se sortir les doigts du cul
What does “se sortir les doigts du cul” mean in English?
It means to stop being lazy and actually do something. The literal translation refers to taking your fingers out of your arse, which adds a bit of urgency to the message.
Literally “take the fingers out of the arse”
It's often used as a blunt nudge to get someone to take action, similar to saying 'get your shit together' in English. It's informal and can come off as quite forceful.
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Related French words
se casser le cul
3/5 · VulgarIt means to make a great effort or work very hard. The literal translation is 'break one's arse,' but it's used more figuratively.
se foutre de la gueule de
3/5 · VulgarIt means to mock someone or treat them like a fool. It's a dismissive way of saying you don't take someone seriously.
se les cailler
2/5 · CoarseIt means to be freezing cold, expressed in a coarse way. The literal translation refers to a body part, but it’s implied rather than stated outright.
avoir de la merde dans les yeux
3/5 · VulgarIt means to fail to see something obvious or to judge a situation poorly. The literal translation refers to having shit in your eyes, which emphasizes a lack of clarity or awareness.
About this data
Swear Atlas is a source-attested, AI-curated reference — not a native-speaker-certified dictionary. Meanings and the 1–5 Burn Rating are approximate editorial assessments that vary with context, region, tone and speaker. Inclusion of a word does not constitute endorsement of its use.
The literal gloss is a short editorial translation to show word-for-word sense, not an etymological claim.
“Sounds like” is an English-friendly approximation of how the word sounds, not an authoritative pronunciation. Where shown, the romanisation is a conventional Latin-script transliteration of the original spelling.
Term attested via Viddexa SafeText (MIT). Editorial content © Swear Atlas.