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Okay, so in English at least, it's pretty normal to mention kissing, whereas depending on the context, it's pretty inappropriate to mention fucking or fucking someone over.

Yet apparently baiser translates both.

How on earth am I supposed to know when it's okay to use a word that translates both a common, pleasant word and a dirty swear at the same time?

If I say, "Je l'ai baisée," what will people think I did to her?

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    The easiest solution to avoid embarassment is to never use baiser except as a noun, un baiser which always means "a kiss" (and sounds a bit old-fashioned).
    – Fatalize
    Apr 15, 2016 at 8:35
  • @Aerovistae: Yes, it is a very common mistake even among the native speaker, as the rule is more complex than that. For example you would say "J'ai baisé Christine", without "ée", because of the order of the words in the sentence.
    – Anne Aunyme
    Apr 15, 2016 at 8:53
  • @Anne I actually did know that! Thank you. I just always forget. @ Fatalize, the thing is though, I tend to swear a lot actually. That's sort of my style in spoken language, with people I'm familiar with. "Ça m'a baisé" is exactly the sort of thing I would say, if there isn't a nuance of translation I'm missing.
    – temporary_user_name
    Apr 15, 2016 at 13:14
  • "Avec tes notes du trimestre, même en bossant comme un dingue tu n'auras pas ton année : t'es baisé." "J'ai voulu en acheter et je me suis rendu compte que c'était de la camelotte : je me suis encore fait baiser"
    – Anne Aunyme
    Apr 15, 2016 at 13:33
  • Literary, elevated, poetic, old-fashioned, former times: baiser = to kiss and embrasser = to clasp, to hold, to take in arms (en-bras-ser). Modern: baiser = to fuck and embrasser = to kiss. So never use baiser to say to kiss, and never use embrasser to say to clasp.
    – Destal
    Aug 22, 2016 at 21:15

3 Answers 3

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Using "Je l'ai baisée", people will think about these meanings, in this order:

  1. You fucked her
  2. You tricked her
  3. You kissed her

The two first possibilities will be eleminated only if the context makes it very clear it is not this meaning, like if it is a text written a long time ago or if you are speaking in a old-fashioned polished register of language, or if the COD is not a person. For example:

Le chevalier baisa la bague de son seigneur pour lui prêter allégeance. (The knight kissed his lord's ring to pledge him allegeance.)

Here it is clear that the knight is not doing nasty things with the ring of his lord.

But if you use "un baiser" as a noun, it means "a kiss". For example:

Nous avons échangé un baiser avant de nous quitter

Means clearly that you did nothing more than kissing. Just be careful not to use "une baise" in France, as it clearly means the sexual act and not just the kiss.

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    You're pretty new to French.SE, but you're a great addition! Keep at it....I'm glad we're still getting new people who can provide information so abundantly and happily.
    – temporary_user_name
    Apr 18, 2016 at 20:32
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It could means three things. The first two, which are both plausible without more context, are the vulgar way to refer to penetration, and the slang way to say “to dupe” (with a lot of nuances, and is up to interpretation).

It could also mean kissing (it was used for kissing on the hand), but nowadays one would more likely say “Je lui ai fait un baiser”, or more commonly “Je l'ai embrassée” (which has only two meanings… the other one being “to hug”).

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    "baiser avec" ne s'emploie généralement pas, "baiser" (au sens vulgaire) étant plutôt utilisé sur le mode transitif ("je l'ai baisée"): "avec" s'emploie plutôt avec "coucher", qui est d'ailleurs moins vulgaire que "baiser", sans être toutefois beaucoup plus littéraire...
    – BBBreiz
    Apr 14, 2016 at 21:40
  • Do "bises" come into play here at all as an alternative?
    – D. Ben Knoble
    Apr 15, 2016 at 1:31
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    @comethapaxd'ajax "sauter" est uniquement transitif ("je l'ai sautée"), et est un tout petit peu moins vulgaire que "baiser", mais ça reste vulgaire.
    – Random
    Apr 15, 2016 at 7:36
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    @BenKnoble "bises" has no ambiguity, and is a noun, not a verb. You would say "faire la bise" when you meet someone, or "bise(s)" alone at the end of an email.
    – Random
    Apr 15, 2016 at 7:42
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Most of the time, everyone will think of the dirty word, unless it's in well-known expressions, like "baiser la main" or the noun "un tendre baiser" or if it is used in texts using elevated language throughout.

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