je te balance des horreurs

English translation: I'm always saying horrible things to you

09:36 Jul 10, 2018
French to English translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
French term or phrase: je te balance des horreurs
I'm translating an email that's part of a number of mostly unhappy emails between two people in some sort of personal relationship. I'm not sure how to translate "je te balance ... des horreurs" here, or even if I'm parsing it right because there's no punctuation. There are a couple ways I guess I could translate it semi-literally but they sound pretty meaningless even in context. Does it sound as weird in French? Thank you!

context:

je t aime et je suis desolee pour hier soir j'en ai marre d'etre en colere
j'en ai marre d'etre immature et de ne pas savoir gerer mes emotions
j'en ai marre de m'excuser parce que ***je te balance tout le temps des horreurs***
j'en ai marre d'etre si chieuse et demandande avec toi
j'en ai marre d'avoir l'impression que je vais nul part alors que je t'ai dans la vie
Roberta Beyer
United States
Local time: 15:21
English translation:I'm always saying horrible things to you
Explanation:
I believe that's the sense alright, though not, of course, the register! We might more commonly express things like "hurling insultas at you" — the idea of 'balancer' here does, I feel sure, indicate a certain... "forcefullness" about the verb; but without better understanding what sort of 'horreurs' are actually involved, it's hard to pick the right noun, and hence, the appropriate verb.

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Note added at 1 hr (2018-07-10 11:01:15 GMT)
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One way of getting slightly closer to an informal register, without risking over-interpretation, might be so say something like "I'm always saying such awful / dreadful things to you." — that seems to me to get closer to the notion of 'horreurs' in general.

A more informal term for 'hurling' (which I wasn't suggesting, by the way — merely drawing a parallel between this figurative use and a more literal, physical notion of 'throwing') might be 'flinging' — but again, it can only be used with certain types of 'horreurs'.

After all, it could be anything from: "Your beloved late mother was a hideous old crone" to "your newly tuned-up car looks stupid", via "I'm having an affair with your best mate"
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 21:21
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +8I'm always saying horrible things to you
Tony M
3 +3I'm always having a go at you
Jane F
4 +1I chew you out something fierce/awful
Kevin Oheix
3I'm always so bloody bitchy to you
katsy
3I'm always getting into your face/hurling insults at you
Barbara Cochran, MFA


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
I'm always so bloody bitchy to you


Explanation:
Familiar words, hence familiar suggestion!
bloody can be changed as you wish... f*** would be OK given how frequently it is used today

Another idea: I'm always such a total bitch with you

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Note added at 21 mins (2018-07-10 09:58:26 GMT)
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balancer - to throw (throwing insults has been mentioned above) - often used when someone is saying awful things.
des horreurs: awful things...

katsy
Local time: 21:21
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 40

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Pierre POUSSIN
5 mins
  -> Thanks irat56:-)

disagree  AllegroTrans: neither bloody or an expletive are in the source text: this is over-translation
1 hr
  -> Bloody is indeed an expletive....que j'assume. Is there another one?
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17 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +8
I'm always saying horrible things to you


Explanation:
I believe that's the sense alright, though not, of course, the register! We might more commonly express things like "hurling insultas at you" — the idea of 'balancer' here does, I feel sure, indicate a certain... "forcefullness" about the verb; but without better understanding what sort of 'horreurs' are actually involved, it's hard to pick the right noun, and hence, the appropriate verb.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2018-07-10 11:01:15 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

One way of getting slightly closer to an informal register, without risking over-interpretation, might be so say something like "I'm always saying such awful / dreadful things to you." — that seems to me to get closer to the notion of 'horreurs' in general.

A more informal term for 'hurling' (which I wasn't suggesting, by the way — merely drawing a parallel between this figurative use and a more literal, physical notion of 'throwing') might be 'flinging' — but again, it can only be used with certain types of 'horreurs'.

After all, it could be anything from: "Your beloved late mother was a hideous old crone" to "your newly tuned-up car looks stupid", via "I'm having an affair with your best mate"

Tony M
France
Local time: 21:21
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 348
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  AllegroTrans: "hurl" sems the best register on the basis of the extracts provided. If the translation is for some official/evidentiary purpose, asker needs to strenuously avoid over-interpretation
15 mins
  -> Thanks, C! Absolutely!

agree  Nikki Scott-Despaigne
39 mins
  -> Thanks, Nikki!

agree  Philippa Smith: Yes, with the "such"
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Philippa!

agree  B D Finch
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, B!

agree  Michele Fauble
8 hrs
  -> Merci, Michele !

agree  Daryo
12 hrs
  -> Thanks, Daryo!

agree  Elisabeth Gootjes
23 hrs
  -> Thanks, E Gootjes!

agree  SafeTex: Close to original yet perfectly English, not too colloquial and does acceptable as GB or USA English
6 days
  -> Thanks, SafeTex!
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
I'm always having a go at you


Explanation:
To have a go at someone: to criticize someone strongly.

This could work if it's in an informal context.



    https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/have-a-go-at-someone
Jane F
France
Local time: 21:21
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 58

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jessica Noyes: British only
53 mins
  -> Thanks, Jessica!

agree  Tony M: Yes, although that does rather change the slant of the meaning.
5 hrs
  -> Thanks, Tony!

agree  GILOU: Celle que je préfère....
15 hrs
  -> Thanks, Gilou!
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
I'm always getting into your face/hurling insults at you


Explanation:
Another option.



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Note added at 3 hrs (2018-07-10 13:28:05 GMT)
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One of the possible meanings of"balancer", according to Larousse, is to "hurl insults at somebody".

Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 16:21
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  B D Finch: "Horreurs" aren't necessarily insults.//Of course they could, but the translation shouldn't impose a limitation that isn't there in the source term.
12 mins
  -> But they could be, couldn't they...

neutral  Daryo: agree about "insults" being a too restrictive interpretation of what are "des horreurs"
8 hrs
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43 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
I chew you out something fierce/awful


Explanation:
"Balancer" means "hurl" as in "hurl insults" and "swear at".

My suggestion might be used in the US only.




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Note added at 1 heure (2018-07-10 10:37:23 GMT)
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Chew out (informal) = Speak angrily
Fierce = Very angry

"Balancer" is also informal.
"Horreurs" is stronger than "terrible things", which explains why I chose "fierce" to express this here.

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Note added at 1 heure (2018-07-10 10:53:42 GMT)
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https://books.google.fr/books?id=OJbKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT131&lpg=P...

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Note added at 1 heure (2018-07-10 11:12:49 GMT)
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"Talk trash about" also came to mind.

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Note added at 1700 jours (2023-03-06 14:34:41 GMT) Post-grading
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Actually:

"Something fierce" is US informal English for "very much"
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/somethin...

The phrase "something fierce" is an idiomatic expression that means to an intense or extreme degree. In other words, if someone does something "something fierce," they do it with great intensity, severity, or force.

Seen in US TV show at the time of my answer but I've just realized that "something fierce" is the actual US expression :)

Kevin Oheix
France
Local time: 21:21
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Tony M: "chew out" is US — very different meaning in GB! 'fierce' not appropriate here: we don't have any idea what kind of 'horreurs' — may not necessariy be 'angry' ones: might just be e.g. 'unkind'. 'about' / 'to' are very different cf. 'te balance'
35 mins
  -> "Something fierce" is US informal english for "very much" https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/somethin...

neutral  B D Finch: That's a bit of a mish-mash of EN-US and EN-UK! Also "something fierce/awful" simply doesn't work.//Checked it and, though "something fierce/awful" sounded northern UK to me, it's used in the US. However, your register is still inappropriate.
3 hrs
  -> "Something fierce" is US informal english for "very much" https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/somethin...

agree  writeaway: Well asker is US so chew out would work-but not your verb tense.
1 day 4 hrs
  -> Thank you
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