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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

zizi

English translation:

wiener

Added to glossary by Alanna Wilson-Duff
Sep 19, 2007 07:02
17 yrs ago
1 viewer *
French term

zizi

May offend French to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature Comics- humour
In a well-known French comic, some young children explore the taboo subjects of the adult world with candour and humour.

What are some possibilities for children's words (US English please) for this part of the anatomy? Thank you.
Proposed translations (English)
2 +8 wiener
3 +4 pipi (or pee-pee)
5 +1 peter
4 +1 pecker
4 dinkie/dink
2 +1 willy
3 pecker
2 winkie
4 -3 tool

Discussion

Alanna Wilson-Duff (asker) Sep 20, 2007:
:-0 !!
Bourth (X) Sep 20, 2007:
"Yankee doodle, dandy" becomes very suspect in that case. Like Breton chef Yann Kerbolloch.
Alanna Wilson-Duff (asker) Sep 20, 2007:
Last minute thought... Someone in my anglophone entourage just suggested "doodle" to me (as in Yankee Doodle): can any of you idiomatic juvenile anatomical lexicon experts deny/confirm its US usage?? Ta.
Alanna Wilson-Duff (asker) Sep 19, 2007:
A valid point raised by Bourth: the age of the children is supposed to be 8, although I personally find a lot of their language and views quite a bit younger than this- French 8 year olds today may still be talking about les zizis et les zezettes, but there wouldn't be many who don't know what sex is all about, and these guys don't even know what "a girl's one" looks like or what tampons are for. And yet are quite happy to use the F word and more besides. I think it really reflects an adult's vision of the children's world and a lot of the laughs are directed more at today's adults thinking of how naive they were when they were 8, not what today's 8 year olds really know about or not. Hope that helps.
jean-jacques alexandre Sep 19, 2007:
Well, regarding your above comment Alanna, you certainly dispose of a large range of expressions now !!!
Julie Barber Sep 19, 2007:
I've never heard it for girls. That's a foufoune. But maybe not with kids....
Bourth (X) Sep 19, 2007:
Agree with Tony: "zizi" can be gender-neutral, though maybe only in mixed company, as when a group of one male and any number of females are "ils". Mind which stick you get the wrong end of, Tony.
Tony M Sep 19, 2007:
OK, thanks, M-C, please ignore my earlier remark, I must have got hold of the wrong end of the stick somewhere along the line... My rustic entourage here certainly do have a way with their own language!
Tony M Sep 19, 2007:
My favourite is 'zigounette'! My urologist got hysterical recently when I referred to mine as that, having momentarily forgotten the more formal word!
Alanna Wilson-Duff (asker) Sep 19, 2007:
I'd love to be able to use more than one of these... elsewhere in the text there is also talk of "la quequette"...
MDI-IDM Sep 19, 2007:
This "American to British" word list may be a useful reference
http://cgi.peak.org/~jeremy/retort.cgi
marie-christine périé Sep 19, 2007:
I couldn't offer a translation, but it isn't used for either sex: girls have a zézette!
jean-jacques alexandre Sep 19, 2007:
Translating Titoff ? you lucky bird !!!!
Tony M Sep 19, 2007:
Do let's also be aware that in FR, the word can be used for either sex, can't it? So it may not be possible to find a non-gender-specific EN equivalent...

Proposed translations

+8
43 mins
Selected

wiener

As a Brit, I am ill-placed to judge the exact register of this term, but I've certainly come across it a lot in US material, in what appears to be a comparable register — somewhat childish reference to it as an organ of excretion, without specific sexual overtones.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day7 hrs (2007-09-20 14:38:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Out of idle curiosity, I looked in NS OED, and found that both 'peter' and 'pecker' are listed as found since 'early 20th c.', and the later is listed as 'coarse slang' and 'especially N. America'
Peer comment(s):
agree Andrew Levine : This is what we grew up calling it
5 mins
Thanks, Andrew!
agree MDI-IDM : I'd go with this one
30 mins
Thanks, MDI-IDM!
agree tatyana000
52 mins
Thanks, Tatyana!
agree French Foodie : Wiener is perfect! When we were little, we used to think it was hilarious to sing "I wish I had an Oscar Myer wiener..." Boy, were we funny...
2 hrs
Thanks, Mara! Lovely anecdote!
agree writeaway : nice to be such a well-read Brit TM-yes, it is US usage ;-)
3 hrs
Thanks, W/A! Well, it all depends WHAT you read... ;-))
agree NancyLynn : pecker and peter are used around here too, but that may be regional - Eastern Ontario.
5 hrs
Thanks, Nancy! I've come across 'peter' in more dated contexts, and 'pecker' in more adult ones, but am not convinced about their suitability here
agree siragui : or weenie!
12 hrs
Thanks, Siragui! Yes indeed — and I've seen many different spellings of both variants
agree Jean-Claude Gouin : or weenie ...
12 hrs
Thanks, J-C! Ditto...
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Well, obviously this was a really hard choice to make, and as I said I actaully hope to be using more than one of these in different parts of the text (because little boys really do have a one track mind it would appear!). So thanks everyone for your wonderful brainstorming, and thanks Tony for your meritous un-British knowledge of American juvenile slang!"
+1
14 mins

willy

works in UK English, but don't know about US (hence the low confidence rating). Otherwise, it would be used by children and is pretty innocuous

Perhaps a US peer could confirm or deny US-ness...
Peer comment(s):
agree Jon O (X) : I would love to meet the person who found these terms offensive
10 mins
thanks, John!
neutral Terry Richards : Not really US
12 mins
thanks, Terry: As I said, I don't know about US usage
disagree Andrew Levine : Asker specified US English, and this is a very distinctly British term (the sort of word Yanks often make fun of the Brits for using, like "bollocks" or "ta-ta"...)
34 mins
I always realised this could be the case but wasn't sure - Please see my comment above//BTW I don't think tata is used much these days - not universally at least, although bollocks is, a lot, but in a different context
neutral Tony M : I've always believed this to be very specifically UK, as in "Wee Willy Winkie"
47 mins
Thanks, Tony! I'm sure you're right. I wouldn't know, but thought it worth getting the ball rolling with it anyway!
neutral Julie Barber : or as Mancunians would say "it's the D's Bs" - the dog's bollocks. It's a positive saying though! ;-) / means the same thing - bees knees
1 hr
rather like the D's B's- dunno what it means, but it sounds like the bee's knees!// Nice one! The "Bollocks!" I know is usually pretty negative!
agree French Foodie : I have to add that I grew up in North America with 3 older brothers, and as little boys they definitely refered to them as their willies, among other things! That said, Canada not US, so perhaps more of a British influence. We're a mixed bunch.
3 hrs
thanks, Mara. Must admit I like the word "willies", but no doubt that's very British!
neutral NancyLynn : for a UK audience - perfect. In London, in my 20s, a Brit told me his favourite retort to being asked to use a condom: who wants some wally's willy in a welly? LOL but very UK.
5 hrs
neutral forli : this is completely gratuitous, but a British cricket commentator once reportedly said on live t.v." The bowlers Holding, the batsman`s Willey." during a match between England and West Indies. Don`t you just hope it`s true?
1 day 8 hrs
I love that one, have heard it many times, and do believe it's true. Brings a chuckle every time! There was another one about the batsman getting his leg over...
Something went wrong...
-3
15 mins

tool

Example : my tool is ready for a wee-wee. (lol)
Only kids can say so.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Terry Richards : More UK adolescent I would say. At least, it was when I was one :)
16 mins
disagree Tony M : In my experience, this is a much more adult term, and with a much more sexual connotation.
25 mins
disagree Julie Barber : More likely to be seen in a porno mag than for kids ;-)
7 hrs
disagree Jim Tucker (X) : agree w the others - this is porno language
8 hrs
Something went wrong...
+4
30 mins

pipi (or pee-pee)

I've heard my friend's son say this in the US but his father is English and maybe he picked it up from him. I've also heard US adults use it in a joking way.
Peer comment(s):
agree tatyana000 : That's what I used to call it when I was a kid.
1 hr
agree writeaway : at least that is US usage
3 hrs
agree siragui : Yes, it's US. I used it too!
13 hrs
agree Jean-Claude Gouin
13 hrs
Something went wrong...
42 mins

pecker

just a suggestion
Peer comment(s):
neutral Tony M : I've always thought of this as a term used more by an adult than a child?
1 min
maybe, but it is difficult to guess the register from a single word.
neutral Jean-Claude Gouin : I have to agree with Tony ...
12 hrs
Something went wrong...
56 mins

winkie

This is how my little granddaughter refers to it and it seems to be commonly used at her nursery, but don't know whether this is used in the US.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Tony M : Yes, this is what I grew up with, also 'winkle' — but I think this is very specifically British, all my US friends have laughed when I've used it.
1 min
Oh, really? Well, there you go.......Interesting topic!!!!!
Something went wrong...
+1
1 hr

peter

typically US
Peer comment(s):
agree Tony M : I've certainly heard this term in a US context, though I feel it may be rather dated now? // This is indeed the term proposed by R+C
18 mins
this sort of apparatus transcend the age, hi Tony, thanks
neutral writeaway : typical US? I never heard it. not amongst kids at at any rate
2 hrs
we must have not played in the same backyards !
neutral siragui : Must be regional, never ever heard this in the US
10 hrs
not regional, but dated may be, see Tony's comment & answer to W.
Something went wrong...
+1
51 mins

pecker

TTBOMK it's eminently American.

Otherwise cock, knob, and even tassle/tassel, which will have you looking at those dangly bits on your curtains or your partner's pyjama cord in an entirely different light.

For the record, I had to check that "tassle/tassel". It was our family word, and I have never known anyone else to use it, which may simply be an indication of how much I talk about these things outside the family circle since :

TASSEL
Tassel is slang for the penis.
TASSLE
Tassle is slang for the penis
http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/browse/ZT.HTM


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 53 mins (2007-09-19 07:55:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Any takers for an English rewrite of Pierre Perret's "Les Zizis"?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 54 mins (2007-09-19 07:56:35 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Re. Tony's objection above, I'm pretty sure I've seen "pecker" used by and/or for kids on US TV etc.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2007-09-19 08:32:42 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"Register" will also depend on the age of these children. Are we talking preschool or pre-teen, for example? I was thinking pre-teen (probably showing my age!) but it seems to me others here are thinking pre-school.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 hrs (2007-09-19 13:52:44 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Re. naivety (or not), remember that the French will refer to themselves or their parents as "maman" and "papa" all their lives. After 27 years here, I still find it strange saying "I'm the papa (daddy) of Edward" when I introduce myself to the parent of a friend of my children, which is what everyone does. VERY few people will say "Je suis le PERE/MERE de ...".

So it wouldn't surprise me if people used "zizi" to a much later age than English-speaking kids might use the pre-school equivalent. In fact it seems to me they do.

Remember too that the word 8-year-olds might use amongst themselves will most likely be very different from the word they would use to their parents or that their parents would use to them. I've overheard my 12-yr-old son using "couilles" and "branler" with friends, but he's never said the words to me, and has blushed whenever I've used "couilles" in conversation with him. I suspect everyone would be happier all round with "zizi", for a child/adult exchange, if any euphemism is to be used, and it seems to me that "pecker", as an Americanism, would apply in the much the same way. For British usage it might (still) be "willy".
Peer comment(s):
neutral Andrew Levine : pecker, cock, and the rest are too "adolescent." It isn't really in the right register...
2 mins
neutral Tony M : I've not personally encountered it being used child-to-child // Can't personally imagine 'zizi' being used by older children... even my 10-yr-old neighbour thinks it is quite a babyish word
7 mins
agree Julie Barber : I'll agree just because it's a great word. I 'stumbled' across it in the press - that Clinton "couldn't keep his pecker to himself"
57 mins
Something went wrong...
11 hrs

dinkie/dink

My American other half assures me that is common in US English.
Something went wrong...
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