# To conk out



## Jocaste

Bonjour !
I'd like to know if my translations of this informal phrasal verb are accurate please. (and also the rest of the sentences  )

1. "*My car's so old that one of these days it's just going to conk out*" : ... qu'un de ces jours, elle va finir par *rendre l'âme*.

2. "*The neighbour's dog is so old and sick he looks like he could conk out any minute*" : ... il donne l'impression de pouvoir *claquer *à tout moment.

3. "*I nearly conked off (out ?) in the meeting, I was so tired*" : J'ai presque _*sombré *_pendant la réunion tellement j'étais fatigué.

4. "*One minute he was standing here, and the next minute, he just conked out !*" : ... et la minute suivante, il a tout simplement *sombré *(I'm not sure for this one)

Thanks in advance for any help 
J.


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## hunternet

you can use "lâché" too, I think


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## PhilFrEn

Jocaste said:


> Bonjour !
> I'd like to know if my translations of this informal phrasal verb are accurate please. (and also the rest of the sentences  )
> 
> 4. "*One minute he was standing here, and the next minute, he just conked out !*" : ... et la minute suivante, il a tout simplement *sombré *(I'm not sure for this one)
> 
> Thanks in advance for any help
> J.


 
Hi,

I am not sure if I got the meaning of sentence 4., but could it be maybe: "disparu" instead of "sombrer".

_Il était là et l'instant d'après il avait disparu_ ?


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## Jocaste

PhilFrEn said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am not sure if I got the meaning of sentence 4., but could it be maybe: "disparu" instead of "sombrer".
> 
> _Il était là et l'instant d'après il avait disparu_ ?



Here, "*conk out*" means to go to sleep very quickly or to suddenly become unconscious. So imho "_disparu_" isn't appropriate here.


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## PhilFrEn

Oh ok ! Thanx a lot.

What do you think of "tourné de l'oeil" in this case?


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## Jocaste

Nickel ! C'est ce que je cherchais !
Merci


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## archijacq

pour une voiture, "conk out" peut se traduire par "caler, flancher, avoir des ratés"

Il me semble que pour une personne, "to conk" correspond à "to faint, to lose consciousness" - et  "to conk out" à "to go to sleep, to die" (s'effondrer de sommeil, passer l'arme à gauche, "y passer")


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## SFguy

One never says "conk" by itself. In American English, it's always "conk out". And all the translations you list are possible; it just depends on the situation.  

Frequently heard:  "Oh, I _was_ planning on going out last night, but I guess I just conked out or something." --Meaning "fell asleep" or "ran out of energy." 



archijacq said:


> pour une voiture, "conk out" peut se traduire par "caler, flancher, avoir des ratés"
> 
> Il me semble que pour une personne, "to conk" correspond à "to faint, to lose consciousness" - et  "to conk out" à "to go to sleep, to die" (s'effondrer de sommeil, passer l'arme à gauche, "y passer")


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## Jocaste

Merci à vous tous


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## pieanne

"S'écrouler" perhaps?


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## Jocaste

pieanne said:


> "S'écrouler" perhaps?



On s'_écroule _et on s'_effondre _de fatigue, non ?


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## pieanne

Oui, d'où ma proposition


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## Jocaste

D'ac. Merci Pieanne  Je crois que j'ai tout ce qu'il me faut !


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## Teafrog

To "conk out" in BE, can be either to faint (following a huge surpise or a knock) , to fall asleep (from exhaustion - to nod off, doze off…), to brake down (machinery), to die (the bird conked out, he just feel off his perch).

It's always "to conk out"


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## Jocaste

Teafrog said:


> To "conk out" in BE, can be either to faint (following a huge surpise or a knock) , to fall asleep (from exhaustion - to nod off, doze off…), to brake down (machinery), to die (the bird conked out, he just feel off his perch).
> 
> It's always "to conk out"



Have you ever heard "*to conk off*" to say "_*to fall asleep*_" instead of "*to conk out*" ?


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## pieanne

I never have


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## Jocaste

pieanne said:


> I never have


En fait, je l'ai trouvé dans un dictionnaire Cambridge mais je ne l'ai retrouvé nulle part ailleurs utilisé.


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## pieanne

Le Cambridge online ne le reprend pas...


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## Jocaste

Voilà ce que je viens de trouver :
"_The two super *conkers *had mopped up all the opposition, it was inevitable they would meet for the ultimate *conk-off*. ‘Super-Conker-Armageddon’ was on !_"
Une idée pour "_conkers_" et "_conk-off_" ici ?


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## pieanne

Ca vient d'ici? http://www.alfredtheok.blogspot.com/2005_10_02_archive.html
:S


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## Jocaste

J'ai tapé "*conk off*" sur Google et je suis dessus en effet 
Ok c'est nul, mais c'est pour la forme : "*conk off*" est utilisé, en nom ici. Mais je ne trouve pas de traduction.


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## catwithnohat

I don't know what conkers are, or what a conk-off is.  (Maybe a British thing?)  In general, a XX-off is a competition.  I've heard of a cook-off (competition for who can make the best barbecue, for example.)


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## pieanne

<The two super conkers were really bashed up. Skyner’s had lost some of the outer shell – but Burnett’s had no shell on at all – just a rock-hard shrunken, shrivelled centre. It looked like a scale model of Einstein’s brain after a night on the heavy. The two super conkers had mopped up all the opposition, it was inevitable they would meet for the ultimate conk-off. ‘Super-Conker-Armageddon’ was on!>

Ils parlent d'autre chose, ici. Ca a à voir avec des chataignes/marrons, si je ne me trompe pas? (ou autre chose de végétal)
Alors "l'ultime confrontation de 'conks'"? "la phase ultime de destruction de 'conks'"?

Si tu vas sur google-images, il y a deux choses bizarres qui viennent quand on tape "conk". Des sortes de champignons...


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## Jocaste

catwithnohat said:


> I don't know what conkers are, or what a conk-off is.  (Maybe a British thing?)  In general, a XX-off is a competition.  I've heard of a cook-off (competition for who can make the best barbecue, for example.)



In this context, the conkers may be the competitors of the conk-off competition perhaps. 
Une compétition pour trouver le plus beau spécimen de champignons ...
Thks


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## pieanne

No, no, looks like the conkers are the vegetal thing


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## catwithnohat

Jocaste said:


> In this context, the conkers may be the competitors of the conk-off competition perhaps.
> Une compétition pour trouver le plus beau spécimen de champignons ...
> Thks



Oui, mais ce ne sont pas des champignons (selon le blog que quelqu'un a suggeré ci-dessus); je pense que le mot est "chataigne:
"the conker, seed of the noble horse chestnut tree"

Je n'ai pas lu  tout le blog, mais oui il s'agit d'une compétition (Le texte est humouristique)


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## Agent Literary

Jocaste said:


> Voilà ce que je viens de trouver :
> "_The two super *conkers *had mopped up all the opposition, it was inevitable they would meet for the ultimate *conk-off*. ‘Super-Conker-Armageddon’ was on !_"
> Une idée pour "_conkers_" et "_conk-off_" ici ?


 
Un "_conker_", c'est un mot pour un marron. "_Conkers_", c'est le nom d'un jeu qu'on joue pendant l'enfance (et peut-être après, je sais pas) en Angleterre pendant l'automne avec des marrons cuits ou traité avec du vinaigre pour les rendre plus durs. Ayant traité ton _conker_ tu y mets un trou et tu trousse un fil pour que tu aies ensuite une petite arme et avec ça tu essaies de frapper les _conkers _de tes amis. C_onk-off_ est un mot je n'ai jamais entendu mais je l'aime bien. Comme un shoot-off je suppose que ça serait un championnat pour trouver le meilleur conker et qu'une personne ferait leur frappe et puis le prochain etc. C'est rigolo "conk-off". Merci pour ça.


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## Jocaste

Agent Literary said:


> Un "_conker_", c'est un mot pour un marron. "_Conkers_", c'est le nom d'un jeu qu'on joue pendant l'enfance (et peut-être après, je sais pas) en Angleterre pendant l'automne avec des marrons cuits ou traité avec du vinaigre pour les rendre plus durs. Ayant traité ton _conker_ tu y mets un trou et tu trousse un fil pour que tu aies ensuite une petite arme et avec ça tu essaies de frapper les _conkers _de tes amis. C_onk-off_ est un mot je n'ai jamais entendu mais je l'aime bien. Comme un shoot-off je suppose que ça serait un championnat pour trouver le meilleur conker et qu'une personne ferait leur frappe et puis le prochain etc. C'est rigolo "conk-off". Merci pour ça.



Merci pour l'explication


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## zam

Degrees of fatigue/tiredness, from feeling slightly tired to being on the verge of losing consciousness -or complete exhaustion.

Faiblir / commencer à tourner de l’œil : 
to flag / to feel oneself flagging 

Vaciller, être sur le point de s’écrouler : 
to feel shaky, to be on the verge of collapse/collapsing

S’effondrer / perdre conscience: 
to collapse / to faint / lose consciousness / to pass out / to black out




> But even before 9pm *I felt myself flagging* and my mind wandering in the direction of the sofa in our living room and the jar of Ovaltine in the kitchen *...*
> archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/2004/8/30/471283.html - 16k - Supplemental Result - Cached - Similar pages


 

To flop (also flump -similar) is also useful for suddenly being so tired that you have to rest:




> When I got home, I was so exhausted from the great night I had *I just flopped on* my bed still wearing my clothes and shoes. The next day my sister told some *...*
> www.humboldt.edu/~travel/2004se/stories/johnson.htm - 7k -
> 
> We got home absolutely knackered and *I flumped on* the bed, and he sat on the floor for a minute, then looked up at me with this really cheeky grin and said *...*
> www.iwantmymum.com/forums/index.php?act=findpost&pid=118807 - 103k - Supplemental Result –


 

Since archijacq’s mentioned it (post #7), just a quick note about car problems:

Caler: to stall

Avoir des ratés: to misfire / to splutter / to judder (car or engine)

Conk out for a car would be: tomber en rade


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## zam

Jocaste said:


> Merci pour l'explication


 
Et oui, c'est même un jeu très dangereux (not!) que les écoles interdisent...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/1060708.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/6043210.stm

L'obsession de la "health and safety" comme on dit en Angleterre...


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## polaire

SFguy said:


> *One never says "conk" by itself.* In American English, it's always "conk out". And all the translations you list are possible; it just depends on the situation.
> 
> Frequently heard:  "Oh, I _was_ planning on going out last night, but I guess I just conked out or something." --Meaning "fell asleep" or "ran out of energy."



There is one extremely rare exception.  "To conk" was a verb used to describe a form of chemical hair straightening used by African American men in the early-to-mid-20th century.  It was a very dangerous practice, often involving lye.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conk

In the "Autobiography of Malcolm X," the author describes having his hair "conked" as a young man.

The "conk" also was the name of the hairstyle.

It's a fairly pejorative but not offensive term.  Mainly, it's outdated.


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## wildan1

Jocaste said:


> Have you ever heard "*to conk off*" to say "_*to fall asleep*_" instead of "*to conk out*" ?


 
no, but maybe you are confusing this with _to *nod* off_, which indeed means to fall asleep while you are sitting up, at a meeting, etc. Usually depicts your had falling down as it happens!


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## Teafrog

Jocaste, "conk off" is never used >> alway always always "*conk out*"

Conk off is a play on words for a "play off", the final head-to-head in a tournament, the "decider". In this article on a conker game ( ref: Agent Literary) it was meant as a joke…

I don't care what "le dictionnaire Cambridge" says. It's wrong (plain and simple)


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## Jocaste

Ok c'est noté ! Merci tout le monde ^^


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