The French expression “pas très catholique” translates literally to “not very Catholic” and could definitely be seen as a bit offensive. Here are some English meanings:
- a bit shady
- not very kosher
- a bit fishy
A French expressions site, expressio.fr, defines pas tres catholique as not conforming or complying with morality, subject to caution and doutful . Lerobert.com simply defines the expression as louche, which means fishy or shady.
Here’s an example sentence:
- Cet homme d’affaires est toujours en train de embobiner ses clients. À vrai dire, c’est un homme pas très catholique. This businessman is always bamboozling his customer. To be honest, he’s a bit shady.
Here are some more adjectives which mean shady or are synonymous with pas très catholique:
- louche
- véreux, véreuse
- suspect
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David Issokson is a lifelong language enthusiast. His head is swimming with words and sounds as he speaks over six languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private online lessons. When procrastinating working on his site, FrenchLearner.com, David enjoys his time skiing and hiking in Teton Valley, Idaho.
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Bonjour! My name is David Issokson. I'm based in Victor, Idaho (near Jackson, Wyoming) and have helped hundreds of students to learn French online since 2013.
