If the québécois verb niaiser leaves you scratching your head, here are lots of examples in French to help you make sense of this frequently used word.
One way you’ll hear niaiser used in Québec is in the sense of joking around, kidding around.
Arrête de niaiser, c’est pas drôle.
Stop joking around, it’s not funny.
Il dit ça juste pour niaiser.
He’s just kidding when he says that.
On ne niaise pas avec la santé.
There’s no joking around with one’s health.
Moi, je niaise pas avec ces affaires-là!
I don’t joke around when it comes to that stuff!
You’ll also hear the verb niaiser used in the sense of kidding someone, or messing with them.
Tu me niaises?
Are you kidding me?
Arrête de me niaiser!
Stop messing with me!
Je te niaise!
I’m just kidding you!
Je te niaise pas… c’est vrai.
I’m not kidding you… it’s true.
Il t’aime pas, il te niaise.
He doesn’t love you, he’s stringing you along.
You can also talk about picking on someone with niaiser, or being picked on with se faire niaiser.
Tout le monde le niaise à l’école.
Everybody picks on him at school.
Il commence à se faire niaiser à l’école.
He’s starting to get picked on at school.
The verb niaiser can convey doing nothing with one’s time.
J’ai niaisé devant la télé.
I goofed off in front of the TV.
Tu niaises au lieu de t’entraîner.
You fool around instead of working out.
Arrête de niaiser et va travailler.
Stop messing around and go work.
You can convey waiting around with the verb niaiser.
Ça fait deux heures que je niaise ici.
I’ve been waiting around here for two hours.
On m’a fait niaiser genre 30 minutes!
They made me wait around for like 30 minutes!
Think of a hockey player who’s got the puck but holds up the game by not passing it, not taking a shot… il niaise avec la puck. Similarly:
Arrête de niaiser avec la puck! Décide-toi!
Stop procrastinating! Make up your mind!
Yes!! Now you’re a pro with the québécois verb niaiser!
Related reading:
Everything you ever wanted to know about the québécois verb POGNER
