Expressions from the term “touché”īecause of its many meanings, the verb “toucher” has given rise to a plethora of expressions with various meanings. If you are looking to work on your pronunciation here is the phonetic writing of “touché”: “tuʃe” and its pronunciation. In fact, like most words in French, “touché” is actually pronounced in a more monotone and continuous tone, with no tonal accent at the beginning or end of the word. The expression “touché coulé” also reminds me of the French pop music with the same title by the duo Elephant : Once all the squares corresponding to a ship have been found, you will hear the famous “- Touché! – Coulé!” which has been used comically in many French comedies, for example in this scene from Brice de Nice with Jean Dujardin.
The goal? To sink the opponent’s ships by trying to guess their location on a numbered grid.Īs soon as a player manages to identify the cell on which a ship is located, his opponent calls out “Touché!” to let him know that one of his ships is indeed on that cell. The most common case where you will hear the expression used by French people is during a game of Battleship, a typical board game where two players face each other on a numbered board. “The first solution seems to be more suitable than the second.” “Touché!”Ĭontrary to what one might think, the interjection “touché” is actually used very little in everyday language in France.
TOUCHE MEANING PLUS
➡️ “La première solution me semble plus adaptée que la seconde.” “ Touché !” “We say “if I had” and not “if I would have”!” “ Touché !” ➡️ “On dit “si j’avais” et non “si j’aurais” !” “ Touché !” “You don’t need to take the test since you’ve already validated that subject.” “Touché!” ➡️ “Tu n’as pas besoin de passer le test puisque tu as déjà validé cette matière.” “ Touché !” When used, it can be used to refer to an action, a sentence, or a consequence of any kind. It is then used by the person conceding the point. When the word is used alone, “touché” is an interjection that means that something has achieved its purpose. Reaching an object or a person through the shot of a projectile (La fléchette a touché le centre de la cible = The dart hit the center of the target).The emotion we have towards someone, or the emotion we create in someone (Ses excuses m’ont touché…= His apology touched me…).Physical access to a place (Notre bateau a touché terre il y a de ça une heure = Our boat touched down an hour ago).Brief and important communication with one or more people (Le PDG lui en a touché deux mots hier = The CEO had a word with him yesterday).The receipt of a certain amount of money (Il a enfin touché son salaire = He finally received his salary).Hand contact with something or someone (Elle m’a touché l’épaule = She touched my shoulder ).Based on its definition, “touché” can be used to mean: However, the term has many meanings in French. “Touché” is the past participle of the verb “toucher”, which literally translates to “to touch” in English. Today, we’re going to show you the different meanings of the word “touché”, the expressions that derive from it, as well as the various ways in which it is used in France and abroad. It confused me enough that I looked it up, and of course there was no mention of the mocking that I thought was actually inherent to the term.Like many French expressions, the word “touché” has been widely exported internationally, so much so that you will hear it used more often by English speakers than by French speakers. I've heard it a couple times recently in the more straightforward way- acknowledging a good point, in one case ending the discussion because it was hard to refute whatever the good point was. However, I've always thought that the implication was slightly mocking- as in, "That's a good but minor point, and other than saying this French word I decline to engage with it and will continue talking about the important stuff." I also thought there was an implication of a person who was overly interested in minutia or the letter of the law, rather than the substance of the debate. So, I understand that in English, "touché" means "You, my opponent in this verbal argument, have made a good point."