this post was submitted on 12 May 2025
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Isn't pedalo an insult in French?
Hopefully
A bit of searching and I found the word just means pedals in esperanto. For some reason the word pédale has another meaning of "faggot". I can't find any etymology for it, but probably it's a changed spelling of pédéraste which translates to boy-lover - and I've heard Russians scream it at me in online games.
In conclusion, not directly a French insult, but maybe?
Pédalo is the word for those pedal propelled boats you can rent in touristy spots, like with the kids slide at the back. The rest of what you said about pédale is all correct.
Switch to English wiktionary for pédale and it suggests also looking at the shorter version of the word, where it is explained where it comes from and - guess what - you're exactly right.
Also pederast comes from ancient greek which explains how widespread it is. Pede/pederast is commonly used in Estonian as well, as an insult. Usually just the equivalent of faggot, but boy lover
You're thinking about pédale