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  3. Slang

Avoir le charisme d'un gant de toilette

English translation: have all the charisma of / have about as much charisma as a wet dishcloth

00:41 Feb 6, 2020
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Slang / Idiom
French term or phrase: Avoir le charisme d'un gant de toilette
Hello Prozers! I would like to know a good equivalent to the French idiom Avoir le charisme d'un gant de toilette. Has anyone got any ideas? Thanks for your suggestions!
Lucile
English translation:have all the charisma of / have about as much charisma as a wet dishcloth
Explanation:
I think this would be more idiomatically scathing in EN — though if this is the actual quote from NF, you'll obviously need to go back to the source and use his actual words, rather than seeking to back-translate to them!
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 01:52
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.



Summary of answers provided
3 +6have all the charisma of / have about as much charisma as a wet dishcloth
Tony M
3 +3have the charisma of a wet blanket
Charlotte Revill
3have the charisma of a damp rag
Thomas T. Frost


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


20 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
have the charisma of a damp rag


Explanation:
Nigel Farage used this expression about Herman Van Rompuy in 2010, so using it would most probably invoke political connotations that might be suitable in some contexts but not in others.


    https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nigel_Farage
Thomas T. Frost
Portugal
Local time: 00:52
Native speaker of: Native in DanishDanish, Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  writeaway: wet rag is more idiomatic. and I personally don't trust a single word uttered by Farage. /in any case, I don't agree with damp.
7 mins
  -> What we think of Farage is unrelated to this. I only posted it as a real-life example./Indeed, a search for this expression only gives NF results. But this is what the man said, idiomatic or not.
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +6
have all the charisma of / have about as much charisma as a wet dishcloth


Explanation:
I think this would be more idiomatically scathing in EN — though if this is the actual quote from NF, you'll obviously need to go back to the source and use his actual words, rather than seeking to back-translate to them!

Tony M
France
Local time: 01:52
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Philippa Smith: Or "wet mop".
20 mins
  -> Thanks, Philippa!
agree  Jennifer White: nice one!
2 hrs
  -> Thanks, Jennifer!
agree  writeaway: or a wet rag/US-UK divide?? https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/wet rag
2 hrs
  -> Thanks, W/A! Personally, I'm less keen on 'rag', seems somehow dated — or maybe it's just my schoolboy humour kicking in ;-)
agree  B D Finch
9 hrs
  -> Thanks, B!
agree  Victoria Britten
10 hrs
  -> Thanks, Victoria!
agree  Stephanie Benoist
2 days 1 hr
  -> Merci, Stephanie !
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7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Avoir le charisme d\'un gant de toilette
have the charisma of a wet blanket


Explanation:
"Wet blanket" is commonly used to describe someone quite dull and uncharismatic, who also puts a downer on things and finds downsides in all situations.

Also "wet lettuce" but I think that's quite a north of England thing, I'm not sure people elsewhere will get it!

Charlotte Revill
France
Local time: 01:52
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  writeaway: nounINFORMAL a person who spoils other people's fun by failing to join in with or by disapproving of their activities. "don't be a wet blanket"
9 mins
neutral  Tony M: Agree with W/A: this introduces a different idiom, which rather clouds the issue here.
25 mins
agree  SafeTex
1 hr
neutral  Jennifer White: Agree with Tony and W/A. Not suitable here.
2 hrs
agree  Yolanda Broad
14 hrs
agree  GILLES MEUNIER
22 hrs
neutral  Stephanie Benoist: It's the first term I thought of, it's such a parallel image, but I also agree with Tony and WA..
1 day 23 hrs
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