English equivalent of "c'est gratuit"

Question

In French, we have an idiomatic expression to say that something was done for no reason. For instance, if a guy passes by and insults or spits on someone in the street for no reason, we would say "c'est gratuit" (literally "it's free"). It means "wow, that was for no reason" or "wow, he didn't ask for it".

I was told Spanish people say "por la cara" (literally "by the face") in this situation.

Is there an idiomatic expression in English to express that?

EDIT: I understand most of the answers, but I feel like there is something missing. I had forgotten it in my question, but when we say that in French, there is also the idea that the poor guy didn't deserve it. He asked for nothing, and this happens. It is not actually for every situation where there is "no reason" to do something.

Answer 1

You may consider:

Gratuitous

Which is a very good fit to the original French. The definition at dictionary.com includes:

2. being without apparent reason, cause, or justification: a gratuitous insult.

Gratuitous keeps the sense of the French and has the exact meaning you require.

Answer 2

I would say

uncalled-for

From the Merriam-Webster:

(...) being or offered without provocation or justification

Quite literally, gratuit means that nothing "calls" for the insult. Possibly uncalled-for carries a stronger disapprobation, that could be expressed in french by c'est vraiment gratuit, ça.

Answer 3

We say the same thing:

"for no reason."

You answered it yourself.

Other options:

• unprovoked (or "completely unprovoked")
• uncalled for
• out of the blue
• indefensible

Answer 4

Consider no rhyme or reason

without any reasonable explanation or purpose

[The Free Dictionary]

TFD also lists without rhyme or reason as being a cliched expression.

In your case,

That guy seems to be insulting each and every passerby on the street without/ for no rhyme or reason.

Update:

If you're looking for a new age, informal, born-and-raised in the Internet term, then I'd suggest for the lulz

Usage:

Why did that dude go on a rage, shooting insults and spitting on other people's faces? Not sure, probably for the lulz!

Answer 5

An idiom that has emerged (possibly just in the UK) in recent years is to describe this as "random", e.g.

"Steve, that bloke just spat on the floor, wtf?"
"Yeah I know, it was totally random."

Oxford Dictionaries define random as

1. Made, done, or happening without method or conscious decision

Answer 6

"Senseless" literally has this meaning, ie seems to have no justification. However, the word "senseless" is so often used (eg in journalism) to describe acts of violence that it has become linked to the idea of violence, and might seem a little odd when used to describe something that doesn't really harm anyone.

Answer 7

You could use

No rhyme or reason

Something done without a discernible explanation or purpose.

If you don't mind using a single word, there are numerous ones that scale with the "amount" of non-reason behind the act and the intensity of the damage done:

Synonyms from Collins that might apply:

Spitting in your face was...

**

...pointless, meaningless, irrational, mindless, illogical, nonsensical, inane, without rhyme or reason, insensate, uncalled for, unwarranted.

**

Answer 8

You could say, It's nothing more than sheer spite/pure evil.

pure evil n (extreme malice or wickedness) méchanceté gratuite nf : Killing those puppies was nothing more than pure evil! WordReference

Answer 9

You can say it was done for shits and giggles. Urban Dictionary with 1004 users giving it the thumbs up, says

To do something for amusement or to annoy someone else.
Let's just do it for shits and giggles.

Answer 10

Apropos of nothing

Is a thing people say that means "without any reason or purpose" but most often I hear it when they're about to switch topics, so it seems connotatively innocuous.

Another idiom I've heard frequently recently (particularly among programmers wanting to express doubt about why a person did a thing):

because reasons

It's also on wiktionary

Answer 11

You might say to the victim, or to another observer "Where did THAT come from?". Or "What's HIS problem?". I think these retain the colloquial flavour of the original French.

Answer 12

Typical response:

Well, that was pointless.

Answer 13

Similar to “out of the blue” (already posted) is “out of left field”.

Answer 14

I'm answering because it seems most of the existing answers are to describe this kind of event, but not to respond to it.

You could try:

What was that for?

Or

What was the point in that?

By questioning the reason for something being done, you're making it clear you don't think there was a reason, or at least an adequate reason.

Answer 15

Though I cast my vote for "gratuitous," it's not an idiomatic word, so I'll add two of the more common American English idioms that I have not seen mentioned which mean "for no reason."

"Just because" is a shorter way of saying "just because [pronoun] did," but leaving the "[pronoun] did" bit at the end implicit instead of saying it explicitly. The reason I/he/she/they did something is that I/he/she/they did it, which is equivalent to no reason.

"Why not?" is similar in that the stated reason is that there was no reason not to. So, saying that the reason I/he/she/they did something is that I/he/she/they didn't have a reason not to strongly implies that there was no reason to do it, either.

In the context of something being done to someone, both idiomatic phrases would also connote that the person that had something done to them did not deserve it, and imply pejorative qualities on the person doing the something. So, for example, if you asked me why your boss yelled at you about something and I said "just because" or "why not?", in addition to conveying that there was no reason for it, I also imply that his yelling at you was not because you deserved to be yelled at, but because he's an asshole who yells at people for no reason.

Answer 16

In keeping with the original phrase's sardonic tone, I'd moot "Thanks for that!" and its multitudinous variations as something that is often said in the UK in similar situations; eg, someone barges past you when there was loads of space via which they could have just gone around you: "Oh, thanks mate, that was just what I needed!"

Answer 17

To meet the requirements of your updated question, I would suggest undeserved to describe the action, or undeserving to describe the recipient of the deed.

undeserve

: to fail to deserve

Source: Merriam-Webster

The definition here is somewhat awkward as one almost never hears this word by itself. It is almost always used in the form undeserved or undeserving. This leads to the obligatory:

deserve

transitive verb
: to be worthy of : merit <deserves another chance>

intransitive verb
: to be worthy, fit, or suitable for some reward or requital <have become recognized as they deserve — T. S. Eliot>

Source: Merriam-Webster

Saying "that was totally undeserved" can apply to both positive and negative actions, and has most of the connotations that you've asked for:

• The action was done for no discernible reason
• There was no provocation that should have caused it.
• The action was at least somewhat extreme or it would not have been commented on.

Now, you also said "it is not actually for every situation where there is 'no reason' to do something." However, I'm not sure what you mean by this. Does this word fit what you had in mind? I note that you used deserve, yourself, but may not have been aware of this form of the word.

Answer 18

...just for the hell of it comes to mind — it was done for no reason, it was simply done.

That's the closest I can come to a direct translation of "c'est gratuit", because it's not a sarcastic response ("thanks for that...!"), it's a description of the act itself. Perhaps it's not something your friend would say if someone passed and insulted you (some other, choice words come to mind) but it's certainly the same sentiment.