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French Expression
| Meaning | wow, my goodness; look, listen, by the way; hey, say | |
| Literally | say then | |
| Register | normal, informal | |
| Pronunciation |  | [dee do(n)(k)] (k sound is optional) |
| IPA | [di dɔ̃(k)] | |
Usage notes: Dis donc is something of an all-purpose French expression, which makes it difficult to translate into English as it depends so much on context. But it can be broken down into three general meanings/uses.
1) Express surprise
You can say dis donc in reaction to something surprising, whether good or bad.
Par exemple…
| Dis donc, c’est un joli paysage. | Wow, this is beautiful countryside. | |
| Il a perdu son emploi ? Ben, dis donc ! | He lost his job? My goodness! |
Somewhat synonymous
2) Draw attention
Say dis donc when you want to make sure people are listening to what you have to say.
Par exemple…
| Dis donc, j’ai oublié mon portefeuille. | Listen, I forgot my wallet. | |
| Dis donc, Pierre va nous rejoindre dans une heure. | By the way, Pierre is going to join us in an hour. |
3) The combo
Dis donc can also be a sort of combination of the above, used to indicate surprise and displeasure while at the same time making sure the person is paying attention.
Par exemple…
| Dis donc, je ne suis pas à tes ordres ! | Hey, I don’t take orders from you! | |
| Mais dis donc, il ne faut pas parler ainsi ! | Say, you shouldn’t talk like that! |
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J’ai toujours du mal avec une expression similaire: “Voila donc.” Si vous pouviez m’expliquer le sens, je vous serais tres reconnaissant! Merci, Peter
Ce n’est pas vraiment une expression, juste deux mots qui peuvent être utilisés ensemble ou à part.
Voilà – there you go, there you have it
Donc – so
Donc, voilà donc = so there you go / so there you have it.