1

It is in a song named Je Suis Décadente by Brigitte Fontaine

Quand Ernest il veut me faire ma fête Je lui dis « A quoi bon ? » très amère

Improve this question
3

Here the meaning is the "argot" (French slang) meaning of "faire sa fête": it means "to have sexual intercourse with great vigor" (to put it politely).

Resources: https://www.languefrancaise.net/Bob/32570

Improve this answer
4
  • 3
    I'm from France (as opposed to Quebec where it might be different), "faire sa fete" mainly means "to beat up", even though I understand the sexual meaning, most notably the second example, in your link, it's not the main (and surely not the only) meaning. Dimitris' answer should be the accepted one ^^' – beauchette Jun 19 '20 at 7:09
  • 2
    En tant que Français, je n'ai jamais entendu cette expression avec ce sens. – Toto Jun 19 '20 at 9:10
  • 2
    I am French, grew up in France, and know Brigitte Fontaine's songs. I am 100% sure that "faire sa fête" means "to have sex with her" here. Read the rest of the lyrics and it will make sense. She's asking "what for" and he says "why not" which she says is too bad, he's only a simple guy: she wishes he could come up with a better reason to want to have sex with her. With the "beating up" meaning, the lyrics wouldn't make sense. If he offered to beat her up, why would she ask "what for", why would he answer "why not", and why would she say he's only a simple guy for giving her that answer? – Jonathan Jun 19 '20 at 9:46
  • For more references, Google "faire sa fête" and "baiser" ("to have sex"), you will find many links that would be too inappropriate to share here. – Jonathan Jun 19 '20 at 9:52
2

(Familier) Faire sa fête à quelqu'un, le malmener physiquement ou moralement.

Gronder ou frapper quelqu'un.

Attaquer une personne physiquement ou verbalement.

Example:

Je vais lui faire la fête à cet abruti !

References:

  1. http://www.linternaute.fr/expression/langue-francaise/18358/faire-sa-fete-a-quelqu-un/ ;

  2. https://www.linternaute.fr/dictionnaire/fr/definition/faire-la-fete/

  3. https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/f%C3%AAte/33431#locution

In slang, as "faire sa fête à quelqu'un" means "to beat up somebody" it may have a sexual connotation in a soften, figurative way.

Reference:

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/faire-la-f%C3%AAte-%C3%A0-quelquun.2342336/

Update

Thanks to native speaker @Greg for his comment cited below.

Both meanings exist. It all depends on the context. In the song of Brigitte Fontaine, it rather seems to be the sexual meaning, it would fit with the whole tone and meaning of the song. For a song with the other meaning and a play on faire ta fête (simple meaning, ie, to party)/ te faire ta fête (ie to punish), see this: genius.com/Stromae-ta-fete-lyrics

Improve this answer
5
  • 2
    But do you think it has correct meaning in the context above? I saw somewhere somebody had translated it to "make love" but I didn't find any resource for this meaning. – Mehdi Pourfar Jun 18 '20 at 21:51
  • 1
    @MehdiPourfar I don't know to be honest. May be a native speaker could give more insight. In any case it would be better that you quote the whole verse of the song. – Dimitris Jun 18 '20 at 21:53
  • 1
    @MehdiPourfar You may be right. See my update answer. – Dimitris Jun 18 '20 at 22:03
  • 2
    Native speaker here: both meanings exist. It all depends on the context. In the song of Brigitte Fontaine, it rather seems to be the sexual meaning, it would fit with the whole tone and meaning of the song. For a song with the other meaning and a play on faire ta fête (simple meaning, ie, to party)/ te faire ta fête (ie to punish), see this: genius.com/Stromae-ta-fete-lyrics – Greg Jun 19 '20 at 4:19
  • @Greg Thanks for your comment. I added it to my answer. Really helpful native speaker verification :-)! – Dimitris Jun 19 '20 at 6:45

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.