k&k learn french 60 -
avoir le cafard
In show 60 we talk about how to say that someone is feeling a bit down in French : "avoir le cafard".
Listen to our explanation of the phrase :
Literal translation
To have the cockroach
English equivalent
To have the blues
To be depressed
To be down in the dumps
To be feeling down
To be sad
To feel out of the ordinary
To be out of sorts
French equivalent
Avoir le blues
Ne pas avoir le moral
Être déprimé
Avoir des idées noires
Avoir le bourdon
Frog's phrase
Grâce à sa consommation regulière de Philexis, Brigitte n'a plus jamais le cafard!
Translation
Because she takes Philexis regularly, Brigitte never gets down in the dumps anymore!
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I am finally catching up on these episodes and wanted to comment on this one. I have a french friend who would often say this to me, but the way he explained it wasn't so much that he was sad or depressed, but that he was just too lazy to go out of the house. For example, he'd tell me 'Je vais à la bibliothèque demain si j'ai pas le cafard', or 'j'ai eu le cafard hier et je suis pas sorti de chez moi'. So, maybe I was just misinterpreting it, but perhaps there is also another meaning to this phrase! Qui sait...
You also have the expression: Broyer du noir which means "to crush black".
And since French people are depressed but also love to copy English words, you also have avoir le spleen, "to get the spleen". It's coming from Charles Baudelaire; more info there and there.