# tomber comme un cheveu sur la soupe



## Pelote

How would you say in english: 
Ca tombe comme un cheveu sur la soupe

Thanks


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## Johanne

Je connais l'expression « Arriver comme un cheveu sur la soupe » = to come at an akward moment, mais non tomber comme un cheveu sur la soupe.


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## KaRiNe_Fr

L'expression "comme un cheveu sur la soupe" marche aussi avec "tomber", cf. TLFi :





> _Venir, arriver, tomber comme un cheveu sur la soupe. _Arriver à contretemps ou sans aucun propos. _Ça vient comme un cheveu sur la soupe_


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## multae gentes

It means "to happen at the most awkward moment". It is used mainly when somebody says something at the wrong time, creating unease


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## Coppers

To put your foot in your mouth? I'm sure that doesn't capture the full sense of the expression, though. Any other suggestions from English natives?


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## mgarizona

I'm thinking:

Well that went over like a lead balloon!


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## Coppers

To drop a clanger.


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## Pelote

Tomber comme un cheveu sur la soupe, oui, c est quand qqn dit quelque chose qui n a rien a voir avec les conversation en cours (on se demande d'ailleurs s'il etait vraiment en train d ecouter). C'est plus generalement, qc qui n'a pas de lien avec son contexte, et qui ne peut etre justifie dans ce contexte (comme une phrase, une idee dans un article). 
C'est comme ca que je le vois.

Merci pour ce forum, tres enrichissant !


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## lencha

Hi! How could one translate the French expression "comme un cheveu sur la soupe" in English? An example of sentence would be "Je me suis senti comme un cheveu sur la soupe à cette soirée-là, parce que Julie et Robert avaient des choses à régler entre eux et je n'avais rien à faire là."
Thanks in advance!


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## wildan1

lencha said:


> Hi! How could one translate the French expression "comme un cheveu sur la soupe" in English? An example of sentence would be "Je me suis senti comme un cheveu sur la soupe à cette soirée-là, parce que Julie et Robert avaient des choses à régler entre eux et je n'avais rien à faire là."
> Thanks in advance!


 
_I felt very out of place_
_I felt like a fifth wheel_ (a car has four wheels)


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## Franglais1969

Salut,

If I understood correctly, I believe the phrase in english would be:

*To feel like a gooseberry,*


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## lencha

OK. Great! Thanks to you both for your help. I guess "feeling out of place" does transmit the feeling...
Thanks again!


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## wildan1

Franglais1969 said:


> Salut,
> 
> If I understood correctly, I believe the phrase in english would be:
> 
> *To feel like a gooseberry,*


 
Hmm, interesting. It would not be understood in the US--I am guessing possibly not in Canada, either.

(For other clueless AE speakers, the explanation is here.)


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## pieanne

I think the right idiom is "comme un cheveu *dans* la soupe" - that's what I say, at least...


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## Xanthius

wildan1 said:


> *To feel like a gooseberry.
> 
> *Hmm, interesting. It would not be understood in the US--I am guessing possibly not in Canada, either.
> 
> (For other clueless AE speakers, the explanation is here.)



Fasinating  - for me over here in England I'd actually use this in preference over a sentence like 'feel out of place' ...


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## renaudr

I do love the gooseberry one too! I'll try to use it!
("I agree also that it's "un cheveu *dans *la soupe")


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## lencha

mmmm.. maybe it's a Québec vs. European French thing, but I am pretty sure here in Quebec we use it as "un cheveu SUR la soupe"...


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## wildan1

lencha said:


> mmmm.. maybe it's a Québec vs. European French thing, but I am pretty sure here in Quebec we use it as "un cheveu SUR la soupe"...


 
I'm not sure. I certainly know this expression as_ Ça arrive comme un cheveu *sur*__ la soupe_ from the East of France, where I used to live.

Possibly a regional difference in usage across France/Belgium/Switzerland?


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## vittel

J'ai pour ma part toujours dit "comme un cheveu *sur* la soupe"... 
D'ailleurs j'ai rarement entendu "dans", où plutôt je ne n'ai jamais remarqué que des gens l'utilisait.


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## Nicomon

lencha said:


> mmmm.. maybe it's a Québec vs. European French thing, but I am pretty sure here in Quebec we use it as "un cheveu SUR la soupe"...


 
Indeed, we do. S'il est DANS la soupe... on risque de ne pas le voir et de l'avaler.


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## fabfab

wildan1 said:


> I'm not sure. I certainly know this expression as_ Ça arrive comme un cheveu *sur*__ la soupe_ from the East of France, where I used to live.
> 
> Possibly a regional difference in usage across France/Belgium/Switzerland?



Actually, I do know the expression "arriver comme un cheveu sur la soupe" but I have never heard of the one posted initially (I'm French).

It appears that they have a complete different meaning.

 "arriver comme un cheveu sur la soupe" means "arriver de façon inattendue ou mal adaptée à la situation." (http://www.linternaute.com/expression/langue-francaise/480/arriver-comme-un-cheveu-sur-la-soupe/)

Could you think of an equivalent idiom in English?


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## wildan1

fabfab said:


> "arriver comme un cheveu sur la soupe" means "arriver de façon inattendue ou mal adaptée à la situation." (http://www.linternaute.com/expression/langue-francaise/480/arriver-comme-un-cheveu-sur-la-soupe/)
> 
> Could you think of an equivalent idiom in English?


 
_It couldn't have been worse timing._


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## bobepine

To me, friends who "arrive comme un cheveu sur la soupe" turn up unexpectedly as we're sitting down for a meal, for example.

It's bad timing, indeed, but it's not always unwelcome...


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## kalexico

Is it correct to say ? 

= Arrives like a hair in a bowl of soup?

Many thanks.


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## la grive solitaire

_shows up like..._


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## bobepine

But you can't translate the saying literally.


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## la grive solitaire

Yes, I almost added that it means to arrive unexpectedly or at a bad time, but I thought kalexico was interested in a literal translation.


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## yann_ccc

"comme un cheveu SUR la soupe" definitely

"turn up like a bad penny" etc etc so many possibility, but what about the context which again has not been provided...


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## Wodwo

mgarizona said:


> I'm thinking:
> 
> Well that went over like a lead balloon!



In the UK we say "went *down* like a lead balloon" (because lead is very heavy).

But I think this is a different thing. You would use this phrase of something someone said or did that was supposed to impress or amuse, but completely failed to do so.


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