Once you’ve mastered basic French, you move into the word of nuance, jokes, references and – the highest form of wit – sarcasm. Which is where the ‘second degree’ comes in.
If you’re joking around with French people, you may hear reference to the premier degré and the second degré – which refer to whether you are supposed to take something literally or look for the hidden meaning.
Premier degré
First-degree language in French is typically used in factual statements, instructions or directions, formal or technical contexts where clarity is important. It means to take something at face value, with no second meaning.
But when it comes to humour, it also means taking something that has been said or written literally, in a very serious manner. In English, it would translate to “taking something at face value”.
Example: Tu sais bien que Denis adore se moquer des autres. Il ne faut pas prendre ce qu’il dit au premier degré. – You know Denis loves making fun of people. You shouldn’t take things so literally.
Sometimes, you might also hear a native speaker respond to a shocking or unbelievable remark by saying premier degré? – kind of like “are you serious”?
Second degré
Second degré (second degree) language in French involves going beyond the literal meaning. It includes irony, sarcasm, exaggeration, or humour. The speaker’s true intention is different from, or even opposite to, the literal words.
Second-degree language often appears in humour and jokes, sarcasm and irony, and informal conversations. It’s also almost always used with a particular tone of voice, hinting even more at that second degré.
In English, ironically, we use a French phrase for a similar concept – double entendre. But it’s not entirely the same, a double entendre is almost always used for something that has a risqué or sexual second meaning. Example: A woman walked into a bar and asked for a double entendre. So I gave her one. [‘give her one’ being a crude phrase to talk about having sex].
The French second degré is much broader, and can mean anything where the meaning should not be taken literally.
Misunderstanding the difference can lead to confusion. Someone interpreting a second-degree comment as first-degree might miss a joke or think the speaker is being serious when they’re not. If you get confused, you can always ask c’est du second degré? (Is that a joke?)
Example: Bravo, quel génie ! (Nice one, what a genius) said after someone makes a mistake.
Or you might also hear people say c’est du propre (well done/that’s clean) when in reality it’s a complete mess, or something’s been done chaotically.
When learning a second language, it may be hard to pick up on the irony and humour.
Furthermore, the French have a lot of ways to say “it’s just a joke”, such as on ne peut plus rigoler? (we can’t laugh anymore?), Tu connais pas le second degré (you can’t take a joke?), on peut plus plaisanter (I’m just kidding).
The difficulty in understanding these types of jokes may give rise to the, in our opinion incorrect, view that the French are not funny.
Why is it the second degré and not the deuxième degré?
Both terms can be translated into “second” in English. But in French, there is a subtle difference between second and deuxième that is found in whether there were more than two of something, or whether the second thing was the last.
You would use second when there are only two of something – and in French, there is no troisième degré when it comes to humour.
French education
Not to be confused with premier degré and second degré in the French education system.
The premier degré refers to primary education and includes kindergarten and elementary school, while second degré refers to secondary education.
