malin
Malin means clever, smart or crafty — but watch the tone. The French wield it ironically as often as sincerely: 'c'est malin !' after you spill your coffee means 'nice going, genius'. 'Ne fais pas ton malin' means 'don't be a smart aleck'. Sincere or sarcastic, context tells you which.
Where you'll hear it
Robin
Chloé, comment on fait marcher cette douche ? Je n'y comprends rien !
Chloé, how do you work this shower? I don't understand anything about it!
Chloé
C'est simple, tu tournes le robinet à gauche pour l'eau chaude et à droite pour l'eau froide. Assure-toi de ne pas te brûler !
It's simple, you turn the tap to the left for hot water and to the right for cold water. Make sure you don't burn yourself!
Robin
J'ai essayé, mais ça ne fonctionne pas. On dirait que je suis un vrai boulet quand il s'agit de douches étrangères. Tout le monde se croit malin jusqu'à ce qu'il essaie d'utiliser la douche de quelqu'un d'autre !
I tried, but it's not working. Looks like I'm a real klutz when it comes to foreign showers. Everyone thinks they're clever until they try to use someone else's shower!
Chloé
Attends, je vais venir voir. Il faut peut-être que je te montre.
Wait, I'll come and see. Maybe I need to show you.
How it shows up
C'est malin, tu as tout renversé !
Nice going, you spilled everything!
Elle est maligne, elle a trouvé la solution.
She's clever, she found the solution.
Arrête de faire le malin.
Stop being a smart aleck.
Related expressions
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