought. It's not spoken, it's just a suspicion.
 
The underlying thought is not necessarily bad - it can also be something nice too - but more often than not the expression is used in the pejorative sense.
 
Use it like this
 
Tu es vraiment belle aujourd'hui, et je te le dis sans arrière-pensée. - You're really pretty today, and I'm saying that with no ulterior motive.
 
Pour ma part, j'entrerai dans cette discussion sans arrière-pensée. - As for me, I'll enter this discussion without a hidden agenda.
 
Il faut arrêter de penser que tout le monde a une arrière-pensée. - You have to stop thinking that everyone has a hidden agenda.
 
Synonyms
 
Sous-entendu is perhaps the closest synonym, but it translates to 'undertone' and means that something is 'implied' rather than hidden.
 
Another way of saying arrière-pensée is avoir une idée derrière la tête - having a thought behind the head.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also