Learn French with Friends: Joey’s Bad Date

In this classic scene from Friends, Joey has just been on a date with Phoebe’s friend Sarah.
Make sure you watch the whole scene to find out the real reason Joey won’t be going on a
second date!

As we watch the scene, I’ll be breaking down key vocabulary words and French slang, so that
you can follow along without missing any of the jokes.

Allez, c’est parti ! Let’s get started!

Watch the clip with subtitles

- Salut.
- Hey.

- Salut.
- Hey.

- Ah oui, mon amie Sarah a passé une très bonne soirée hier. Je t'assure. Alors elle, tu vas
la rappeler ?
- Oh yes, my friend Sarah had a great time last night. I mean it. So are you going to call her
back?

- Non.
- No.

- Mais qu’est-ce que tu racontes ? Je peux te dire qu'elle est très chouette !
- What are you talking about? I can tell you that she’s really cool!

- Ah, tu trouves ? Tu veux savoir ce qu'elle a fait ta chouette copine ? On était au resto, tu vois
? Tout allait très bien. On passait une bonne soirée, je commençais à me dire qu'elle était très
sympa. Et d’un seul coup, sans que j'ai compris quoi que ce soit…
- Oh, you think so? Do you want to know what she did, your cool friend? We were at the
restaurant, you see? Everything was going very well. We were having a nice evening, I was
starting to think that she was really nice. Then all of a sudden, without my understanding
anything at all…

- C'est tout ? C'est pour ça que tu veux plus la revoir ? Parce qu’elle t'a piqué des frites ? Ben,
dis donc !
- Is that all? That’s why you don’t want to see her again? Because she stole some French
fries? Well, I’ll be damned!
 - Attends, attends. C'est pas que pour quelques malheureuses frites. C'est avant tout pour
tout ce que ça représente.
- Wait, wait. It’s not just about a few miserable fries. Above all, it’s for everything that they
represent.

- Quoi ?
- What?

- C'est toute la bouffe !

- All food!

- Ben excuse moi, je suis vraiment désolée. Je crois que je n'aurais jamais dû te faire
rencontrer un tel monstre.
- Well excuse me, I’m really sorry. I guess I never should have introduced you to such a
monster.

- Non, attends, attends, attends. Quand j'invite une fille au restaurant, elle commande ce qui
lui fait envie et plus elle prend mieux c'est. Tu comprends ? Cela dit, faut pas qu'elle
prenne une salade et qu'elle s'attaque à ma bouffe. C'est le meilleur moyen de se faire
couper un doigt.
- No, wait, wait, wait. When I invite a girl to a restaurant, she orders whatever she wants, and
the more the better. You understand? That said, she can’t get a salad and then go after my
food. That’s the best way to get a finger cut off.

Break down the video and learn key vocabulary

- Salut
- Salut
- Ah oui, Mon amie Sarah a passé une très bonne soirée hier.

The verb “passer” can mean “to pass”, as you might expect, but in this case, it means to spend
time in a certain way.

So, J’ai passé le week-end à la campagne would be I spent the weekend in the country.

In our scene, “Sarah a passé une très bonne soirée hier” means “Sarah spent (or had) a great
evening yesterday.” But a translation that flows a bit better in English is, “Sarah had a great
time last night.”

- Je t'assure. Alors elle, tu vas la rappeler ?

“Je t’assure” literally translates to “I assure you.” But again in English, we might be more likely
to say something like, I promise or I mean it.
The verb “rappeler” has to be translated with two words in English, “to call back.”

There are actually a lot of words like this where in English we add the word “back”, and in
French, they just put “r-” or “re-” at the beginning of the word.

For example:
- Remettre is to put back
- Remonter is to go back up
- And Retomber is to fall back

So altogether, Phoebe is saying, “I mean it. So are you going to call her back?”

- Non
- Mais qu’est-ce que tu racontes ? Je peux te dire qu'elle est très chouette !

“Raconter” means to tell or to recount. So “Qu’est-ce que tu racontes ?” is literally “What are you
telling?” But in English we would say, “What are you talking about?”

“Chouette” is a super common slang word. It can be used to describe pretty much anything to
say that it’s cool or great or nice.

So altogether, Phoebe is saying, “What are you talking about? I can tell you that she’s really
cool!”

- Ah, tu trouves ? Tu veux savoir ce qu'elle a fait ta chouette copine ?

The verb “trouver” can be a bit tricky. Usually, it means to find. But in this case, that doesn’t
quite make sense. Joey wouldn’t be saying “Oh, you find?” What he’s actually saying is “Oh,
you think so?”

“Une copine” is a slang word for a female friend. However, depending on the context, it could
also mean a girlfriend.

So when you hear this word, you have to look out for clues that might help you figure out which
meaning you’re dealing with. The male version is “un copain,” which can also mean just a friend
or a boyfriend.

So Joey’s whole sentence is - “Oh, you think so? Do you want to know what she did, your
cool friend?”

- On était au resto, tu vois ?

“Un Resto” is short for “un restaurant.” It’s an informal term that’s very common in French.

- Tout allait très bien. On passait une bonne soirée, je commençais à me dire qu'elle était très
sympa.

The verb “passer” comes up again here. We saw earlier that it means to spend time doing a
certain thing. So here “On passait une bonne soirée” is “We were having a nice evening.”

“Je commençais à me dire qu'elle était très sympa.” is “I was starting to think that she was really
nice.”

- Et d’un seul coup, sans que j'ai compris quoi que ce soit…

“D’un coup” or “D’un seul coup” means all of a sudden. Or, literally, in a single stroke.

The phrase “quoi que ce soit” means anything at all.

So, “Sans que j'ai compris quoi que ce soit…” means “Without my understanding anything at
all.”

- C'est tout ?

“C'est tout ?” means “Is that all?”

- C'est pour ça que tu veux plus la revoir ? Parce qu’elle t'a piqué des frites ? Ben, dis donc !

“C'est pour ça que tu veux plus la revoir” means “That’s why you don’t want to see her again.”

Earlier, we saw that “rappeler” means to call back. Well “revoir” works the same way. It’s just
“re-” and “voir,” so it means to see again.

Next, “piquer” means to take or to steal.

For example:
- Il m’a piqué mon stylo.
- He took my pen.

Finally, “Dis donc !” is an exclamation that could be translated in a few different ways, like “I’ll
be damned”, or “my goodness”, or even just “Wow.”

So here Phoebe is saying “Dis donc !” to show how amazed she is that Joey won’t call her
friend back because she stole a French fry.

- Attends, attends. C'est pas que pour quelques malheureuses frites.

“C'est pas que pour quelques malheureuses frites.” means “It’s not just about a few miserable
fries.”

- C'est avant tout pour tout ce que ça représente.

“Avant tout” literally means before all. But in English, we would say “above all.”

So Joey is saying, It’s not just about a few miserable fries. Above all, it’s for everything that
those fries represent.

- Quoi ?
- C'est toute la bouffe !

“La bouffe” is a slang word for food. So Joey is saying that these French fries represent all food.

“Bouffer” is also used as a verb meaning to eat. For example:

- Il ne fait que bouffer.
- All he does is eat.

- Ben excuse moi, je suis vraiment désolée. Je crois que je n'aurais jamais dû te faire
rencontrer un tel monstre.

“Dû” is the verb “devoir” meaning to have to. Here, it’s conjugated in the conditionnel passé –
the past conditional. In English, we would express this using the word “should”. So “je
n'aurais jamais dû” would be “I never should have.”

In this case, Phoebe is sarcastically saying, “Well excuse me, I’m really sorry. I guess I
never should have introduced you to such a monster.”

- Non, attends, attends, attends. Quand j'invite une fille au restaurant, elle commande ce qui
lui fait envie et plus elle prend mieux c'est. Tu comprends ?

“Commander” means to order something. So, “Quand j'invite une fille au restaurant, elle
commande ce qui lui fait envie” is “When I invite a girl to a restaurant, she orders whatever she
wants.”
“Et plus elle prend mieux c'est” means “And the more she orders, the better.”
And finally, “Tu comprends ?” is “You understand?”

- Cela dit, faut pas qu'elle prenne une salade et qu'elle s'attaque à ma bouffe

“Cela dit” means that said or that being said.

For example:
- Je n’aime pas conduire la nuit. Cela dit, parfois je n’ai pas le choix.
- I don’t like driving at night. That being said, sometimes I don’t have a choice

Next, “s'attaquer à” means to go after or to attack.

And Joey uses the word “bouffe” again here, which we just saw is slang for food.

So altogether, Joey is saying that he’s happy for a girl to order whatever she wants. That being
said, she can’t get a salad and then go after his food.

- C'est le meilleur moyen de se faire couper un doigt.

“Meilleur” means “best.” And “un moyen” is a way or a method.

So “C'est le meilleur moyen de se faire couper un doigt” is “That’s the best way to get a finger
cut off.”