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A confessional style bumper sticker has been catching on in French cities Marseille and Paris, reading “I really parked like shit!”
This item in five bright colours available online in packs of 10, 20, 50 or 100 (for 5 euros up to 25 euros) is known by the acronym ‘GCUM’.
This stands for the French “[Je suis] Garé Comme Une Merde!” (See, it can be fun to learn other languages.)
The ‘original’ model dimensions are 15 cm x 5 cm. But if you’re really motivated you can get it in XXL, which is 29.5 cm x 10 cm.
Si t'es choqué faut sticker ! #gcum pic.twitter.com/kTHR5dfZah
— Garé Comme Une Merde (@gcum_fr) December 4, 2015
Not to be elitist, the company selling this ‘therapeutic’ glue-badge (not quite vandalistic, although some stickers are really hard to remove, and it’s not easy to drive with one well-placed on a car windscreen) includes other languages in its product range.
Yes, you can get GCUM in Espagnol, Italiano and Deutsch. Polyglots out there will perhaps be familiar with: “Estoy aparcado como el culo!” or “Parcheggiato Come un cazzo!” or “Ich bin geparkt wie ein Blödsack” (there’s no exclamation mark on the German one, go figure).
Okay, yes, it is available in English; the top line in this article (it’s not an advert, I’m not getting a kickback, full disclosure is I haven’t tried these things so I don’t know just how sticky they are, but I hope they deliver) is a translation of the French, only grammatically adjusted.
Le grand classique des bandes jaunes … #GCUM #gcumnice
gcum_nice</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PMdeNice">PMdeNiceVilledeNice</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZwN9AKrJT2">pic.twitter.com/ZwN9AKrJT2</a></p>— GCUM NICE (gcum_nice) December 29, 2015
The online store offers what it lists as an American version: “I think I just parked like shit!” And other rude stuff if you like French.
So perhaps Euronews readers might like to ring in the new year with a vengeance. Find someone parked blocking everyone’s way, say on a pedestrian crossing or across an entrance? You’ll know what to do. In France they say, “Liberté, égalité, fraternité.”
See? More French already.
Here’s a link to the Revendic’Art boutique.
Sur le côté, un chauffeur #gcum et derrière mon bus qui va être bloqué… Cc
gcum_fr</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/starbusmetro">starbusmetro pic.twitter.com/FetdojwmPF— Paul Vulcain (@polo2bzh) December 28, 2015
gcum_fr</a> ça c'est mon cadeau de Noël <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/gcum?src=hash">#gcum</a> <a href="https://t.co/vW3q0F9ZmR">pic.twitter.com/vW3q0F9ZmR</a></p>— antonbundle (antonbundle) December 25, 2015
#Lyon la Croix-Rousse cc
DavidKimelfeld</a> "ben yavais pas de place pour m'garer" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/gcum?src=hash">#gcum</a> <a href="https://t.co/zKy6PVSWOz">pic.twitter.com/zKy6PVSWOz</a></p>— Rémi ZINCK (RemiZinck) December 20, 2015
Visiblement, un Noël de plus sans cerveau pour ce sombre imbécile …
gcum_fr</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/gcum?src=hash">#gcum</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/gar%C3%A9commeunconnard?src=hash">#garécommeunconnard</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/yenamarre?src=hash">#yenamarre</a> <a href="https://t.co/3YbnKhmS42">pic.twitter.com/3YbnKhmS42</a></p>— Muhja Awad (MissMuhja) December 25, 2015