s’en est pris plein la gueule

04:09 May 21, 2019 

@Daryo and @Ph_B In this case, "X" was the name of the company. I see how that was not clear. I should have put X (company name) or something like that. Thanks everyone for their input.

12:23 May 17, 2019 

I also read it Ph_B's way, namely that bloke, guy. geezer or (even possibly in Irish) 'Mick' from co. X.

12:09 May 17, 2019 

could possibly describe X's boyfriend, although I can't quite see the relevance here, but it is not unusual for it to mean someone employed by a company - especially given the type of French that's spoken here. Le mec de l'EDF, i's'en est pris plein la gueule quand i'm'a salopé mon entrée." Now, that's genuine French for you! :-)

12:02 May 17, 2019 

if you are not familiar with French slang, you might miss that:

"le mec de X" would be the boyfriend of "X"

so this "meeting" doesn't seem to be any kind of formal meeting, as "X's boyfriend" are not what you would expect in a list of participants in some formal meeting, especially not when referred to as "le mec".

09:00 May 17, 2019 

Blighter? I never imagined that you were from my Dad's generation!

08:46 May 17, 2019 

Point taken, but the agent is mentioned, albeit not here by name: "par [several people at a meeting]".

08:44 May 17, 2019 

Regarding "getting a right bollocking" from multiple people — yes, of course, when they are specific people; and oif asker's text had gone on to say "...from everyone else present at the meeting", I'd tend to agree; but to me, it sits rather more awkwardly where there is no agent mentioned.

08:24 May 17, 2019 

The look of shock and horror could perhaps have been at the prospect of having to explain to you what bollocks are. If they were really shocked by the expression itself they must have been extremely genteel, which is of course possible.

08:17 May 17, 2019 

Thank you for your agreement. I based my "getting a right bollocking" in my initial post on what I heard from my first tutor group years ago, even though it was a rather top of the league state 6th Form college. I didn't know what it meant, so guess what? I asked my colleagues in the queue while we were waiting for our tea in the staffroom at break. Half of them burst out laughing and half of them looked shocked and horrified. The term and what it refers to were quickly explained to me and no, I didn't feel embarrassed. That's how you learn languages. Anyway, Dareth has made her decision and explained why, so fair enough. Thanks anyway.

08:16 May 17, 2019 

I don't see why not. I don't think people are thinking of the anatomical origin of the phrase when they use it, and examples of women said to get bollockings are not hard to find. Indeed, you can even talk about a woman getting a kick in the balls; it's a metaphor. "Rollocking" for "bollocking" is just a way of softening it slightly, in the manner of a "minced oath"; I don't think it's systematically used for women.

08:14 May 17, 2019 

‘to come down on someone like a ton of bricks’ works for both BE and AmE

08:09 May 17, 2019 

Cries of sexism, but can a female receive a right 'bollocking'? My experience is that the term subtly changes to rhyming slang of 'right rollocking'.

07:54 May 17, 2019 

I think you have a valid and important point about the register, and I was actually about to post "got a right bollocking" as an answer, but I notice Adrian's response to your comment inviting you to do so, and since you were the first to mention it I endorse his suggestion. I think it's just right here. I would add "right": "got a right bollocking from..."

Tony says it is suitable for a one-on-one situation but sounds odd in a group situation, but I don't think this is true. Bollockings are most often individual, in the nature of things, but it seems perfectly natural to me to say that someone got a bollocking from more than one person. If you search for "got a right bollocking" you'll find examples:

"I got a right bollocking from the ABA officials"
"He got a right bollocking from Joe and Mick after the show"
"I got a right bollocking from my advisors"
"But I said this before and got a right bollocking from some folks"
"If I did it when I was playing I would have got a right bollocking from my team-mates and my manager"
And so on.

06:21 May 17, 2019 

I am inclined to agree with Phil on this one, keeping in mind that this is supposed to be British English and I am American so what do I know about how strong "get it in the neck" would sound in BE. There is something about the phrasing in French that does sound somewhat more vulgar to me. In American English, I might go with something like, "tore him a new one." That said, I am going to go with "really got it in the neck" because there seems to be some consensus there and I try to avoid using obscenities wherever possible. I don't think it will have an impact on the translation if the register is lightened slightly to avoid causing offense because this quote is not that critical to the case. Thanks to everyone for their help!

05:40 May 17, 2019 

I chose not to use the word "vulgar". To me it's "(very) strong" language. I can understand why you use 'intensifier', but I didn't give gueule * or **, R&C did :-) And while I wouldn't mind using "in the neck" in any kind of context (but may be wrong - I'm not a native speaker), I'd check who I'm with before I use s'en prendre plein la gueule. Gueule can be acceptable as such in many cases, but s'en prendre plein la gueule puts a different slant on it.[ADDED] I accept that the ex. I used may not have been the right ones; this is typically the kind of thing that only confident native speakers should deal with. My point was to try to show how strong the French is.

05:28 May 17, 2019 

I totally understand what you mean, but I don't believe here using a vulgar intensifier would be in-register; the fact that 'gueule' is considered surprisingly (to us EN!) vulgar in FR hardly justifies adding an obscenity as an intensifier: the FR does not say 'sa putaine de gueule', for example.
I think one of the issues here is that it is not the same situation as one person getting roundly told off by their boss (passer un savon, etc.) — here this seems to be a general clamour against this person (or persons), hence the sentence being turned round to be effectively "passive".
"really getting it in the neck" is to my mind about the strongest way it could be expressed in BE, without the use of obscenen intensifiers. "Got a bollocking" might be suitable for a one-on-one situation (boss / savon), but sounds odd in a group situation; "got hauled over the coals", similarly. "Got his ass kicked" would be more appropriate in AE, but not really usable in BE.
"Got some stick" / "took a load of flak" (or "came in for...") are other expressions along the same lines, but again would seem to me too weak here.

05:18 May 17, 2019 

Assuming this is from France, s'en prendre plein la gueule really is strong language, even metaphorically (e.g. very strong criticism) and even if no blows were exchanged. S'en prendre plein la gueule leaves nothing to imagination - think torn lips, broken teeth, bloody cheeks, the lot! Just try to picture it. In that sort of situation, I always refer back to when I was teaching in the UK. Plein la gueule would definitely not be used publicly by a member of staff in a French school, whereas as far I know anything with “talking to”/”in the neck”, etc. could be used in a UK school - and sounds oh so civilised :-). This is probably how a French student would brag about being seriously told off by a teacher or how a worker would tell her/his mates s-he just got a right bollocking from the boss. I don’t know enough about US English slang to suggest anything, but if this were for the UK, I feel that sthg like ‘fuckin’, 'bollocking', 'bugger' or 'damn' at the very least would be part of the answer. Check the number of * or even ** gueule gets in R&C. I would add that if this appears in a lawsuit (testimony?), using the right tone/level could be important.

01:00 May 17, 2019 

Hi Lara. as I explained, the phrase refers to people complaining at a meeting to a certain individual, the "bloke" from X. There is no further context that pertains to this verbatim quote.

00:30 May 17, 2019 

But you are leaving no context to the situation. Maybe you can use false names or something? It is possible to give a general guide to what is going on without exposing the confidentiall details. For example, what this phrase relates to, the level or intensity etc

22:53 May 16, 2019 

Can we assume that this mec/BE bloke - AE guy had merely received a 'tongue-lashing' and had not been set upon and beaten up by the angry crowd? Meetings in some countries do not always end non-violently.

22:49 May 16, 2019 

Not "got ass kicked" per Adrian, but "mouthful" or "talking to" per Adrian or Phil Goddard.

22:35 May 16, 2019 

Blighter was given a jolly good talking to :-)

22:25 May 16, 2019 

Hi Lara. Unfortunately, I can't give more context without giving away too many confidential details. There is virtually no other context anyway. It is one sentence quoted verbatim in the middle of a legal argument.

22:20 May 16, 2019 

It would help if you could show the sentence before and after, or even a bit more than that.

21:03 May 16, 2019 

Also, I forgot to mention that this is British English, and I am American, so I am in particular need of advice on this one. I have no problems with legal British English but I avoid translating colloquial language. Thanks!