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What does “bassiner quelqu’un” mean in French?

“Bassiner” is a very French way to say someone keeps repeating the same thing until it tires you out. You say “on me bassine avec ça” — “people keep going on at me about that.” It is informal but not rude. The word has an old picture behind it: “bassiner” once meant to put water on a wound again and again. Do it too many times, and it becomes annoying.

In the clip, the teenage narrator is angry that love stories always look perfect on screen. She says: “On nous bassine avec Disney dès notre plus jeune âge, avec les histoires d’amour qui durent toute une vie, mais c’est faux.” That means: “They repeat the Disney idea to us from a very young age — love stories that last a whole life — but it is not true.” The word shows tired frustration with something you have heard far too many times. The verb comes from “bassin” (a basin, or bowl of water). Long ago, “bassiner” meant to put water on a wound over and over. Doing the same small thing again and again is where the modern feeling comes from: not pain, but boredom and annoyance. By around 1860 it already meant to bore or pester someone. You will mostly hear it in everyday spoken French in France. Two natural examples: “Arrête de me bassiner avec tes problèmes” (“Stop going on at me about your problems”); “Il nous bassine depuis une heure” (“He has been boring us for an hour”). Keep it for casual speech — it does not fit formal writing.