Timeline for English equivalent of bêtise
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
7 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 28, 2018 at 20:45 | comment | added | Lambie | Bêtise is not high register: Tu a fait une bêtise. You did something stupid. Folly is too high register for bêtise. It is also: You did something silly. | |
| Feb 13, 2012 at 16:53 | comment | added | Mitch | Your suggestion follows the French in syntax expectation, but unlike 'bêtises', they do not match in frequency. At least in GenAmE, 'folly' is a very rare spoken word and would not be used as a thing to tell a child to stop. 'Foolishness' or 'tomfoolery' -might- be used, but only by a really uptight parent or one who just woke up from 80 years of sleep. | |
| Feb 13, 2012 at 16:39 | comment | added | MetaEd | And I would argue that the connotation of bêtise is more the former than the latter. | |
| Feb 13, 2012 at 16:28 | comment | added | slim | I don't like it, sorry. Folly implies pointlessness and frivolity, but not naughtiness. | |
| Feb 13, 2012 at 16:24 | comment | added | tdc | Nice answer! Those two criteria sum it up well | |
| Feb 13, 2012 at 16:22 | vote | accept | tdc | ||
| Feb 13, 2012 at 16:20 | history | answered | MetaEd | CC BY-SA 3.0 |