President Emmanuel Macron of France is under fire over remarks he made in a recent interview where he, according to the translation published by most English-speaking media sites, said, “I really want to piss off the unvaccinated”:
President Macron of France drew criticism over his comments about people who had refused coronavirus vaccines. “I really want to piss off the unvaccinated,” he told the newspaper Le Parisien. “And so we are going to continue doing that, until the end.” https://t.co/iDStro7wVx
— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) January 5, 2022
Except what he *really* said is much worse.
The word Macron used in the interview — “Emmerder” — “literally means ‘to s*it on'”:
English langauge press grappling with reporting Macron saying he wants to '«Emmerder» the unvaccinated is quite funny. Most going with ‘piss off’ and others ‘hassle’… of course it literally means ‘to shit on'
— Jon Stone (@joncstone) January 5, 2022
Accuracy matters, journos!
NEW: Macron sparks backlash after warning France's unvaccinated. "As for the non-vaccinated, I really want to piss them off," he told Le Parisien newspaper, using the French verb "emmerder". Derived from the word "merde" which means "shit".https://t.co/fG4zvPnD1V
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) January 5, 2022
There’s now a debate over which translation is acceptable:
"Emmerder"
— Dave Clark (@DaveClark_AFP) January 5, 2022
And we’re seeing a compromise version of “crap” now popping up:
French President Emmanuel Macron used a vulgarity to berate the unvaccinated, provoking outcries in Parliament. Macron used the word "emmerder," rooted in the French word for "crap." https://t.co/zhuTLlz79g
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) January 5, 2022
Anyway, however you define what he said, the French parliament is pissed and just s*it on Macron’s plans for more vaccine mandates:
French parliament suspends COVID debate after Macron 'piss off' remark https://t.co/06L9BpAg4S pic.twitter.com/oQrPaHhlkB
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 5, 2022
From Reuters:
“A president cannot say such things,” lawmaker Christian Jacob, who chairs the opposition, conservative Les Republicans party, told parliament. “I’m in favour of the vaccine pass but I cannot back a text whose objective is to ‘piss off’ the French.”
“Is that your objective, yes or no? We cannot keep debating without having a clear answer on that.”
Good.
***
Join the conversation as a VIP Member