This French word has both a literal meaning and several different uses in everyday slang.
Why do I need to know cracher?
This word is commonly used in everyday language and appears in many French expressions – whether it’s saliva, money, words, or information…
What does it mean?
The word cracher is a French ER-verb, roughly pronounced krah-shay (listen here), which means “to spit”.
As well as its literal use to talk about anything spit-related, it also has a number of non-literal meanings.
When someone speaks in a harsh or aggressive way, the French might say il a craché son mépris, which conveys the idea of “spitting out” one’s words or expressing contempt forcefully.
The verb is also commonly used in informal contexts to talk about money. For instance, il a dû cracher €500 means “he had to cough up €500”, implying that the payment was made reluctantly.
In a more literal sense, cracher can refer to the medical idea of “coughing up.” For example, during a coughing fit, you might hear il crache ses poumons, literally “he’s coughing up his lungs.”
The verb can also be applied to inanimate objects, where it takes on the meaning of “emitting” or “spewing.” For example: Le volcan crache de la lave (the volcano spews lava) or La cheminée crache de la fumée (the chimney is spewing smoke).
Finally, in slang, cracher can mean to talk, especially when someone is holding back information. For example, il a fini par cracher le morceau means “he finally spilled the beans” or as an instruction to “spit it out” – ie start talking.
French expressions with cracher
Cracher dans la soupe (krah-shay dahn lah soop) literally means “spitting in the soup”, but in reality it means that you’re showing ingratitude. Its English equivalent would be “biting the hand that feeds you”.
Ne crache pas dans la soupe. Ils te logent gratuitement ici. – Don’t be ungrateful. They’re putting you up for free here.
C’est son portrait craché (seh sohn por-tray krah-shay) literally means “his spat-out portrait”. Its English equivalent would be a “spitting image”.
Ce petit garçon, c’est le portrait craché de son père. – That little boy is the spitting image of his father.
Ne pas cracher sur quelque chose (nuh pah krah-shay sur kelk shoz) literally translates to “to not spit on something”. It means to “not turn something down”.
On ne va pas cracher sur cette opportunité. – We’re not going to turn down this opportunity.
Use it like this
Ne crache pas dans la rue, c’est malpoli ! – Don’t spit in the street, it’s rude!
Crache ! Je veux savoir ce qu’elle t’a dit. – Spit it out! I want to know what she said.
J’ai craché du sang, je crois que je suis vraiment malade. – I’m coughing up blood, I think I’m really sick.
