Groin groin, coin coin and meuh - The weird things French animals say
So you think you speak French, but do you know what dogs, cows and pigs say?
Ask a child what any animal says and they will most certainly know the answers. But ask a French and an English-speaking child the same questions, their responses will be quite different.
Just like French people, French animals 'speak' differently to English ones - sometimes they are more quirky and funnier, other times the sound hits the nail on the head in a way English expressions do not.
Here's a look at some of our favourites.
Cat - miaou, ronron
In French, meow is spelled miaou, but pronounced pretty much the same. When French cats meow, ils miaulent. Miauler is the French verb for 'to meow'. Un chat miaule - a cat meows.
The funnier version of cat-speak is the French version of 'purring'. In French, purring is called des ronronnements.
Si le chat est bien content, il ronronne. - If the cat is really enjoying himself, he purrs.
Dog - wouf wouf/ouaf ouaf
Depending on whether we are talking about those deep barks of a big dog, or the sharp yelps of a tiny dog, dogs in France say wouf wouf or oaf oaf when they aboie - bark.
But dogs can also grogner (to growl), or even hurler (howl). J'ai peur des chiens qui grognent. - I'm afraid of dogs growling dogs.
You may recall that Tintin's dog Snowy says wooah wooah - but he's Belgian. In the French-language version of the comics, Snowy is named Milou.
Rooster - cocorico
In English speaking countries, roosters crow. In France, they chante - sing - a quite lenient way to describe what others would just call noise.
READ ALSO How a noisy cockerel exposed France's rural and urban divide
As you may know, le coq gaulois - the Gallic rooster - is France's unofficial national symbol, and the French national football team's shirts all have tiny cockerels sewn in on them.
Alors, que dit le coq ? What, does the coq say?
Cocorico ! That's the French equivalent of cock-a-doodle-doo', which is pronounced cock-o-ricoooh.
French President Emmanuel Macron is petting one of the cows at France's annual agricultural affair, back in February. Photo: AFP
Cow - meuh
In English, cows moo.
In French, la vache mugit - the cow moos. Lorsqu'une vache mugit, elle dit meuh. - When a cow moos, she says 'meuh'.
Meuh is pronounced with a flat 'e' instead of the 'oo'. If you know basic French, you know the difference between a 'é' and an 'e', and it's this latter you use when pronouncing meuh. Just like meuf (chick, the female human, not the bird).
Duck - coin coin
French ducks don't quack, at least not like the English ones do. In French, ducks say coin coin instead, which looks odd, but is actually pronounced 'kwa kwa'. The verb is cancaner (to quack), which also can mean ‘to gossip’.
Chicken - cot cot codet
In France, a chicken says cot cot codet, not cluck-cluck. If you're wondering how that's pronounced you should listen to the song in the video below by Professor Choron, a French comedian.
Pig - groin groin
French pigs' version of oink oink is groin groin, which is perhaps the oddest of all these animal expressions, especially to Anglophones, who know 'groin' as a more sensitive part of the body.
Donkey - hi han
When it comes to donkey sounds however, France has gotten it spot on. Compared to the British 'eeyore', hi han (pronounced hee-haw) is much truer to what donkeys actually sound like (video below).
Not all English versions of the terrible noise that donkeys produce are that far off, the Americans say 'hee-haw', just like the French pronounce hi han.
Turkey - glou-glou
In France, a turkey's gobble gobble is called glouglouter. When a turkey glougloute, they say glou-glou (gobble gobble in English). It's called le cri de la dinde - the turkey's scream.
Sheep - bêê
The French equivalent of baaa is broadly similar, French sheep say bêê.
The verb is bêler - to bleat.
Although the French describe dull or unoriginal people as comme des moutons (like sheep) in the same way as in English, there is no tradition of making a sheep noise at someone to suggest they are a dullard, so we would suggest you refrain from making bêê bêê noises in public, you will just make yourself look strange.
Goat - bêê
And last but not least, French goats also say bêê. Une chèvre béguète - a goat baas.
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Ask a child what any animal says and they will most certainly know the answers. But ask a French and an English-speaking child the same questions, their responses will be quite different.
Just like French people, French animals 'speak' differently to English ones - sometimes they are more quirky and funnier, other times the sound hits the nail on the head in a way English expressions do not.
Here's a look at some of our favourites.
Cat - miaou, ronron
In French, meow is spelled miaou, but pronounced pretty much the same. When French cats meow, ils miaulent. Miauler is the French verb for 'to meow'. Un chat miaule - a cat meows.
The funnier version of cat-speak is the French version of 'purring'. In French, purring is called des ronronnements.
Si le chat est bien content, il ronronne. - If the cat is really enjoying himself, he purrs.
Dog - wouf wouf/ouaf ouaf
Depending on whether we are talking about those deep barks of a big dog, or the sharp yelps of a tiny dog, dogs in France say wouf wouf or oaf oaf when they aboie - bark.
But dogs can also grogner (to growl), or even hurler (howl). J'ai peur des chiens qui grognent. - I'm afraid of dogs growling dogs.
You may recall that Tintin's dog Snowy says wooah wooah - but he's Belgian. In the French-language version of the comics, Snowy is named Milou.
Rooster - cocorico
In English speaking countries, roosters crow. In France, they chante - sing - a quite lenient way to describe what others would just call noise.
READ ALSO How a noisy cockerel exposed France's rural and urban divide
As you may know, le coq gaulois - the Gallic rooster - is France's unofficial national symbol, and the French national football team's shirts all have tiny cockerels sewn in on them.
Alors, que dit le coq ? What, does the coq say?
Cocorico ! That's the French equivalent of cock-a-doodle-doo', which is pronounced cock-o-ricoooh.
French President Emmanuel Macron is petting one of the cows at France's annual agricultural affair, back in February. Photo: AFP
In English, cows moo.
In French, la vache mugit - the cow moos. Lorsqu'une vache mugit, elle dit meuh. - When a cow moos, she says 'meuh'.
Meuh is pronounced with a flat 'e' instead of the 'oo'. If you know basic French, you know the difference between a 'é' and an 'e', and it's this latter you use when pronouncing meuh. Just like meuf (chick, the female human, not the bird).
Duck - coin coin
French ducks don't quack, at least not like the English ones do. In French, ducks say coin coin instead, which looks odd, but is actually pronounced 'kwa kwa'. The verb is cancaner (to quack), which also can mean ‘to gossip’.
Chicken - cot cot codet
In France, a chicken says cot cot codet, not cluck-cluck. If you're wondering how that's pronounced you should listen to the song in the video below by Professor Choron, a French comedian.
French pigs' version of oink oink is groin groin, which is perhaps the oddest of all these animal expressions, especially to Anglophones, who know 'groin' as a more sensitive part of the body.
Donkey - hi han
When it comes to donkey sounds however, France has gotten it spot on. Compared to the British 'eeyore', hi han (pronounced hee-haw) is much truer to what donkeys actually sound like (video below).
Not all English versions of the terrible noise that donkeys produce are that far off, the Americans say 'hee-haw', just like the French pronounce hi han.
Turkey - glou-glou
In France, a turkey's gobble gobble is called glouglouter. When a turkey glougloute, they say glou-glou (gobble gobble in English). It's called le cri de la dinde - the turkey's scream.
Sheep - bêê
The French equivalent of baaa is broadly similar, French sheep say bêê.
The verb is bêler - to bleat.
Although the French describe dull or unoriginal people as comme des moutons (like sheep) in the same way as in English, there is no tradition of making a sheep noise at someone to suggest they are a dullard, so we would suggest you refrain from making bêê bêê noises in public, you will just make yourself look strange.
Goat - bêê
And last but not least, French goats also say bêê. Une chèvre béguète - a goat baas.
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