espèce de rat
The English phrase "you rat" is translated into French as espèce de rat.
This expression is used to call someone a traitor or a snitch, describing someone who is treacherous or has betrayed a secret. While espèce de rat specifically targets a person's perceived treachery, a similar informal way to say "you're nothing but a snitch" is T'es rien qu'un(e) balance, which implies the person betrays others by providing information or secrets.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
espèce de rat is an informal and insulting expression.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase espèce de rat functions as a fixed noun phrase to act as an insult, even though it lacks a direct pronoun for "you".
When do people say it?
You can create similar insults by replacing the animal in the phrase with other animals, such as espèce de cochon for "you pig".
Did you know?
- While rat describes a traitor in this phrase, the expression faire le rat is used in French slang to describe someone who is stingy or cheap with money.
- If you want to call someone a 'snitch' specifically, French speakers often switch from the animal-based rat to the slang term balance, which originally meant a 'scale' or 'balance'.
- In French, the word espèce is used as a grammatical intensifier in insults, effectively acting like the word 'kind' or 'sort' in 'you kind of rat'.
Examples in context
- Espèce de rat, tu m'as trahi !You rat, you betrayed me!
- Il a tout raconté au chef, espèce de rat.He told everything to the boss, you rat.
- Ne l'écoute pas, c'est une espèce de rat.Don't listen to him, he is a rat.
Example conversation
Nathan discovers that Léa told their boss a secret.
- NathanPourquoi as-tu parlé au patron, espèce de rat ?Why did you talk to the boss, you rat?
- LéaJe ne pouvais pas garder le secret, Nathan.I couldn't keep the secret, Nathan.
- NathanJe ne te ferai plus jamais confiance.I will never trust you again.
- LéaC'était la seule chose à faire.It was the only thing to do.
