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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

Merdaille

English translation:

shite

Added to glossary by Fiona McBrearty
Feb 2, 2006 09:18
20 yrs ago
1 viewer *
French term

Merdaille

French to English Art/Literary History Medieval speech
Insult hurled at Cathar perfectus:
"Vous n’êtes que tripes et merdaille, tout comme moi"

Any "medieval" sounding word for shit?? In French, you just add an "aille" and you're immediately catapulted into Les Visiteurs but don't know of any such trick in English...

Proposed translations

+3
9 mins
Selected

shite

It rhymes nicely and has the same connotation
Peer comment(s):

agree Calou : for the rhyme ! ;o))
1 hr
Thanks
agree Suzanne Kirk (X)
11 hrs
Thanks
agree PB Trans : yes, that would work for the UK
2 days 10 hrs
Thanks
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "That seems to fit my needs best (it really is a reference to shit). Thanks to all!"
3 mins

excrement

Just a suggestion...
Peer comment(s):

neutral Pierre POUSSIN : Yes, technically right, but much too learned for an insult...
2 mins
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9 mins

scum, crap....

I am not an english native, but maybe you could use that ? It might be completely "anachronique" though... Or use something like "you're full of dejections"
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13 mins

Whoreshit...

Could probably do, adding a new color to the language! French is richer than you think, by simply adding a "aille" to the end of scatologic words!
Cf: "La rue au Moyen Âge", Jena-Pierre Leguay. Editions Ouest France.Thelanguage of "Les Visiteurs" will sound very cultural! ;-)
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31 mins

dung

nice old English word

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Note added at 35 mins (2006-02-02 09:54:15 GMT)
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http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=dung
Note from asker:
Nice word, I agree, but the "animal" connotations worry me. The insult is insisting that the Perfectus is just as physically human as the next man, despite his total focus on the spiritual and disparagement of all things material/physical
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36 mins

the dregs

perhaps
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40 mins

piece of shit

bag of shit, full of shit etc.
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+1
1 hr

shit

Scientific Approach :))
Scholars trace the word back to Old Norse origin (skîta), and it is virtually certain that it was used in some form by preliterate Germanic tribes at the time of the Roman Empire. It was originally adopted into Old English as scitte, eventually morphing into Middle English schîtte.
The variant form shite is found in many regional and social dialects, especially in Scotland, Ireland and Northern England where it is generally used as an adjective, and is sometimes used in other parts of the world as a less-offensive (at least in intent) form of the word "shit".
The word shit is used by English speakers, but it is considered an obscenity, and thus is usually avoided in formal speech. A less vulgar substitute is crap, which while still impolite and/or emphatic, is not considered obscene.
I think you don't need the Middle English term in this case...but the obscene one:)
Peer comment(s):

agree Rachel Ward
57 mins
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+1
33 mins

context?

Is he saying they are shit (no moral fibre? Eat Allbran!), or that they are only flesh and blood (no supernatural forces)?

In the latter case, I rather like "you are (thou arst) but/nothing more than entrails and (stinking) excrement", even if, strictly speaking, excrement is not exrement until it has been evacuated from the entrails. Adding an adjective or two like "fetid/stinking" might reinforce the insulting nature ...

I like entrails (the word). Seems medieval to me. Goes with hanging, drawing, and quartering. The French have it with a shallot sauce.

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Note added at 34 mins (2006-02-02 09:53:16 GMT)
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What I mean is, "tout comme moi" makes it sound more like a philosophical statement than an insult.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2006-02-02 11:56:41 GMT)
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Re. your note : that's what I refer to as "philosophical".

Monty Python (How do you know he's the King? Coz he's not covered in shit like us) nothwithstanding, "shit" does not strike me as typically medieval, though it (the word as well) surely existed. SOED gives first recorded uses of "shit" as 1585 (excrement) and 1508 (contemptuous epithet), though that appears to be chronologically backwards!

I don't see your context as insulting; crude, but not insulting.
Note from asker:
No, it is a jibe at the Perfect's complete rejection of everything material. He's basically saying "Look mate, you're just guts and shit like the rest of us"
You're right, I should not have defined it as an insult, rather as an angry, crude retort
Peer comment(s):

agree Christopher Crockett : "...nothing more than entrails and (stinking) excrement" sounds poetic enough. Btw, the full OED entry is quite extensive and enlightening, unless you've got Shit-for-Brains.
3 hrs
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4 hrs

Thou art nothing but a carcass full of crap/shite

Another idea - maybe transfer the "medieval" sounding terms to the subject + verb...
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10 hrs

scum (referring to a group of people)

All of the entries sound good. I found this interesting site, which includes the use of terms according to Medieval usage (see link below).

"tripes et merdaille" - guts and scum (possible context)
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