Hard times (2)

Galérer

/galeʀe/
gah-lay-rray
The verb from galley, literally. You need to imagine those slaves painfully maneuvering huge paddles in the heat, to the sound of beating drums. Yes, galérer means to have a hard time, in a painful miserable way.

Molière, in The Impostures of Scapin : "Que diable allait-il faire dans cette galère ?" 
"What the Hell was he doing in this galère ?"

It is not exactly to struggle, because I feel there is a sense of pride and courage in the struggle. When you feel like a galérien (male), or a galérienne (female) (gah-lay-rr-ee-a/gah-lay-ree-un), you are not in a fighting mood anymore. I can assure you, you don't feel proud, nor courageous. You feel a drudge, a slave, and you feel miserable.

Almost everyday in big cities, you would galère in traffic or in the subway. This galère doesn't really call for an explanation as it usually derives from multiple issues (strike, delay, crowds, flooding, accident, riot, unattended luggage - or suspicious activity)

Essential Parisian idiom :

I'm sorry I'm late. J'ai galéré in the subway to come.