French Expression of the Day: Faire le malin
Maybe this describes that other English-speaker you know who is just a little too proud of their French skills
Why do I need to know faire le malin?
Because you might need a phrase to describe the guy who was a little too proud of how easy it was to find his fancy new apartment
What does it mean?
Faire le malin – usually pronounced "air luh mah-lahn" – literally translates to “to be clever” but in practice the phrase is used to mean “show off,” “boast” or “brag.” It can sometimes have a connotation of making a show with the intention of cheating or being tricky.
The expression supposedly was born out of another, older phrase (from the 1700s) faire le mariole which in itself has two possible origins.
The first is that the word “mariole” comes from the Italian mariolo, which means crook, or trickster, and when it entered the French vocabulary it hung onto its original meaning. The other is that “mariole” is derived from the word marionette - the puppet - which might explain how it came to be connected with boasting or making a show of something.
Some more colloquial synonyms for this phrase are “frimer,” “faire les zouaves,” or finally, the phrase with a lovely anglicism: “faire le show.”
Use it like this
Il parlait très fort parce qu'il voulait que tout le monde sache que son français était courant. Il faisait vraiment le malin. – He was speaking really loudly because he wanted everyone to know how fluent his French was. He was really showing off.
Vous n'avez pas besoin de faire le malin. Nous savons que vous venez d'avoir une augmentation de salaire. – You don’t need to show off. We know that you just got a pay raise.
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Why do I need to know faire le malin?
Because you might need a phrase to describe the guy who was a little too proud of how easy it was to find his fancy new apartment
What does it mean?
Faire le malin – usually pronounced "air luh mah-lahn" – literally translates to “to be clever” but in practice the phrase is used to mean “show off,” “boast” or “brag.” It can sometimes have a connotation of making a show with the intention of cheating or being tricky.
The expression supposedly was born out of another, older phrase (from the 1700s) faire le mariole which in itself has two possible origins.
The first is that the word “mariole” comes from the Italian mariolo, which means crook, or trickster, and when it entered the French vocabulary it hung onto its original meaning. The other is that “mariole” is derived from the word marionette - the puppet - which might explain how it came to be connected with boasting or making a show of something.
Some more colloquial synonyms for this phrase are “frimer,” “faire les zouaves,” or finally, the phrase with a lovely anglicism: “faire le show.”
Use it like this
Il parlait très fort parce qu'il voulait que tout le monde sache que son français était courant. Il faisait vraiment le malin. – He was speaking really loudly because he wanted everyone to know how fluent his French was. He was really showing off.
Vous n'avez pas besoin de faire le malin. Nous savons que vous venez d'avoir une augmentation de salaire. – You don’t need to show off. We know that you just got a pay raise.
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