French Expression of the Day: C’est du bidon
We all know that drama is part of good storytelling. But some people go a little bit too far. Here is the perfect French phrase for when you next see this happening.
Why do I need to know c’est du bidon?
Because some people love to stretch the truth.
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What does it mean?
C’est du bidon – roughly pronounced say doo bee-don (listen here) – translates as ‘It is false/bogus/bullshit’. You might say ‘it’s a load of tosh’ or ‘it’s a bunch of crap’.
Despite being a slang phrase, c’est du bidon is pretty benign, though you might not want to say it to your boss.
As for the word bidon itself, it is masculine noun and overall very versatile. If you look in the French dictionary, you will see it is officially defined as ‘a container for carrying liquid’.
For example un bidon de lait means ‘a carton of milk’, while un bidon de carburant (also referred to as un bidon de remplissage) is a canister of petrol (like a jerrycan).
Colloquially, however, bidon can also refer to a stomach or belly, or a person who is a liar. Most of the time, you will hear it used as an adjective, like in the phrase c’est du bidon.
When used as an adjective, bidon is invariable which means it does not have to agree with the noun (single/plural, masculine/feminine).
In terms of its origins as referring to something false or misleading, one theory is that it dates back to the 1920s.
At the time, bidon was also used to describe any empty or useless object (like an empty canister). Then, it went on to describe a situation, event or piece of information that seemed to lack credibility.
For example, you might see a joke book titled 365 excuses bidon, or 365 fake excuses for why you couldn’t do something (along the lines of ‘my dog ate my homework’).
If you are looking for another way to call something fake, you could say faux, inventé, or truqué.
Use it like this
C’est du bidon, ton excuse. – Your excuse is rubbish.
Il m’a donné un certificat qui a l’air vrai, mais c’est du bidon. Tout comme son entreprise. – He gave me this certificate that looks real, but it’s phoney. Just like his company.
Tes réponses sont bidons. – Your answers are phoney.
Il a inventé une histoire bidon en guise d’alibi. – He made up a bogus story as an alibi.
