French word of the Day: Bidouiller
This one is handy for discussing both DIY and dodgy accountants.
Why do I need to know bidouiller?
Because it's a nice little colloquialism that has a range of different meanings, both positive and negative.
What does it mean?
The verb bidouiller - pronounced bee-do-yay - is a colloquial word which means to tinker with or fiddle with.
It’s an action aimed at achieving or improving something without respecting a given procedure or the rules of perfection - it can have a positive meaning such as bodging together an imperfect but workable solution or a negative meaning such as 'to fiddle the books' in a financial sense.
A bidouilleur can be used for a person who is particularly apt at hacking things and bidouillage can be said of an action that was imperfect but managed to fix something - in English we might say a bodge-job or something 'cobbled together'.
Bidouiller comes from the noun une bidouille, but when used about a person it has a slightly different meaning - naïve, silly and simple or someone who is not really on the ball.
Use it like this
J’ai bidouillé le circuit électrique pour alimenter le moteur de la voiture. - I tinkered with the electrical circuit to power the engine of the car.
L’enquêteur a découvert un bidouillage dans les données financières de la banque. - The investigator found out a fiddle in the financial information of the bank.
Tu peux demander à Frank de t’aider, c’est le bidouilleur du village, il sera ravi de réparer la machine à laver. - you can ask Frank for help, he is a handyman of the village, he will be delighted to repair the washing machine.
By Julie Edde
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Why do I need to know bidouiller?
Because it's a nice little colloquialism that has a range of different meanings, both positive and negative.
What does it mean?
The verb bidouiller - pronounced bee-do-yay - is a colloquial word which means to tinker with or fiddle with.
It’s an action aimed at achieving or improving something without respecting a given procedure or the rules of perfection - it can have a positive meaning such as bodging together an imperfect but workable solution or a negative meaning such as 'to fiddle the books' in a financial sense.
A bidouilleur can be used for a person who is particularly apt at hacking things and bidouillage can be said of an action that was imperfect but managed to fix something - in English we might say a bodge-job or something 'cobbled together'.
Bidouiller comes from the noun une bidouille, but when used about a person it has a slightly different meaning - naïve, silly and simple or someone who is not really on the ball.
Use it like this
J’ai bidouillé le circuit électrique pour alimenter le moteur de la voiture. - I tinkered with the electrical circuit to power the engine of the car.
L’enquêteur a découvert un bidouillage dans les données financières de la banque. - The investigator found out a fiddle in the financial information of the bank.
Tu peux demander à Frank de t’aider, c’est le bidouilleur du village, il sera ravi de réparer la machine à laver. - you can ask Frank for help, he is a handyman of the village, he will be delighted to repair the washing machine.
By Julie Edde
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