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French Expression
| Meaning | as a result, so | |
| Literally | of the blow | |
| Register | normal, informal | |
| Pronunciation | [du coo] | |
| IPA | [dy ku] | |
Usage notes: I never learned the French expression du coup in school, so it was somewhat shocking to arrive in France and hear it everywhere.* It’s used far more often than donc, the word I tend to (over)use when talking about cause and effect.
Par exemple…
| Il y avait beaucoup de monde sur le quai et du coup on a raté le train. | There were a lot of people on the platform and as a result, we missed our train. | |
| J’ai perdu mon livre, du coup je n’ai pas pu faire mes devoirs. | I lost my book, so I couldn’t do my homework. | |
| Tu n’as pas fini ton dîner. Du coup, pas de dessert pour toi ! | You didn’t finish your dinner. So no dessert for you! |
Synonyms
- ainsi – thus, so
- alors – so
- c’est pourquoi – that’s why
- donc – so, therefore
- en conséquence – consequently
- par conséquent – consequently
- pour cette raison – for that reason
- voilà pourquoi – that’s why
* Apparently it’s somewhat shocking to some French people, too. Author Claudine Chollet calls it
un virus [qui] contamine toutes les conversations [….] C’est en réalité un outil de manipulation intellectuelle.
“a virus that contaminates all conversations…. What it really is is a tool for intellectual manipulation.”
Source: Tordons le cou à l’expression “du coup” !
Le Télégramme has a similar view:
[L]’expression se propage comme un virus, appauvrissant considérablement le champ sémantique du langage oral….
"[T]he expression is spreading like a virus, considerably impoverishing the semantic field of spoken language….
Source: «Du coup». Un vilain tic de langage
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