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This feels like a silly question but I want to know if female chat is "chatte" because Google Translate suggests anything but (vulgar terms, beware).

Does "chatte" mean female cat and the other words? Or is it just the other words?

Just to avoid any faux pas!

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2 Answers 2

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Yup, "une chatte" is actually a female cat but is also the lill' name for… erm, ya know, the sex of a woman.

So, use it carefully!!

It is often avoided if possible, in a way or another, like: Comment va ton chat ? (How is your cat?) as the gender of the cat doesn't really matter.

Even though, in the appropriate context and with mature people this isn't necessarily problematic at all. But it remains pretty rare to use the word "chatte" (for the female cat) and could generally feel a bit weird.

Also be careful when using its synonyms, such as: "moule" (mussels) and "minou" (a cute little name for a little cat)

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    AFAIK it's more a "modern" thing than anything else. Pretty much everyone knows what it means (excluding our older grandparents perhaps). Interesting fact: In the past, one of the word used to designate a pussy was "un con" which know hasn't the same meaning at all (that's a rude way to say to someone that he's an complete idiot :p more or less).
    – jeromej
    Commented Aug 13, 2013 at 22:09
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    Thanks, are there any other seemingly innocent words like chatte someone new to French might want to be careful with? (Maybe this should be a different question I'm not sure :p)
    – Anon343224user
    Commented Aug 14, 2013 at 11:01
  • @foxyfennec now* (correction for my first answer). Aha, that's a tough question, I should think about it. The first one that I think of might be the french word for tail which is "queue" which means the male sex (that's very nasty) (but it's usually less weird when used than "chatte") or perhaps some other metaphoric words like for instance "mes boules" (my balls) (I think the prob is obvious even in English there). I'll tell ya if I think about other stuff.
    – jeromej
    Commented Aug 14, 2013 at 15:21
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    @foxyfennec the verb baiser is another example to be used carefully. It can mean either to gently kiss (as in baiser la main) or to make love (the rude way, like to f**k) or to fool someone (the rude way)
    – chilladx
    Commented Aug 14, 2013 at 16:27
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    @chilladx Aha, this word is rarely used to mean gently kiss, it's a bit "old fashioned", but also understood by pretty much everyone still.
    – jeromej
    Commented Aug 14, 2013 at 17:29
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JeromeJ answer is perfectly correct.

You can easily understand the context because in english, the problem is exactly the same with dog/bitch.

I guess you wouldn't ask a male friend « How is your bitch ? », because it will easily be confusing and impolite, but you can ask « How is your dog ? », even with a female dog.

It's exactly the same with « chat / chatte » in french. We don't ask to a woman « Comment va ta chatte ? » but we ask « Comment va ton chat ? », even if it's a female cat.

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  • Excellent et très utile rapprochement pour éviter des sourires narquois.
    – Personne
    Commented Sep 24, 2013 at 12:28
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    I didn't even know that "bitch" also stood for female dog :D aha
    – jeromej
    Commented Sep 26, 2013 at 19:50

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