# Quand tu nous tiens



## JeanDeSponde

"Quand tu nous tiens" is something we Frenchs frequently add to highlight something, as in
_- "Paroles, paroles" a été immortalisé par Shakespeare.
- Je croyais que c'était du Dalida [popular French singer] ?
- Ah, culture, quand tu nous tiens !_

It can be used with almost anything :
_- Ah, poésie, quand tu nous tiens ! _(after someone's resounding fart)

(It is now mostly used in an ironic way - but not necessarily)

What would be some equivalent AE or BE expression for this _quand tu nous tiens_?

*Moderator note: *multiple threads merged to create this one


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## Kelly B

Oh, I like that. I'm drawing a blank, though, for something better than "ah, the joys of (culture, poetry...)" or "oh, such..." which aren't exactly _expressions figées._ I'm trying to think of how I might add emphasis in those contexts...


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## JeanDeSponde

Aaah, difficulté de la traduction, quand tu nous tiens !

Thanks, Kelly - it might be too colloquial and too French to have some ready-made equivalent...


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## minuit54

Very late to this, but I just ran across that phrase for the first time and then found this little thread.  

_Ces temps-ci, Jessica Simpson voit la vie en rose... Selon un proche, Jessica n’aurait qu’une hâte, celle de se marier avant sa sœur Ashlee qui est elle-même, fiancée au rockeur Pete Wentz. 
Rivalité familiale quand tu nous tiens…_

From reading JeanDeSponde's post, I'd guess that "So to speak" might be a fair way of putting it in English.  (There's already "If you will/si vous voulez" though...)


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## Cath.S.

_Hello Minuit 54,_
_quand tu nous tiens_ doesn't mean "so to speak" at all.
Your sentence means that rivalry between siblings can a powerful motivation , something stronger than our own will.

Lit. _quand tu nous tiens = when you hold us_.


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## esprit

I'm liking Kelly's inital response. In this last situation (jessica simpson), it would sound very good:

"Oh, the joys of sibling rivalry..."


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## Wopsy

Kelly B said:


> Oh, I like that. I'm drawing a blank, though, for something better than "ah, the joys of (culture, poetry...)" or "oh, such..." which aren't exactly _expressions figées._ I'm trying to think of how I might add emphasis in those contexts...



I think you won't get better than "Ah, the joys of  ...!"


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## Cath.S.

esprit said:


> I'm liking Kelly's inital response. In this last situation (jessica simpson), it would sound very good:
> 
> "Oh, the joys of sibling rivalry..."


Yes, I agree it's the best suggestion so far.


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## JeanDeSponde

Hats off to Kelly indeed - as is always the case


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## Teafrog

I could be off the mark here , but couldn't we say " …when you take a hold…": _Aaah, the sweet vicissitude of translation, when you take a hold! _


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## viera

Literally it means 'when you have us in your grip.'


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## pifnane

To be or not to be educated ?


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## Cath.S.

Teafrog said:


> I could be off the mark here , but couldn't we say " …when you take a hold…": _Aaah, the sweet vicissitude of translation, when you take a hold! _


Hi Teafrog! 
That's not a set phrase in English, though, is it? While _quand tu nous_ tiens is.


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## Abesh

Hi there!

I need some help with the expression "quand tu nous tiens."  I saw this thread but I'm still struggling with it. [...]

Here is some more context:

Pour ce faire, elle sollicite désormais une aide aux projets innovants, également financée dans le cadre du FRIL : innovation *quand tu nous tiens*.

Thanks in advance for your ideas!


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## minuit54

Revisiting the past... I understand why "so to speak" was not the right answer, only in my defense I was thinking of the phrase in an ironic or tongue-in-cheek sense, which is the intent of the original phrase. With that in mind, a better way of putting it, one I've used and have heard used in the US, is "(There's) nothing like a little..." For example, from before:
_It can be used with almost anything :_​_- *Ah, poésie, quand tu nous tiens* ! _
_(after someone's resounding fart) _​Or, "Ah, nothing like a little poetry!" Much the same principle as Kelly's "Oh, the joys of..."


.


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## JeanDeSponde

minuit54 said:


> [...] "Ah, nothing like a little poetry!"


Exactly the idea, yes! Thanks!


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## TheUnitedStatesOfEurope

Hi everybody ! I'm French and I would like to know, in an email i want to send to a Londonian Friend, how i can say in english the idiomatic French expression : "culture... quand tu nous tiens !" Indeed, i went to the Opera this week and the day after to the theater to watch a Woody Allen's film. I'd like to add a bit of humour and say that, this week I'm a "Culture&Arts-addicted" ! "Jeudi, je suis allé à l'Opéra voir une célèbre pièce, avec des amis littéraires et je ne me suis pas arrêté là !... Je suis allé le lendemain, voir le dernier film de Woody Allen au cinéma... Ahlala, *culture quand tu nous tiens*" ! I would like that at the end, it'll sound like this roughly ! Thank you ;-p!


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## Pandrup

Bonjour !

"Hope when you hold us" 

Est-ce que c'est correct ?
Merci beaucoup par avance !


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## Janni65

Your translation is technically correct, but I would say something more like
_'Hope, when you take hold of us'_ or _'Hope, when you hold on to us'._


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## Icetrance

Ah, poésie, quand tu nous tiens! =  Oh, poetry, how captivating!

The meaning is "poetry, when you get a hold of us, we just can't let go"

Used ironically a lot...


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## Loveless

Bonjour !

Je voudrais essayer de traduire une expression (dont je ne connais pas l'origine d'ailleurs) qui consiste à employer n'importe quel mot, suivi de "quand tu nous tiens!". 

Contexte: un jeune homme a fait le pari de préparer un repas assez complexe alors qu'il n'est pas capable de faire cuire un œuf. Quand on lui propose de l'aide, il refuse car il est trop fier pour admettre qu'il ne sait pas cuisiner, et c'est la que l'expression apparait: "fierté, quand tu nous tiens!".

Quelqu'un a-t-il un équivalent de cette expression en anglais? Je ne sais vraiment pas comment la traduire.

Merci d'avance


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## RuK

I'd say "pride comes before a fall", but no idea for etymology. Check http://atilf.atilf.fr/tlf.htm


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## Loveless

Thank you for the quick answer!


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## OLN

Et si ça venait (comme souvent) de Jean de la Fontaine ? 


> _Amour, amour, quand tu nous tiens, on peut bien dire : Adieu prudence._


(Le Lion Amoureux.)


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## pmqs

Having the read the link, maybe it's something like '_Oh, good old pride_', that kind of sentiment.


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## Loveless

'Oh, good old pride' sounds good! Thank you pmqs!

Pour l'origine de l'expression, c'est tout à fait possible que ça vienne de la fable de La Fontaine, je ne connaissais pas le _Lion Amoureux_. Merci OLN ^^


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## olivounette

Hi everyone!

I was writing a text before and I wanted to use a French phrase, well in English of course, but I couldn't find how to say it. Here it is:
"Cet endroit me manque beaucoup, surtout les gens qui y vivent... J'aimerais vraiment y retourner prochainement. Ah... nostalgie, quand tu nous tiens !" 
My problem is the last sentence, I'm not sure how to translate "quand tu nous tiens". Is there a way of saying it? 

Could anyone help me with that? 
Thanks


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## Mauricet

"Amour, amour, *quand tu nous tiens*" (La Fontaine, Le Lion Amoureux) est traduit classiquement "Ah, Love! *When we are in your thrall*" (littéralement _quand nous sommes sous ton emprise_).


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## JimboFr

I would be inclined just to say something like "oh, what nostalgia", or "I'm sounding all nostalgic".


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## olivounette

Thanks for your translations!


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## Jean-Michel Carrère

*"oh dear, here I go again !"* may well work in this context, in combination with something along the lines of "feeling homesick ... / missing that place ...".


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## mellow-yellow

Mauricet, very nice!


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## brusselsclaire

"Nothing like a little..." seems a good solution to me. Or "the joys of" but that doesn't always work. Much prettier in French, but then I'm not surprised...


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## brusselsclaire

JeanDeSponde said:


> Aaah, difficulté de la traduction, quand tu nous tiens !


Ha


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## Icetrance

_put under a spell, caught in a web_, _has us in her palm_....selon le contexte.


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

In pifnane's #11, "To be or not to be educated" would work in JeanDe's OP, although the line should be "Words, words, words." In Jesica's case, we could say (it's a slight modification)"Jealousy, thou green-eyed monster" (although it's not jealousy, but envy, or fear of her pride being bruised by Ashlee's beating her to the altar), and so on for appropriate (near-)quotes from The Swan (to comment on a thunderous anal sneeze, "If music be the food of love, play on!"). Etc. - And I like "Ah, the joys of xxxx!" as an all-purpose mocking comment.


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## Notafrog

So I just had this in a sentence: "Oxymore quand tu nous tiens !"
Based on all your wonderful input, I decided on "Don't you just love oxymorons!"


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