Common usage of “mon œil”?

Question

When I first learned French in high school, we were taught that *mon œil* was a way of expressing disbelief to another person, accompanied by a silly finger-eye gesture. For the French users here, I was wondering how prevalent this phrase is in French culture? Is it still used with both saying and gesture? If not, what is usually said in place of it?

Answer 1

"Mon oeil" est une expression qui veut dire " je ne te crois pas ".C'est vrai que les jeunes l'utilisent plus que les adultes , mais elle n'est pas la seule expression qui donne ce sens . On emploie souvent " tu te fous de ma gueule " ou " n'importe quoi " , ou " tu délires " . On retrouve aussi des expressions comme "c'est du charabia" qui porte le même sens mais peu utilisée.

Answer 2

Hi there,

When we learn English in France, we are taught that the English equivalent of "Mon œil!" is "My foot!".

After living many years in an English-speaking environment, I have yet to have heard someone say "my foot" even once!

"Mon œil" on the other hand is very common in informal speech. Either saying it by itself, accompanying it with the hand gesture you mentioned or even just the hand gesture by itself.

It's true that it's more often used by children rather than adults. You may hear the latter use the more vulgar equivalent "Mon cul!" ("my ass!"). A more polite version would be "Mais bien sûr!"