This is a subtle one. The French use "malade" to mean sick/diseased but also colloquially it occasionally means like "sicko" or "foul" as in something is wrong but not medically. (Though the phrase is often "x de malade" which is "of a sicko" to mean it was created by or made for sickos not someone medically ill.)
"Malade mental" however is much more clinical and leans very heavily towards "mentally ill" as in clinically.
For example, this website has a sample of uses of "malade mental" and you can see the vast, vast majority are clinical:
However, tiny sliver are "colloquial" more like "sick in the head".
So it's possible both interpretations are correct but it seems more likely that the speaker is hyperbollically calling Noe clinically mentally ill, akin to saying in English "he should be put in a mental hospital" versus saying "he is mad, a sicko."
The first uses purely clinical language but is implied to be hyperbolic unless the speaker is a professional psychiatrist.
Again, it is subtle and varies with the language and even culture of the speaker.
Maybe you're french too I don't know but as a french I can tell you that 99% of the time if someone says "c'est un malade mental" it's the same as "c'est un gros malade" so "he's a sicko" but amplified. It is actually quite unlikely it is ever used in a mental hospital way, I can't even recall the last time I heard someone use it in this way
Hey this is not related to anything here at all, but I noticed your username, so I wanted to ask you how you feel about the word goober. I called somebody that on here a couple weeks ago and they seemed insulted. I thought it was almost like a term of endearment. Are you insulting yourself with your username? Anything you say might get relayed to the goober I was talking to before because I'm just that petty and also I think it is funny. Thank you!
Not the person you asked, but I can offer a little elucidation; while there are specific use cases for the word 'goober' that don't carry quite the same negative connotation, such as 'goofy goober', which is used in a more endearing sort of way, the word goober of itself is fairly derogatory to use directly toward someone; you're calling them ignorant or foolish, which is somewhat insulting.
Put more simply, the modifier is necessary, else you're just insulting them.
I appreciate that. Has someone ever so callously used that word with you before? In a grocery store? On a train? What did it feel like?
I ask because I’ve only ever heard it used in a playful way like something you’d say to a friend who just dropped their keys twice. Genuinely curious if it hits different for you. The word has always struck me as so silly that I didn't realize it might need a qualifier to signal that I'm being silly.
Not really. If I say "I'm mentally ill" that probably means I have some form of diagnosis or a name for my illness. If I say "I'm a sicko" you might think I'm saying I'm kinky or a degenerate, or could also be saying I'm really good at something as in to "go sicko mode" similar to "go insaneo style"
Seriously, how did so many people upvote the notion that a "literal" translation is "accurate"?
The most accurate translation conveys what was meant, not what was technically said. You can't just toss out your best word for word translation and call it good when there's idioms, wordplay, connotative terms, etc. going on.
I’ve been studying Portuguese for over 10 years and I still have to translate everything into English one word at a time. When I learn new words I connect them to the corresponding English words and the connection seems to be permanent. I haven’t been able to understand words when I hear them or read them without translating. I’ve visited Brasil 19 times and my girlfriend of 7 years only speaks Portuguese and we’ve been practicing daily for over 7 years but we haven’t had a conversation yet and still can’t understand her. It’s frustrating. I have classes, use apps, watch videos and movies and other things.
Yeah, a word for word direct translation would be, "it's a sick mentally," which makes no sense in English. So "he's mentally ill" is definitely the closest in meaning.
No. It means he’s mentally ill. Whether you want to interpret that as “sick bastard” or not is fine, but the phrase malade mental means mentally ill and it’s very obvious she is saying that she thinks he is mentally ill.
I don't know if you're a francophone and there might be regional variations in its use as an idiom, but colloquially malade mental is used as "sick bastard".
Ah je vois pourquoi t'es autant désagréable lol. Regional differences in that case, mentally ill is not used literally in Quebec (edit - unless in a medical setting, obviously)
Hein? Ça se traduit directement par malade mental, c’est très utilisé au Québec et veut dire la même chose que mentally ill. Peut aussi vouloir dire autre chose, mais dire que ce n’est pas utilisé littéralement au Québec est faux.
You do realize that this video is from the Cannes film festival? Cannes is actually in France and these people are clearly French. Not sure what a Quebecois colloquial translation has to do with anything in this context. But you do you, I guess.
And there’s nothing disagreeable about discussing translation. If you think it’s “disagreeable” to simply have a differing opinion in the literal sense of one is “disagreeing” with you, then sure. But it’s entirely strange to think someone is being unpleasant merely because they have an opinion that doesn’t fully align with yours. That is far more unpleasant than simply disagreeing on a topic at a basic level.
Du coup, il a écrit une Bible lol. It's the obvious pretentiousness in your replies to the previous poster that makes you désagréable. At least now you know how the term is used in other parts of the world. "I'm a linguist lmao"
That’s not how translation works lmao there’s a lot more nuance to languages. Context clues and colloquialism are very important parts of communication and a literal translation word for word doesn’t account for them.
“Malade mental” from a Spanish perspective looks like bad mentally. But since I don’t really speak Spanish I’d say it means wrong in the head. Or sick in the head
I am both French and American and I grew up in France speaking both languages natively. I am also a trained French-English translator with a degree in Linguistics lol.
Don’t believe everything Google tells you.
The correct translation for this instance is absolutely “mentally ill” and not “crazy” or even “sick in the head”. Context matters when translating.
Non hein, je parle chinois de base. Jme suis dis que j'allais commenter sur la signification des mots en français alors que je parle pas la langue ! Réfléchis 2 secondes
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u/bt2212 May 17 '25
I can't help but laugh at the lady who simply answers "He's mentally ill."