Être faux jeton

If you’ve ever tuned into a political debate, you’ve probably seen your fair share of faux jetons, and spoiler alert: it's not a good thing. Picture this: a politician who is always lecturing about fighting corruption and championing transparency, only to be caught red-handed with a shady backroom deal. Voilà! That’s a faux jeton for you - literally a "false token," but more accurately, a master of talking big while walking very small when it comes to honesty and integrity.

In French, if you say someone is faux jeton, you’re calling them out for being disingenuous, untrustworthy, and not exactly the most authentic character in the room. It’s like saying they’re experts in the art of feigning friendship while secretly plotting their next move. Basically, it’s a cheeky way of labeling someone as a hypocrite or a two-faced drama queen.

Use it as an adjective, like il est faux jeton (he’s a fake), or as a noun, c’est un faux jeton (he’s a false token). Interestingly, the term stays the same whether you're talking about a woman or a man because it's short for il/elle est comme un faux jeton (he/she is like a false token). Just remember, when you go plural, you say ils/elles sont faux jetons (they’re a bunch of fakes).

Origin

Back in the day when coins were actually worth something, counterfeiters made fake coins, or faux jetons, to pass off as real money. These bogus coins looked just like the genuine article, but their actual value was about as substantial as Monopoly money. Over time, "faux jeton," sometimes hyphenated as faux-jeton, evolved from its coin-forging roots to describe people who are just as deceptive as those counterfeit coins.

These days, you might also hear the term être faux-cul floating around. It literally translates to "false bottom" or, more crudely, "false ass" (since "cul" is the French slang for backside). Back in the 19th century, a faux cul was an undergarment worn by women to give their backside a little extra oomph. So, if someone is being all fake and phony, you might call them a faux-cul, drawing on that image of someone trying to artificially enhance their appeal.

Both faux jetons and faux culs describe people who present a false image or persona, often masking their true intentions or feelings. You know the type: they greet you with kisses on both cheeks, but behind your back, they're busy sharpening their knives. Beware faux jetons and faux culs, for they're as slippery as an escargot on a buttered baguette!

Examples

Quel faux jeton!  Elle dit qu'il nous faut travailler dur mais elle ne fait rien du tout!
What a hypocrite!  She says we should all work hard but she does nothing at all!

Je n'ai jamais vu un tel faux jeton; il passe son temps à manipuler son entourage, quitte à dire tout et son contraire.
I have never seen such a fake; he spends his time manipulating those around him, even if it means saying everything and its opposite.