# coup de pouce



## Elisabeth

Moderator Note: Several threads have been merged to create this one.

  How do you say "coup de pouce"? That is, a small help of any kind.
  "Il a eu besoin d'un *coup de pouce* pour compléter son travail".
  I would like to know if there is a similar non specific idiom. The two other entries in the forum are specific ones.
  Thanks!


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## ishatar

"A push in the right direction" really means "un coup de pouce"? I've learnt something , thanks!

Un coup de main.


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## sarcie

"give someone a hand" perhaps?

_He needed someone to give him a hand finishing his work.

_OR

_He needed a hand finishing his work._


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## hunternet

I don't think so. To give a hand is: "donner un coup de main". Which, obviously, is stronger than "un coup de pouce"


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## sarcie

I'm not sure, because giving someone a hand is non-specific in the amount of help you give them - you may just give them a small hint, you may help them in a bigger way. 

Another possibility would be "a push" ("He needed a push to finish his work"), but this has more the sense of he was lacking in motivation and needed someone to help him get on with it.


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## edwingill

nudge someone in the right direction


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## hunternet

Oh ok. Then "give a hand" would fit. If considered a help or advantage.


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## lolalorr

coup de pouce = a helping hand


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## williamc

Bonjour à tous,

Would the term "Coup de pouce" be translated as "Rule of thumb" please.

Dictionaries offer nohelp!


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## Donaldos

No. "_donner un coup de pouce à quelqu'un_" means _to help someone_.


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## Dsimson

*Donner un coup de pouce *is a kind of synonym of *Donner un coup de main*
I think the translation into English is "To give a hand". Can you confirm this ?

But, I see a little difference between the 2 synonyms in French :
The first one is less powerful than the second .... You know, it's just a "pouce", contrary to a "main" ...
My explantion isn't very clear  ... Can somebody help me ??


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## Grumumble

some Robert & Collins SS ed.2 examples:
coup de pouce : to nudge in the right direction (to help sb)
donner un coup de pouce aux ventes : to give sales a bit of a boost
donner un coup de pouce à un projet : to help a project along

But Dsimson is not wrong with "To give a (helping) hand"


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## williamc

Bonjour,

Thank you all for your "helping hand."


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## lolalorr

wijmlet said:


> "a thumbs up" ?



Wijmlet, I think that a "thumbs up" is more like "yes, absolutely", "go with it" or even "good idea".  It's just basically a positive response to something.  I don't think that "coup de pouce" has the same meaning.

I think that "coup de pouce" is more like helping someone or something to go in a certain figurative direction.  I know that it's normally used in the positive sense.  But can it also be used in the negative sense?  For example, someone is having money problems.  Then the tax department comes along and gives him the "coup de pouce" that sends him to the poor house.  Or someone is having emotional problems, then they lose their job.  Could the job loss be the "coup de pouce" that sent the person to the sanitorium?


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## lacrie

lolalorr said:


> Wijmlet, I think that a "thumbs up" is more like "yes, absolutely", "go with it" or even "good idea". It's just basically a positive response to something. I don't think that "coup de pouce" has the same meaning.
> 
> I think that "coup de pouce" is more like helping someone or something to go in a certain figurative direction. I know that it's normally used in the positive sense. But can it also be used in the negative sense? For example, someone is having money problems. Then the tax department comes along and gives him the "coup de pouce" that sends him to the poor house. Or someone is having emotional problems, then they lose their job. Could the job loss be the "coup de pouce" that sent the person to the sanitorium?


 

Well yes you could though it would be a figure of speech ... "coup de pouce" is widely used as something positive.
I really like your suggestion of "helping hand" I think that is the closest translation.


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## likeanotter

Can anyone tell me if 'coup de pouce' in the following context is an idiom or if it should be translated directly?  The phrase comes from a description of a scene of ancient Egyptian potting.

 En achevant leurs vases qui reçoivent le dernier coup de pouce, ils sont souvent obligés de se baigner les mains dans des vases d’eau que l’on aperçoit autour d’eux.

I've translated it as:

In completing their vases, which receive the final press of the thumb they are often obliged to bathe their hands in vases of water which we see around them.


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## Donaldos

The usual meaning of the phrase "un coup de pouce" wouldn't make sense here,you need to translate it literally.


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## cropje_jnr

Perhaps the less literal 'the final finishing touches'? In any event, a '_coup de pouce_' is generally a push in the right direction given to someone or something, as discussed in previous threads on the forum. Its use here is neat as one of course literally shapes undried vases with a 'press of the thumb', which also fits the idiomatic meaning of the phrase in a certain sense.


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## likeanotter

Thanks guys!  Yes, I also got (and appreciated) the intended pun by the author


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## Brambles

Hi all,

I am having trouble translating a sentence with the phrase 'coup de pouce' in it...

"Que si j'avais donné un coup de pouce à mon admiration, et je l'aurais trouvée, cette étrangeté, ridicule."


Is the meaning here,

" If I'd been given a chance to show my admiration, I would have found this strangeness ridiculous..."

Or am I completely mistaken?

Thanks so much for any help!


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## lpfr

"Donner un coup de pouce" is the same as "to lend a hand", but "a little hand": just a thumb.

  "That if I had pushed a little my admiration, (and) I would have found ridiculous this strangeness."
  But the "et" is strange and, I think, wrong.


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## Mitiam

Peut-on traduire cette phrase juste par un mot - "help"?


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## wildan1

yes, _give someone_ _help_, but closer to the French colloquial expression would be to _give/lend someone a hand_ or_ a helping hand_


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## edwingill

"to help somebody  get started"


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## fufuz

merci bcp 
mais comment je peut dire "mon amie a donné un coup de pouce au travail que j'ai déja commancé"?
merci


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## edwingill

fufuz said:


> merci bcp
> mais comment je peut dire "mon amie a donné un coup de pouce au travail que j'ai déja commancé"?
> merci


perhaps in this context "a nudge in the right direction"


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## EngrProf

Le gros tritre de Libération d'aujourd'hui:  "Le *coup de pouce* d'Eric Woerth à la famille César"


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## mlove52

I just came across this thread - and thinking about it we (English native speakers) do actually say 'I'll give him _a bit of a hand'_ as well as 'I'll give him a _hand_'. The former suggesting that you are going to help, but with a little less commitment than the second. This would seem to me to more accurately reflect the meaning of the original french. Hope this is useful to someone.


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## ktwbc

This is an older thread but found it googling for "coup de pouce". I can tell you that Coke (the beverage) is using coup de pouce as "boost". I'm looking at a Québécois coke bottle that says on one side "Que dirais-tu d'un coup de pouce rafraîchissant pour l'été?" and on the other "How about a boost of summer refreshment?" Obviously not all slogans directly translate, but there you go.


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