vache and vachard

[alan gould]

these are equally used to mean "mean, nasty?"  

[Vedas]

Hello,

yes!

vache is colloquial and vachard is closer to slang.

vachard used  to mean" lazy" as well/ to lie down like a cow but I think that this latter meaning is not used anymore.

[alan gould]

thanks, as always, for your replies.  in english, cow is also used in slang.  i looked it up and people defined it as meaning a person (usually) female i think, is fat.  but i did see one definition that confirmed how i'd heard it used -- that a person (i've only heard it directed at a female) is just "a nothing" -- no personality and probably ungainly, maybe not bad looking, but having no sense of style and therefore just a big "blob."  

[Vedas]

Hello,

You might have heard then "c'est une grosse vache", and yes it was first used  to qualify a lazy, listless and gross woman ( like a cow in English indeed) and then applied to men too.

In the past (17 century) faire la vache meant to prostitute oneself

There is also un coup de vache/ une vacherie/ une vachardise: a harmful and mean act/a  dirty trick

[alan gould]

actually, i was referring to how i've heard it in english (only).