# cerise sur le gâteau



## Cillie

Comment traduit-on cette expression en anglais?

Est-ce littéralement "The cherry on the cake" ou y a t'il une expression idiomatique équivalente?


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## pieanne

It's "the icing on the cake"


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## Suehil

'The cherry on the cake' is an English expression, it means the final touch that makes something perfect.


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## Cillie

Merci!

Est-souvent utilisé en anglais?


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## pieanne

pieanne said:


> It's "the icing on the cake"


 
Cambridge online says you can also use "the frosting on the cake"


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## Pedro y La Torre

pieanne said:


> Cambridge online says you can also use "the frosting on the cake"



Vraiment? Je l'ai jamais entendu.


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## pieanne

It's USE
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=38831&dict=CALD


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## boterham

d'une manière ironique on peut aussi commencer la phrase par 'On top of that'.
C'est un peu comme 'pour couronner le tout' : to crown it all I think.


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## pieanne

boterham said:


> d'une manière ironique on peut aussi commencer la phrase par 'On top of that'.
> C'est un peu comme 'pour couronner le tout' : to crown it all I think.


Yes, or "to top it all, ..."


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## Pedro y La Torre

boterham said:


> d'une manière ironique on peut aussi commencer la phrase par 'On top of that'.
> C'est un peu comme 'pour couronner le tout' : to crown it all I think.



I'd say:

"To crown it off"


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## Sarah11

Pedro y La Torre said:


> Vraiment? Je l'ai jamais entendu.


 

I think _frosting on the cake_ is used in America, where they sometimes use the word frosting instead of icing.


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## flolou

The phrase "this is the last straw that breaks the camel's back" work too, doesn't it?


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## Suehil

Welcome to the forum, flolou!
Only in the negative sense - 'the cherry on the cake' is always something good, the last straw is something that is too much to endure.


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## harbottle

In Australia, the most common is "the icing on the cake".

(but I'd listen to the Americans and the Brits.. unless you plan to live in Australia one day! hehe)


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## Micia93

Suehil said:


> Welcome to the forum, flolou!
> Only in the negative sense - 'the cherry on the cake' is always something good, the last straw is something that is too much to endure.


 
well, in french, it may also be negative like in :
"ça alors, c'est la cerise sur le gâteau" ("c'est le bouquet")
very ironical of course, but it does exist in this sense . I use it personnally


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## sarahgk

In the US the expression is :
"that's the icing on the cake"
usually a bit ironic


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## Tiffin

"Isn't it the cherry on the sundae" instead of on the cake ?


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## sarahgk

In the US we don't have the "cherry on the sundae" expression, just the "icing on the cake"


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## Tiffin

sarahgk said:


> In the US we don't have the "cherry on the sunday" expression, just the "icing on the cake"


 
I knew about the icing on the cake, but I think I've also heard the cherry on the sundae (not sunday ). Unless I'm beginning to get confused with the "la cerise sur le sundae" expression in Quebec...


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## sarahgk

probably, or maybe they say it in Canada.


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## The MightyQ

Can someone from Quebec confirm Flolou's proposal?
That is, I am told by a québecoise that "la cerise sur le sundae" can indeed be translated as "the straw that breaks the camel's back".
That is, 
"la cerise sur le sundae" (Québecois) = "La goutte qui fait deborder le vase" (Francais) 

Is it used ironically in Québec, as it is in English?

Merci à tous


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## wildan1

Tiffin said:


> I knew about the icing on the cake, but I think I've also heard the cherry on the sundae (not sunday ). Unless I'm beginning to get confused with the "la cerise sur le sundae" expression in Quebec...


 
Tiffin, you are perhaps confusing this expression with another "cherry" expression, often said by children begging a parent

_"Pretty please with a cherry on top"_


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## bobepine

I've never come across "the cherry on the sundae" in English Canada.

"La cerise sur le sundae" is quite common, on the other hand. Its original meaning is quite positive, like "the icing on the cake", but it can be construed ironically, to mean "to top it all off" in a negative sense.


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## Maple75

Not in English Canada! 

"The icing on the cake" is common. (I thought "frosting" came from the UK?)

"To top it all off" also works, for a more negative sense.

You can say "Pretty please with a cherry on top?" (when you're begging for something) which makes me think of a sundae!


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## Gswiss

In the 40's and 50's, in the US it was "the cherry on the sundae". the "fruitcake" came later, probably.


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## FleurMarlowe

Bonsoir,

En BE, est-ce plus courant d'utiliser icing or cherry on the cake ?


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## Itisi

I am more familiar with 'icing'...


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## harbottle

I posted in this thread ages ago (on the previous page, in fact!) but yes, "icing on the cake" is more common in BE/AuE.


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## Gswiss

sarahgk said:


> In the US we don't have the "cherry on the sundae" expression, just the "icing on the cake"


Yes, you did. But you weren't born yet. It goes back to the 30's or 40's. It was replaced by _cherry on the fruitcak_e for a while.


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## bh7

Pas en anglais, mais en français du Canada, " la cérise sur le sundae " = " la cérise sur le gâteau " : le petit détail qui couronne un oeuvre / une entreprise.


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## dasubergeek

While many parts of the U.S. use "frosting" instead of "icing" when talking about cakes in general, the set expression in AE is "the icing on the cake".


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## Hildy1

I've never heard of the cherry on the sundae (though I have eaten some). Like wildan1, I have heard of a cherry on top. The metaphorical meanings of "icing on the cake" and "a cherry on top" are similar.


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

Or "the final touch".


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