# avoir du chien



## marianneBLANC

Bonjour,

Comment pourrais-je traduire cette expression ?

Ce que j'ai trouvé dans le dictionnaire ne me convient pas vraiment ... Spunky ??

Merci à tous.

PS : je souhaiterais acheter un dictionnaire anglais équivalent au Littré ou Robert. Lequel pourriez-vous me conseiller ?


Moderator's note: two threads have been merged to create this one.


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## DDT

What about "to be very attractive"?

DDT


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## marianneBLANC

Merci pour la réponse. Mais cela ne me convient pas car je trouve que c'est un peu "plat" et ne résume pas l'idée, pr moi, "d'avoir du chien". Car qn de très laid peut avoir du chien et dans ce cas là est-ce que "to be very attractive" conviendrait ??

Peut-être qu'en anglais ça le fait ??


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## pieanne

How about "a foxy lady"?


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## DDT

So what about "to have a certain something"?

DDT


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## marianneBLANC

Sounds OK !

Merci


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## marianneBLANC

Je reviens vers vous après avoir jeté un oeil dans le dictio. Foxy est traduit par "sexy", donc non. " To have a certain sometyhing" c'est un peu l'auberge espagnole. Avoir du chien c'est avant tout, pour moi, avoir une "tronche". Dc il semblerait que ce soit intraduisible ??


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## pieanne

Il semblerait... Peut-être "she has *that* something"...


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## edwingill

she has style


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## carolineR

she's stylish ? she has style ?


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## Micia93

Bonjour tout le monde ! 

comment traduit-on "avoir du chien" en anglais ?
"cette femme n'est pas vraiment jolie, mais elle a vraiment du chien"

désolée, je n'ai vraiment aucune idée, car même la notion en français est assez subtile

merci !


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## floise

Micia93,

'_She has 'oomph_'; '_she has sex-appeal_'.

floise


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## Micia93

Thanks Floise, I didn't know "oomph" ; but we also use "sex-appeal" in french, and it is quite different from "elle a du chien", though
I'm not sure that "avoir du chien" systematically refers to some sexual appearance, it also refers to the personality of a (young) woman (we never use this expression for a man ! so, typically for a (young) woman  ) !


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## floise

Micia93,

You can also simply say 'she's got lots of personality'.

floise


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## L'enquiquineur

Le mot anglais 'feisty' signifie 'fougeuse' ou téméraire - une description plutôt élogieuse que péjorative.  On l'utilise quand il s'agit d'une femme, mais pas nécéssairement dans une contexte sexuelle.


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## Micia93

Oui, j'aime bien feisty (sorry Floise  )
est-ce que toutefois, outre le fait d'être "fougueuse", cette femme est tout de même attirante, même si elle n'est pas spécialement jolie ?
je sais, c'est un peu confus, mais mes compatriotes comprennent ce que je veux dire. C'est très difficile à décrire, c'est pourquoi je parlais d'une notion "subtile"


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## archijacq

she has a certain something


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## Micia93

Oui, je pense que c'est cela !
merci Archijacq et l'Enquiquineur    :=)


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## L'enquiquineur

archijacq said:


> she has a certain something



D'accord - ça c'est bon.

Ou, comme nous disons en anglais:-  'She has a certain _je ne sais quoi' _


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## pieanne

Could we say "she's a foxy lady" in this context?


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## Zhorg

"foxy lady" y'a le côté sexy, sensuelle...
une personne qui a du chien : c'est vraiment avoir de la personnalité, du caractère...strong personnality, charisma


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## Micia93

Oui Zhorg, mais il y a aussi la notion qu'elle attire les regards par ce "je ne sais quoi" (un regard malicieux, une chevelure flamboyante ....)
ce n'est pas uniquement la personnalité, tu ne trouves pas ?


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## L'enquiquineur

Zhorg said:


> une personne qui a du chien : c'est vraiment avoir de la personnalité, du caractère...strong personnality, charisma



Si on l'accepte (moi, je ne suis qu'un anglais), je dirais 'feisty' est le mot juste.


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## Micia93

même si tu considères la remarque que j'ai faite à Zhorg ? (juste avant toi)


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## L'enquiquineur

Micia93 said:


> même si tu considères la remarque que j'ai faite à Zhorg ? (juste avant toi)



Ah! je m'excuse, je ne l'avais pas lu.  Il me parait qu'il soit vraiment difficile de le dire en un ou deux mots. Si on veut dire qu'il y a un élément de doute, on peut dire peut-être:- 'She has a certaiin indefinable something' ou 'She has a certain je ne sais quoi'.  (je crains de devenir perdu!)


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## Pedro y La Torre

She has something going for her.


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## floise

archijacq said:


> she has a certain something



Or 'there's something about her....'

floise


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## david314

Perhaps:  _She is *vivacious*.  OR:  She has *spunk*._


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## JeanDeSponde

_She's got what it takes_


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## Pedro y La Torre

david314 said:


> _OR:  She has *spunk*._



Bad idea to use that here. Spunk = semen.


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## BigRedDog

Zhorg said:


> "foxy lady" y'a le côté sexy, sensuelle...
> une personne qui a du chien : c'est vraiment avoir de la personnalité, du caractère...strong personnality, charisma



Pour moi le côté "attirance sexuelle" est inséparable de l'expression même si je suis d'accord, "avoir du chien" c'est aussi avoir de la personalité.


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## archijacq

pourrait-on dire "she has spark" ?


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## fabfab

L'enquiquineur said:


> D'accord - ça c'est bon.
> Ou, comme nous disons en anglais:-  'She has a certain _je ne sais quoi' _



 My vote.


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## wildan1

Pedro y La Torre said:


> Bad idea to use that here. Spunk = semen.


 
I don't think _She has spunk_ would lead anyone to confuse the meaning with semen, here PyLT. I would say that in any kind of company, and it is a close equivalent to _Elle a du chien_.

If the person's personality is somewhat quirky and amusing, you might say _She's a real piece of work_

If it's a person that is vivacious and always attracts attention, _She's bigger than life_

If she's unique and memorable in her style (especially someone now dead) _After they made her they broke the mold._


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## Cuisinier

Micia93 said that the expression should only be used about a woman.  Is that correct?  In the Disney animated la Belle et la Bete, in boasting about Gaston's attributes it says, "Un caïd qui a du chien et des manières, et du chic et de la prestance.
Did they make an error in translating, because it should refer only to women?


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## Teafrog

BigRedDog said:


> Pour moi le côté "attirance sexuelle" est inséparable de l'expression même si je suis d'accord, "avoir du chien" c'est aussi avoir de la personalité.


En effet, j'ai repêcher ceci dans le CNRTL: *Avoir du chien*: [En parlant d'une femme] *Avoir un charme quelque peu provocant, être attirante*.

Judging from the dict's description, words like "_feisty_" (“fougeuse ou téméraire”), "vivacious",_ "having spunk" _or "having spark" do not word here, imo, as the sensual side of the expression is left by the wayside

I like Pieanne’s "_she's a foxy lady_", or JDS’s “s_he’s got what it takes_”. L’enquiquineur’s “_She has a certain je ne sais quoi_” is a very good option, however it is quite a mouthful, is not very snappy, and doesn't convey the 'spicy quality' and sensuality of "avoir du chien".

Other options: “she’s alluring” or "she's sultry"?

The funny thing is that saying someone "looks like a dog", in English, means the exact opposite.


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## wildan1

Teafrog said:


> Other options: “she’s alluring” or "she's sultry"?
> 
> The funny thing is that saying someone "looks like a dog", in English, means the exact opposite.


 
_She's alluring_ seems good

_Sultry_ seems a bit too steamy in my opinion

Definitely avoid any canine comparisons!


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## Micia93

many thanks to all  
I wouldn't have imagined this old thread could attract somebody now !  
Anyway, I have plenty of ideas now !


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## temple09

It's ironic that in England if we use "dog" in a sentence referring to a lady then it is a strong way of saying that you find her ugly. "Eurgh! She's a right dog!!!"


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## Micia93

temple09 said:


> It's ironic that in England if we use "dog" in a sentence referring to a lady then it is a strong way of saying that you find her ugly. "Eurgh! She's a right dog!!!"


 
really ? but dogs are far beautiful than human !


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## temple09

Trust me - if you ever refer to a British woman as a dog then you will certainly see some snarling!!!! ;-)


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## wildan1

Micia93 said:


> really ? but dogs are far beautiful than human !


_She's a dog = C'est un thon  _(so I suggest avoiding any literal reference to canines in describing a woman positively)


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## Surfin' Bird

Couldn't "there's something about her" be an option?


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## Souxie

Hum, hum, pardon...mais pour moi on peut dire d'un homme qu'il a du chien, exactement dans le même sens que pour une femme: il a un vrai style, de l'allure, du charisme, un physique particulier, un mélange de tout ça, en fait.


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## Micia93

dans l'absolu, tu as raison Souxie, en effet pourquoi pas ? mais je ne l'ai jamais entendu en parlant d'un homme
il faut dire que cette expression est un peu démodée, on l'entend dans les vieux films des années cinquante, et à cette époque, ça s'appliquait aux femmes ...


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## Surfin' Bird

"Il a du chien" donne 462 000 occurrences sur Goog-machin.


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## Chimel

Pour moi, comme on l'a signalé plus haut, "avoir du chien", c'est avant tout avoir du caractère, de la personnalité (plus que du charme, du style...).

C'est peut-être pour cela que l'expression s'applique/s'appliquait davantage aux femmes: dans une vision masculine qui a dominé jusque dans un passé récent, l'homme dirige et la femme obéit, est soumise, plus passive... Quand une femme affirme sa personnalité, donne son avis, ne se laisse pas faire, cela se remarque davantage que pour un homme, pour qui c'est considéré comme plus "normal" (je ne fais ici qu'esquisser un schéma de pensée traditionnel auquel je n'adhère pas, je le précise ).

Les fortes personnalités exercent aussi souvent un certain charme, ce qui peut donner à l'expression une connotation sexuelle. Mais pour moi, ce n'est pas ce qui domine.

En tout cas, on ne dirait pas d'une femme sexuellement très attrayante mais au caractère très fade qu'elle a du chien.


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## Cuisinier

Alors, peut-etre, 'Elle a du chien', c'est comme "She has gumption." ou comme on disait dans les films des "Annees folles" ("Roaring Twenties"), "She has a lot of moxie." ?? ...'joie de vivre'? ou c'est plutot, "Elle a une certaine 'je ne sais quoi'." ??


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## Cuisinier

And yes, Temple09 is correct as it is also in the USA. 'She's a real dog.' or ...'a real dog face' would mean a very unattractive woman.


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## khawkey

According to my French husband, the best equivalent IS that she is "foxy" or "a fox".  Also, true that it only applies to a woman.  Personally, I have never heard it used, but he did also say that it is an old-fashioned expression.

ATTENTION:  This expression has nothing to do with the US expression "she is a 'dog'", i.e. really ugly.


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## wildan1

khawkey said:


> According to my French husband, the best equivalent IS that she is "foxy" or "a fox". Also, true that it only applies to a woman.


_Foxy,_ to me, means either very clever (_smart like a fox_) or sexy (_she's a real fox_)

Somehow, _elle a du chien_ doesn't resonate the same way with me. It's about a woman who makes an impression on you whether or not she's very smart or sexy...


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## SteveD

I remember seeing a political poster here in Belgium several years ago which was promoting a female politician whose name was d'Hondt (Hondt -> hond = dog in Flemish).  The slogan was ".... d'Hondt: elle a du chien".

Archijacq's "she has a certain something" could fit the bill.


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## temple09

In that example, we could use a French phrase - "She's got a certain je ne sais quoi". Yes, we do use this exact borrowed phrase in the exact same form, and this may well be a good option for "Elle a du thon".


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## Micia93

temple09 said:


> and this may well be a good option for "Elle a du thon".


 
you mean "elle a du *chien*" ? 
("elle a du thon" doesn't exist in french)


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## Keith Lyons

Dear People:

Is there any other translation into English -- prefereably US English -- which conveys the genuine charm of "elle a du chienne"? 


The usual translation given, "She's got what it takes", is flat, tepid, half-silly, sounds like something from the 1920s (like "23 skidoo!"), and doesn't really convey the power, the nuance, 
the earthy force of the original into English.

In the original, after all, the key word is "chienne" -- no?  Which is a female dog, yes? 
Yet "elle a du chienne"  does not have a rough vulgarity about it, no?  No "dogyness" is implied for the woman who "elle a du chienne" refers to?

Thank you kindly.
-- Keith Lyons


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## Magonette

Hi,

Just to keep you on the right tracks : one says "elle a du chien". (elle a du chienne ).


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## Oddmania

Larousse suggests _She's got sex-appeal..._  But I think dictionaries can't really be relied upon for such expressions...


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## jetset

To me it means she is sexy with a strong character (pep), kind of feline.


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## Keith Bradford

I always think it means something like "*She is one foxy lady*".  But I could be wrong, US slang not being my strong point.


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## Keith Lyons

Dear Sir,

Hey, "foxy lady" is not bad.  Certainly gets the animal kingdom in there.

First, my only worry is that in the US vernacular "foxy lady" suggests someone who's there with a come on, who's a seductress,  overtly sexy, or a _femme fatale_.
Does "avoir du chien" have this implied meaning?

Second, when I double check "foxy lady" in my good'ol bilingual Grand Dictionnaire Hachette Oxford -- it suggests "foxy lady" derives from the French
"rusé" -- thus a woman who is also cunning, crafty, malin.  And does "avoir du chien" mean that a woman is "malin"?

For all & any feedback, thank you.

Yrs. -- Keith Lyons


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## Keith Bradford

Well I've always thought that "foxy" _= sexy + determined_.  But hey, you're the American wanting slang, so don't take my word for it!  _Avoir du chien _for me certainly means "to have what it takes" in both of these senses.


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## Keith Lyons

But why the reference to a female dog in the French phrase?
-- Keith Lyons


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## Keith Bradford

It's not. This is _*du* chien _(masculine) and doesn't mean dog, it means _charm_. In use since 1866, and so almost exactly parallel to the US term "putting on the dog". 
_To put on (the) dog is an expression that means 'to make a display of wealth or importance, especially by dressing stylishly and flashily'. It's similar in meaning to the later expression put on the ritz. Put on (the) dog dates back to American college slang of the 1860's and is recorded in Lyman H. Bagg's Four Years at Yale : "Dog, style, splurge. To put on dog is to make a flashy display, to cut a swell." At about the same time, the related adjective doggy was a popular slang term meaning 'attractively stylish; costly; fancy'. _Source: _http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/12/messages/415.html
_​This seems very strong to be mere coincidence, and I wonder if they have a common origin?


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## Keith Lyons

Four things -

1) It's clear to me, at least, you can't use "dog" in any shape or form for the British or US equivalent

2) I hear this phrase in France nowadays from people of all ages; but only when speaking informally & confidentially. So i don't think it's dated
so much as discreet.

3) Seems to me the simple phrase "there's something about her" is the closest in US English equivalent; though for the below-35 set this could
also recall the "There's Something About Mary" syndrome.

4) Just in case -- for everyone here at wordreference RE this word hunt & complementary phrase -- a good site in the contemporary US & UK youth culture English language vein is: "http://www.urbandictionary.com"/;
good but slightly hobbled as it's heavy & single minded on funky youth culture & generally lacks historical depth beyond the 1950s.

Best:  -- Keith Lyons


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## badgrammar

So what about going with the idea of "charm", as in "she's charming/she's a charmer"? I know it's a bit flatter than "avoir du chien", but I'm fairly sure it speaks more of "putting on the dog" (thx Keith!) that of being a "foxy lady" - whicis basically a slightly rusty term (dates back to my generation, yikes!) for a "sexy woman" or a "hottie""...

I've just stumbled upon it in a translation, and it's simply a term "du chien" that will appear under the image of a smart and pretty young woman who is working at a car show and diong a pretty darn good job selling cars using her wit and repartee... She's pretty, so that's part of it - but most of all, she's got winning arguments. I'm thinking I'll go with "Charm"...


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## Chimel

I would still go for: "she has character" ("she has a strong character"?) rather than "charm". Or: "she has a quick wit"?

I fully agree with Wildan's comment on the previous page:


> It's about a woman who makes an impression on you whether or not she's very smart or sexy...


 (see also my mesage #49).


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## Keith Lyons

Dear Chimel,

Well, I respectfully disagree -- and yet not quite.

For example, almong classic Hollywood actresses I think Katherine Hepburn qualified as "avour du chien".
She had character, a quick wit -- and therein lay her personal charisma & her sex appeal.  i do not think you
can remove sexual attraction from the equation of  "avoir du chien" -- it would be like removing the sparkle from water.

And, all said and done,  this unfortunately still does not give us an English-language exact equivalent (except in visual form?)

Thank you:  Keith Lyons


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## david314

Perhaps:  " She's got _it_ /_ that special something_. "

I understand _the x factor _to be akin to _je ne sais quoi_.


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## Nooj

I find myself unconvinced by 'this person has a je ne sais quoi'. I mean yes obviously it's understandable, but I don't know anyone in my generation who would use it unironically.

I like what people have said about charm, 'he has a real charm to him', but I also like charisma. Charisma is still used by me at any rate, if I say that 'she's not my type, but she has a real, um, charisma that makes you want to hang out with her', that gets the sense across.

Or even 'something magical'. There's something magical about the way he moves, about the way he acts etc.

I also think 'there's something about her-him' is very good, but I would want it to be followed by a specification, because we can use it in a negative sense:

A: Do you trust him?
B: I donno, there's something about him...

So better 'there's something about him that draws me to him'.


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## wendyredredrobin

Hi all,

I'm just pondering this very phrase, used in relation to a collection of pet's accessories! But going back to the original posts, could you switch it around and say something like "She's definitely no dog, she has a real presence/oomph/style/that certain something..." and for a man, if the context was right i.e. slangy/very informal "He's the dog's bollocks" or "He's the dog's (the bollocks being understood, as it were!!)". For my accessories where my phrase is "Et pour un intérieur qui a du chien" I think I'll go for "And for a home with dogged style"... I was tempted by "doggy style", but that would be too rude or would that only be in the mind of the reader...!!?


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## Keith Lyons

Dear All,

As I've followed this thread closely from the get go ---

First, seems to me --  #1 above all -- that the vernacular, slang, the idiomatic rarely translates well.  It has too much of a "terroir" in it to do so.  No?  

Isn't an idiom a word, phrase or expression with a meaning that can't be guessed from the individual words -- unless you posses the culture or the culture possesses you?  Indeed, the fact that the idiomatic usually does not translate is one reason why some phrases get taken whole into other languages -- such as "fair play" into French, or "OK" in any number of non-English languages.

Second, I vote for the approximate phrase "a certain something". 

Seems to me that the intriguing "foxy" overstates the case.  For example, in her prime "foxy" was seductive Catherine Deneuve or, going further back in cinematic time, the charming and dangerous young Barbara Stanwyck. These women already have (had) an incredible physical edge.  While  -- as Chimel (above) notes -- "avoir du chien", c'est avant tout avoir du caractère, de la personnalité (plus que du charme, du style...)"  And it's far more than a body language.  

Doesn't  "avoir du chien" transcend body or looks?  Traditional norms of beauty or aesthetics?  It's a more elusive and unique quality.  Perhaps no one woman "avoir du chien" in the same way?   

And, beware, as Cuisinier notes above, comparing a woman to a "dog" in the English language has all sorts of negative overtones (not the least of which is b***h). So I'd altogether avoid the canine à la women.

Finally, on another note,  as for applying this great & curious phrase to men; well, frankly, this strikes me as ridiculous -- and I've never heard it done.

*Thank You* one and all for your thoughtful contributions!

Best:  Keith Lyons.


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## wendyredredrobin

Hi Keith,

"the dog's bollocks" was used to describe Tony Blair, amongst others! I obviously move in different circles to you. I suspect it's a British thing!!


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## wistou

This is a very lively thread indeed, and sometimes going a little bit out of track... 

But I was tempted in the first place to suggest using "allured". I have seen "alluring" being proposed, but, to my surprise at least, not getting a lot of attention.  This surprises me a little bit, since in French, "avoir du chien" and "avoir de l'allure" are really close, at least for me. 

And to elaborate a little bit, "avoir du chien" definitely includes raising some attention, but not necessarily of sexual nature. 

Regards,


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## clairet

Oxford online English dictionary says "foxy" just means (informal) "sexually attractive".  It seems to me very old-fashioned.

Taking this from post 47 as representative (  Pour moi, comme on l'a signalé plus haut, "avoir du chien", c'est avant tout avoir du caractère, de la personnalité (plus que du charme, du style...) I like the earlier suggestion of "feisty" (if the emphasis is on strong character) and "has a certain something" (if the emphasis is on charm, style).  "S/he's really got something" is a phrase you are more likely to hear these days than either of these suggestions and maybe covers both emphases.


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## Bondstreet

You have a whole range of words here to choose from according to your (and the lady's) current mood!

thesaurus.com- attractive
(scroll down the page)
.


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