# a heads-up



## marat

Moderator Note: Several threads have been merged to create this one. The first post originated in a different thread. 

I'm now looking for the corresponding expression in French [...]
So, how would you say for example,_ "Thanks for the heads-up."_
I found "tetes-hautes" in the WR dictionnary, but is that right?! (Beats me!)
Thanks, as always!
Mara


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## Benjy

ehm. i guess you could say "merci de m'avoir prevenu" merci de me l'avoir dit? i don't think there is anything involving a head in french that means the same thing. i am always willing to be proved wrong of course


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## marat

Thank you, Benjy (and such a speedy reply too!!!)
If I come across an expression, which is what I was after, I'll let you know.
Mara


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## frozenbeefpie

Benjy said:
			
		

> ehm. i guess you could say "merci de m'avoir prevenu" merci de me l'avoir dit? i don't think there is anything involving a head in french that means the same thing. i am always willing to be proved wrong of course


 
"Merci de me prévenir, comme ça je n'irai pas tête baissée" (contraire de heads up/tête haute). Nous savons tous qu'anglais et français sont presque toujours opposés et les expressions ne font pas exceptions !!! " Thanks for the heads up, that way I won't go blind". We all know that french and english are always opposed, no exception for the expressions !!! 

Also, 'tête haute' is a french expression for 'to be proud' and is far from being a good translation for 'heads up'.

Hope this helps !

Frozen


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## la grive solitaire

Hi Frozen,

In AE, at least: Thanks for the heads-up, I won't go *into it* blind.


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## marat

Thank you Frozen and La Grive for the recent information. Always helpful and always appreciated! 
It seems there isn't an equivalent expression in French for _heads-up_ and yes, we would also say _go into it blind_ in CE.
Mara


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## Rima

Est ce que quelqu'un pourrait me dire comment on traduit Head up, le context dans lequel je l'ai entendu c'est: When you see him, just give me a head up....(enfin je crois que c'était une phrase du genre!)

Merci pour vote aide.


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## Vichenzo

Quand tu le verras, fais-moi un simple hochement de tête.
Quand tu le verras, fais-moi signe.


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## bh7

C'est plutôt un " head*s*-up " = [fam.] avertissement, préavis, alerte.


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## wildan1

_*fais-moi signe* dès que tu le verras_ (oui, c'est _head*s-*up_)


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## david314

Depending upon context, I believe that our phrase can sometimes be translated as: *mettre au courant *

-In our particular case, I agree with _faire signe à qqun._


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## francais_espanol

Bonjour

Comment traduiriez-vous l'expression "a heads up"

Voici ma phrase en anglais:

"This is just _a heads up_ to let you know that the XX association will soon launch its recruitment campaign."

Mon essai:

"Ceci est un _message d'information?? _pour vous informer que l'association XX va bientôt lancer sa campagne de recrutement."

Merci pour votre aide.


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## cropje_jnr

N'oublie pas de vérifier les anciennes discussions (qui n'aboutissent pas pour autant à un équivalent exact). De toute façon c'est la première fois que j'entends message d'information dans ce contexte-là.

Personnellement je dirais : 'c'est juste pour vous/te prévenir que...'


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## lluke

frozenbeefpie said:


> "Merci de me prévenir, comme ça je n'irai pas tête baissée"



Hi everyone!

In French, we don't say "*aller*" but rather "*foncer* tête baissée", like *rush* into something (e.g. a wall ) blindly.

a thread about this expression


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## david314

Might the natives have any further suggestions?  I would define  'a heads-up' as _an alert to be vigilant_, _a warning_, _advice_(?).  Merci bien, tout le monde. 

A.  Don't take the highway, there was just a bad wreck.
B.  Oh, I'll take the city streets instead -thanks for *the heads-up*, buddy.


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## Cath.S.

david314 said:


> Might the natives have any further suggestions? I would define  'a heads-up' as _an alert to be vigilant_, _a warning_, _advice_(?). Merci bien, tout le monde.
> 
> A. Don't take the highway, there was just a bad wreck.
> B. Oh, I'll take the city streets instead -thanks for *the heads-up*, buddy.


Salut Dave, 
dans ton exemple je dirais
_merci pour le tuyau, mon pote_
ou
_merci de m'avoir averti / prévenu._


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## david314

Thanks super egueule -I feel that *merci pour le tuyau * is a comparable register to our _slang_ (?) term.


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## hirondelled'hiver

La situation concerne 2 flics plus un infiltré dans un réseau de narco-trafiquants. 
Ils prévoient de faire une descente de police à un moment où la drogue sera sortie d'un entrepôt. 

L'infiltré parle le premier et un flic répond: 
INF: - I'll need a little heads up about that (= laissez moi d'abord un peu de temps? Is that it?)
FLIC 1 : So you can get your cut first? (pour que tu puisses toucher ta part avant?)
INF: which is not much. Eddie penalized me for... (etc...)


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## arsham

I think heads-up means warning!


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## wildan1

_I need a heads-up_ (avec un trait d'union) -  _fais-moi signe à l'avance, donne-moi un avertissement_


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## hirondelled'hiver

Alors: donner un préavis, pourrait convenir je suppose...


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## wildan1

hirondelled'hiver said:


> Alors: donner un préavis, pourrait convenir je suppose...


 
Sauf que _préavis_ est un terme standard, tout comme _advance warning_ ; _heads-up_ est plus informel comme terme...


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## hirondelled'hiver

Oui, c'est vrai Wildan1. Entretemps, j'avais trouvé cette formule: tâchez de me prévenir un peu à l'avance...
Merci!


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## aera

Bonjour,

comment traduisez-vous : "_thanks for the heads up"_ ?

Merci pour votre aide


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## SwissPete

Je dirais : « Merci de m'avoir averti ».


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## aera

Merci SwissPete, ça convient très bien au contexte !


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## sankara

i think "thanks for the heads-up" just means "merci pour le rappel".


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## Mikamocha

sankara said:


> i think "thanks for the heads-up" just means "merci pour le rappel".


 jJarrive un peu tard mais non, _merci pour le rappel_ (thanks for the reminder) ne fonctionne pas içi.

Je crois que "merci pour le tuyau" marche bien.  Qu'en pensez-vous ?


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## marat

hello!

...And I thought that "un tuyau" was "a tip"????..(different from a heads-up)..


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## Mikamocha

marat said:


> hello!
> 
> ...And I thought that "un tuyau" was "a tip"????..(different from a heads-up)..


 No I think that here a "tip" (obviously not a pourboire) is synonymous with a head-up. If I have information that you don't have and I share it with you, you can easily reply "thanks for the tip" or "thanks for the heads-up". More often I just say "thanks for letting me know" but that's a matter of preference not the grammatical accuracy of "slang."


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## wildan1

_Merci de m'avoir mis la puce à l'oreille_


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## Mikamocha

Are you sure that works in this context Wildan? To me that's more like "thanks for having started me thinking.." C'est bien possible que je me trompe içi alors...


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## marat

Hi again!
Well, a 'tip' actually means 3 things in French: un pourboire, une pointe et un truc ou un tuyau (familier)

This from wordreference dictonary:
ça m'a mis la ~ à l'oreille that set me thinking;

In my view, there is a difference in meaning between a "heads-up" and a "tip"...
will keep looking..........

Mara


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## ClemenceC

I hear 'thanks for the heads-up' all the time from my US coworkers and in French it usually means:
'Merci pour ton resume' or 'Merci de m'avoir donne le contexte'.
Heads-up to me is really more : the context of what happened before, an overview of a situation.


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## marat

This is how I've always used the word:


_n._ _Informal_  Information or notification, especially in advance: gave me the heads-up on the new security measures.
*Noun**1.**heads-up* - a warning message; "he sent a heads-up to the District Attorney"warning - a message informing of danger; "a warning that still more bombs could explode"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2008 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.


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## figatelli

marat said:


> This is how I've always used the word:
> 
> 
> _n._ _Informal_  Information or notification, especially in advance: gave me the heads-up on the new security measures.
> *Noun**1.**heads-up* - a warning message; "he sent a heads-up to the District Attorney"warning - a message informing of danger; "a warning that still more bombs could explode"
> Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2008 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.



So another way to translate is "Mise en garde" ?


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## aera

figatelli said:


> So another way to translate is "Mise en garde" ?


voire _une alerte_ dans ce cadre d'urgence. 

Thanks for the heads up : littéralement quelque chose qui fait "se relever les têtes" ?

En somme, _"Merci de m'avoir alerté(e)"_


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## figatelli

aera said:


> voire _une alerte_ dans ce cadre d'urgence.
> 
> Thanks for the heads up : littéralement quelque chose qui fait "se relever les têtes" ?
> 
> En somme, _"Merci de m'avoir alerté(e)"_



Gotcha!


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## Mikamocha

Just be careful, while Merci de m'avoir alerté is a great equivalent, "heads up" in english does not always convey the urgency  or mean there is danger or an urgent situation. For example if a fellow student in class tells me that our professor is absent today and we can both skip class, I can say "thanks for the heads up." It's really a rather loosly used expression.


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## wildan1

Mikamocha said:


> It's really* a rather loosly used *expression.


This is very true. 

_alerter_
_donner un préavis_
_mettre la puce à l'oreille à quelqu'un_
_toucher un mot à quelqu'un_
_mettre quelqu'un en garde_

...all seem possible equivalents to me, but you need to have a precise context to use the right French expression here.


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## david314

wildan1 said:


> _*mettre quelqu'un en garde* _
> 
> 
> 
> From my experience, this is the most common interpretation. Example:
> 
> Joe: _Hey Sam, don't touch the handrail it's wet paint._
> 
> Sam: *Thanks for the heads-up*, dude!
> 
> It's _a warning. _
Click to expand...


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## BassFranky

Thanks for the heads-up = Merci pour le(s) tuyau(x)


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