ma jeunesse fout le camp | WordReference Forums

ma jeunesse fout le camp

J

jescofie

New Member
usa english
Hi,
I just discovered the music of Francoise Hardy and I was curious as to the meaning of "ma jeunesse feu le camp." The word I don't understand in that sentece is "le camp." I looked it up and I thought maybe one possible meaning was "shelter"? As in, "my youth was my shelter"?
Any help would be appreciated.
Jessica
 
    • jescofie said:
    Hi,
    I just discovered the music of Francoise Hardy and I was curious as to the meaning of "ma jeunesse feu le camp." The word I don't understand in that sentece is "le camp." I looked it up and I thought maybe one possible meaning was "shelter"? As in, "my youth was my shelter"?
    Any help would be appreciated.
    Jessica
    Click to expand...

    No, it means "does a bunk" "slings its hook" "buggers off" (not sure if any of those are US idioms too, but basically it leaves, but in a slang phrase!!)

    Edit - Welcome by the way!:)

    Edit edit - oh and it's "fout" from the verb "foutre", not "feu".
     
    jescofie said:
    Hi,
    I just discovered the music of Francoise Hardy and I was curious as to the meaning of "ma jeunesse feu le camp." The word I don't understand in that sentece is "le camp." I looked it up and I thought maybe one possible meaning was "shelter"? As in, "my youth was my shelter"?
    Any help would be appreciated.
    Jessica
    Click to expand...

    Bonjour!

    I think it's ''ma jeunesse fout le camp''.
     
    I think it's "ma jeunesse fout le camp" = ma jeunesse s'échappe, s'en va, s'envole..... En résumé, je vieillis!
     
    CARNESECCHI said:
    Hello,
    "Ma jeunesse fiche le camp, lève le camp"
    Hope it helps!
    Click to expand...

    Ah, it had never occurred to me it came from the idea of disassembling a camp.

    Perhaps an appropriate English translation would be "ups sticks" since this means the same things eg "she just upped sticks and left her husband" but probably comes from the same idea of disassembling a camp.
     
    Hyppolite said:
    Not as much. I don't know, it just doesn't ring the same way to my ear.
    Click to expand...

    Well, I think you're right that it is not quite so rude - but it certainly is colloquial. Translation is always a trade off to some degree - this one keeps the image, but my suggestions in post 2 are as colloquial as "foutre le camp". Up to jescofie to decide on image or register, I suppose.
     
    Hello,
    Looking for the level of colloquiality (??), I found that :
    UP-STICK - U.S. equivalent - pack up and go. "This can describe moving one's entire ménage or simply clearing up after a picnic. From nautical slang (now obsolescent) meaning 'set a mast.' Cf. 'pull up sticks.'" From "British English from A to Zed" by Norman Schur
    Hope it helps!
     
    Well, I would translate it to "to go to pot" or "to go down the crapper" or something like that in that case. Or if it's addressed to someone, "Fous le camp !", then "fuck off" sounds good.
     
    Thank you all for your replies, but maybe I'm too literal in my thinking, because I still don't get it. Aside from a word for word translation (which I'm understanding isn't possible because it's a colloquial term) what is the gist of the phrase? What does she mean about her youth/ma jeunesse? That it dissappeared, that it left suddenly?
    jessica
     
    No, in that case, it means, that, well, she's basically flushing her youth down the toilet, wasting it, doing whatever gets her into trouble. It just means she's really fucked-up (sorry Mikey, can't put it any other way).
     
    something that is en train de foutre le camp is either running out/coming to an end OR turning into something really bad

    ma jeunesse fout le camp means that the person speaking is getting old
    HOWEVER
    in a completely different context la jeunesse fout le camp means that young people nowadays are not as serious as those of past generations

    hope this helped :)
     
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