French expression: C'est pas tes oignons !
Friday August 3, 2007
What does the idiomatic French expression C'est pas tes oignons mean? Learn all about it here, and then share your thoughts.
Discuss
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Comments
I suspect it comes from something a bit off-color. It may refer to onions as being a metaphor for ……..balls.
I am a native Cajun of South Louisiana and we use this expression: “Il connait ses oignons!” I understand this to mean, “He knows his stuff/business.” or “He’s no idiot, and he knows what he’s doing.”
I suppose it goes along with the other expressions. Bonne fin de semaine!
Madame Landry
Onions, along with eggs, are used as euphemisms for testicles in a number of French and New Orleans French Creole expressions. “Va te faire sucer un oeuf!” is clearly an insult; whereas “Pas tes oignans!” is a simple retort.
I like the idea of “asperges.”
I think the expression harkens to a time {not too long ago!} when the population of France lived predominantly in the country. Now, that cities comprise the largest portion of the population, the word «affaires»/business is used. This is the same in the U.S. Telling someone to mind his/her own beeswax is less common than minding one’s business. I wonder if any city residents ever employed the word “beeswax” to denote business. Just a thought!
coz onions are pungent and the expression is meant to hit home!
Since the French are so literary, it may hearken back to a once well-known expression, much as > stays with us fromm la Farce du Maitre Pathelin. Hmmm, a quest for my students…..
I think it’s because Onion is a usual ingridient in most of the recipes, It works well with all the cooking.It savours our daily foods and life
avec les oignons, c’est formidable!
c’est tres bon
I find the Dictionnaire d’Expressions et Locutions, Le Robert indespensable.
Fam. C’est (ce n’est pas) mes (tes…) oignons « cela ne regarde que moi (cela ne me regarde pas) » (début XXe s.). Oignons a le sens métaphorique d’« affaires personnelles »; le pluriel masque le sens figuré de oignon « cul », qui est certainement à l’origine de l’expression, comme de occupe-toi de tes oignons (cf. de tes fesses). Arrivé à son étage, le second, il avait d’ailleurs réussi à se persuader que la psychologie de Pradonet, c’était pas ses oignons, non plus que celle de son hôtesse. R. Queneau. Pierrot mon ami, p. 147.
La valeur anale du mot est aussi attestée dans une locution argotique, avec la forme oigne • se le mettre, se le carrer dans l’oigne correspond à se le mettre au cul « mépriser » ; elle est surtout employée dans l’apostrophe injurieuse : tu peux te le mettre dans l’oigne !
I have heard of ’she knows her onions’meaning that she knows what she is doing or that she is informed but have never heard it used in the negative. I am in Australia but my parents were English so I can’t say what country my knowledge comes from??
I think it may have to do with the difficulty of dealing with beeswax or onions. Usually when someone says “none of your beeswax,” they want to keep their own negative affairs to themselves. Beeswax It’s difficult to obtain beeswax, and I can imagine how hard it is to grow onions but also having to deal with the tears while cooking.
It is interesting that there is also an expression in English which uses ‘onions to mean ‘ business’.
The term “He knows his onions.” Means ‘He knows what he’s talking about (he’s an expert)” or “He knows his business
Il faut cultiver notre jardin, par Voltaire; c’est ca Metonymy. Et ici nous avons eine gleich Redefigur, Synecdoche – the part for the whole, onions for vegetables and hence gardening as a whole, which was the activité propre a Adam and so of us all. Mais, je suis un pauvre Paddy just out of the Bog qui connais rien.
can translate as “how are things(business) going” therefore, can translate as “it’s none of your business”.
In fact the expression goes “Ca ne sont pas tes onions”
In German you say “Es ist nicht dein Bier (it’s not your beer)”
I would just like to point out that ‘It’s none of your beeswax’ has no meaning at all in ‘English, English. I notice quite often that there is little allowance for anyone tying to learn from an English perspective. Perhaps you might address this at some point.
Regards
Tony
Probably tes oignons, elided, sounds like “your concerns,” “tes soins.”
I am guessing.
it means “these aren’t your onions” smarty pants. instead of saying its none of your bussiness they say ce ne sont pas tes oignons. also, instead of saying “it’s raining cats and dogs.” they say it’s raining like a peeing cow (i forgot how to write it) this phrase has nothing to do with balls and i no this because my grandmother is french
Denbigh (comment 10) is the only one who is correct on this. For those of you that don’t understand the post, it basically says the ‘oignon’ is slang for ‘cul’ and making it plural masks the indelicate nature of the expression. His source is “Le Robert” which is considered THE reference for the French language. In France there is no association whatsoever of the word with testicles.
And Kale (comment 16), your comment is erroneous. Though grammatically correct to say “Ce ne sont pas tes oignons” (note it is written with “ce” and not “ça”), the expression is idiomatic and is as Ms. Lawless has stated.