# Produit incontournable



## wonderful

Hi

How would you translate in English "c'est un produit incontournable"?

Thanks in advance for your help


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## SwissPete

More context is definitely needed here.


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## nannis2001

incontrovertible product


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## nannis2001

vital, necessary, sure, infaillible ....

it depends on the context


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## maggiemami

Hello, if you are still considering incontournable!  I've just needed to check it tonight, and have recently seen "Les Incontournables" on a Parisian restaurant's website.  Now I realise that it referred to dishes that were, as you have said, vital to their repertoire!


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## Cath.S.

It's _a must-have_, maybe.


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## Xavier11222

The basics? As in l_es Incontournables_ in fashion things. It's the must-haves, as noted earlier, or the basics.


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## maggiemami

Thank-you very much!


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## maggiemami

Discussion at dinner party tonight came up with "signature dishes"


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## yannicus

Incontournable, in my experience, is just a buzz-word for any event, dish, movie, book or anything someone wants to sell - it makes the thing seem like a product people trust and have been using for ever (like marmite or rillette du mans ). I think "must-have" or "must-see" is a good short TR. Incontrovertible is probably the ugliest word i've ever seen, i wouldn't use it.
But i usually deal with incontournable as "the event you can't afford to miss!" or "a major event". FOr products, i'd say "essential", "unmissable" (with a pinch of salt) or something along those lines...


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## hunternet

on peut traduire aussi simplement par "best / (most) popular"...


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## p0ussin

I would say " it's a MUST-HAVE...."


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## Dan Badger

The phrase I remember being used ceaselessly a few years ago in the British media was 'to die for'.

eg ' a dress to die for...', 'a meal to die for...'

implying it was worth dying for. Invariably of course it wasn't.

Dan


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## Gerard Samuel

I would say:

It is a product that we can't do without.


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## LMorland

nannis2001 said:


> incontrovertible product


Sorry ... this isn't the right answer (it doesn't work in English).  

I heartily second egeuele's and yannicus' suggestions. Dan_Badger is right about "to die for" but it's colloquial use that wouldn't work in every situation.


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## Cath.S.

_Produit incontournable_ belongs to the language of sales and product reviews. It is not colloquial.


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## LMorland

egueule said:


> _Produit incontournable_ belongs to the language of sales and product reviews. It is not colloquial.


I quite agree!  But Dan_Badger seemed to suggest that it _was _being used in advertising in the U.K.:





> The phrase I remember being used ceaselessly a few years ago in the British media was 'to die for'.
> eg ' a dress to die for...', 'a meal to die for...'


However, if I were writing ad copy I'd never use it myself.  Maybe Dan_Badger was hearing it on the radio, or one one of those 24-hour shopping channels that France is lucky enough not to have....


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## J-Christophe

How about :
Not to be missed ?


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## alisonp

A must?  (Even if the French usually refer to that as "un must")


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## Cath.S.

LMorland said:


> I quite agree! But Dan_Badger seemed to suggest that it _was _being used in advertising in the U.K.:
> However, if I were writing ad copy I'd never use it myself. Maybe Dan_Badger was hearing it on the radio, or one one of those 24-hour shopping channels that France is lucky enough not to have....


Hi Laura, 
I understand what you mean, still _produit incontournable_ is much more formal than_ to die for_, even though I agree that the idea is basically the same.


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## giulianooo

How about "inevitable" ?

Surprising how often people post questions about translations without giving any context !


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## LMorland

giulianooo said:


> How about "inevitable" ?


Hmmm ... I can't think of any situation where I've seen "incontournable" where it could be translated as "inevitable."





giulianooo said:


> Surprising how often people post questions about translations without giving any context !


Yes, and I notice that wonderful never returned to the thread.  Do _you_ have a context for _incontournable_ where _inevitable_ would work as the appropriate translation in English?


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## giulianooo

When I say that "the use of a computer is inevitable today if you want to be a modern person", in French it would render that "si vous voulez aujourd'hui être une personne moderne, alors l'ordinateur est incontournable"

Le sucre est inconturnable pour faire une bonne confiture
Sugar is inevitable if you are to make good jam

Of course, I am speaking here of a single-word translation, and I am sure that the meanings here would probably be better rendered with a phrase instead. But sometimes, you do need to have a single word, don't you !

Thanks for your comment,

Elias


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## LMorland

giulianooo said:


> When I say that "the use of a computer is inevitable today if you want to be a modern person", in French it would render that "si vous voulez aujourd'hui être une personne moderne, alors l'ordinateur est incontournable"
> 
> Le sucre est inconturnable pour faire une bonne confiture
> Sugar is inevitable if you are to make good jam


Cher Elias,

As a native English speaker, I would agree that your first sentence shows a good use of _incontournable _as _inevitable_: "The use of a computer is inevitable today if you want to be a modern person."  Thanks for providing the example! 

Your second sentence, however, while perfectly grammatically correct, would not, I think, ever be uttered by a person whose first language is English.  _Perhaps_ it might work in a satirical context, but even then I don't the word 'inevitable' would be used.  

(The closest I can come is to imagine John Cleese, in the guise of one of his Monty Python characters, stating [with high mock authority]:  "If you desire to make jam, the use of sugar is _unavoidable._")  

Laura


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## giulianooo

Thank you, Laura, for taking the trouble to comment on my comment ! English is not, as a matter of fact, my mother tongue. What's more, I seldom get the oppportuity to speak English, although I do regularly read fiction as well as non-fiction in this language.

Il reste que je n'ai pas trouvé un terme plus approprié que "inevitable" (mais "unavoidable" me paraît aussi pouvoir faire l'affaire !) pour signifier "incontournable"... Vat-too-doo ?!

Regards,

Elias


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## Tresley

Well, currently the British media use the expression 'to die for' (TDF). You just have to have it, it can't be ignored, you can't turn your back on it, you can't overlook it ... it's to die for!

We have a chain of shops in the UK called TDF that sells trendy clothes that are to die for (TDF)!

The only other expression I can think of is 'a product not to be missed'.

e.g. This car/dress/kitchen gadget etc is to die for / not to be missed.

I hope this helps.


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## LMorland

Tresley said:


> Well, currently the British media use the expression *'to die for'* (TDF). You just have to have it, it can't be ignored, you can't turn your back on it, you can't overlook it ... it's to die for!


Hi, Tresley!

Yes, Dan Badger said the same thing last year (see post #13).  My response was (and still is) that it's a terrific translation for ad copy and the like, but that "to die for" isn't as formal a term as "incontournable" and so can't be used in all contexts.  

I also like the earlier suggestions of *vital, necessary, *and *must have.*  (I'm sorry, Elias, but all four of these suggestions function better in English than "inevitable", with the exception of your nice sentence about computers.  In my humble opinion, that is....  )


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## giulianooo

Your suggestions do function each in their specific cases, but none will work in my case, as the meaning I'm trying to convey is "you have to do this" or "you can't avoid dealing with", in the sense given by my examples. 

And here is another example: "Ce constructeur est un acteur *incontournale *du marché de la pièce détachée automobile ", i.e. "this company is a *major* player in the market of automotive spare parts". But major is only an approximation. The meaning is "a company you can't ignore", or the company (or the fact, or the situation...) you "inevitable have to take in consideration"...

One more: "Pour certains, réduire la masse salariale est une mesure *incontournable* pour faire baisser les coûts de production", "some believe that if you are to succeed in lowering production costs, you *inevitably* have to reduce the payroll"...

All in all, I must confess I haven't found the perfect, perfect term... 

Thank you all,

Elias


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## giulianooo

Sorry, mistake...

"*inevitably* (and not *inevitable*) have to take in consideration"


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## sidonie83

Essential products/ essentials.


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