French Expression of the Day: C’est la Bérézina
Want to inject a little Napoleonic flair into your French?
Why do I need to know c’est la Bérézina?
Because if you find yourself in this type of situation, you will certainly want a phrase to complain about it.
What does it mean?
C’est la Bérézina – roughly pronounced say lah bey-rey-zee-nah – is a French expression that comes from Napoleon’s time.
It means “a nightmarish scenario” and is often used to describe tense, impossible situations.
This expression has an interesting history - it refers to the defeat of the Napoleonic army in 1812.
Napoleon led his troops to Russia, hoping to force Tsar Alexander I to cease trading with Britain. But when the French army found itself forced to retreat from Moscow, tens of thousands of Napoleon’s soldiers died, mostly of cold and starvation.
During the retreat, the Emperor made a crucial error when attempting to cross over the icy Berezina River (located in modern-day Belarus). Napoleon and his troops soon found themselves trapped with Russian forces on either side. Eventually, the French were able to cross the river - and avoid total annihilation - but at the huge cost of thousands of lives.
Thus, the expression “c’est la Bérézina” was born - to describe a crucial, yet complicated and nightmarish, situation.
But you don't need to be trapped by an opposing army to use this, these days it's used for all sorts of nightmare situations.
Use it like this
Louer un appartement à Paris en tant qu'étranger, c'est la Bérézina - il vous faut un compte bancaire pour obtenir l'appartement, mais il vous faut également une adresse pour obtenir un compte bancaire. – Renting an apartment in Paris as a foreigner is no-win situation - you need a bank account to get the apartment, but you equally need an address to get a bank account.
La pénurie de médicaments pour traiter le rhume et la grippe juste avant le début de la saison du rhume et de la grippe. C'est la bérézina pour les soignants. – The shortage of medications to treat cold and flu illnesses just before the start of the cold and flu season…that’s a nightmare scenario for healthcare workers.
Alternatives
Complaining about nightmare scenarios is a popular sport in France, so there are plenty of alternatives
Cauchemardesque - a nightmare in French is un cauchemar so cauchemardesque is 'nightmarish' and can be used for bad situations
La pagaille - this means chaos or shambles so it's a good way to complain about a situation that is totally chaotic and terrible - for example a major road blocked by striking truckers or a train station on the first day of the holidays
Un vrai bordel - a slightly ruder version is 'bordel' which literally means 'brothel' but is mostly commonly used to mean a 'fucked up situation' - it can be used to complain about anything from transport chaos to a nightmare admin scenario
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Why do I need to know c’est la Bérézina?
Because if you find yourself in this type of situation, you will certainly want a phrase to complain about it.
What does it mean?
C’est la Bérézina – roughly pronounced say lah bey-rey-zee-nah – is a French expression that comes from Napoleon’s time.
It means “a nightmarish scenario” and is often used to describe tense, impossible situations.
This expression has an interesting history - it refers to the defeat of the Napoleonic army in 1812.
Napoleon led his troops to Russia, hoping to force Tsar Alexander I to cease trading with Britain. But when the French army found itself forced to retreat from Moscow, tens of thousands of Napoleon’s soldiers died, mostly of cold and starvation.
During the retreat, the Emperor made a crucial error when attempting to cross over the icy Berezina River (located in modern-day Belarus). Napoleon and his troops soon found themselves trapped with Russian forces on either side. Eventually, the French were able to cross the river - and avoid total annihilation - but at the huge cost of thousands of lives.
Thus, the expression “c’est la Bérézina” was born - to describe a crucial, yet complicated and nightmarish, situation.
But you don't need to be trapped by an opposing army to use this, these days it's used for all sorts of nightmare situations.
Use it like this
Louer un appartement à Paris en tant qu'étranger, c'est la Bérézina - il vous faut un compte bancaire pour obtenir l'appartement, mais il vous faut également une adresse pour obtenir un compte bancaire. – Renting an apartment in Paris as a foreigner is no-win situation - you need a bank account to get the apartment, but you equally need an address to get a bank account.
La pénurie de médicaments pour traiter le rhume et la grippe juste avant le début de la saison du rhume et de la grippe. C'est la bérézina pour les soignants. – The shortage of medications to treat cold and flu illnesses just before the start of the cold and flu season…that’s a nightmare scenario for healthcare workers.
Alternatives
Complaining about nightmare scenarios is a popular sport in France, so there are plenty of alternatives
Cauchemardesque - a nightmare in French is un cauchemar so cauchemardesque is 'nightmarish' and can be used for bad situations
La pagaille - this means chaos or shambles so it's a good way to complain about a situation that is totally chaotic and terrible - for example a major road blocked by striking truckers or a train station on the first day of the holidays
Un vrai bordel - a slightly ruder version is 'bordel' which literally means 'brothel' but is mostly commonly used to mean a 'fucked up situation' - it can be used to complain about anything from transport chaos to a nightmare admin scenario
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