Le Jour J - French Expression - Lawless French Lesson


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French Expression

Meaning	D-Day, the big day
Literally	J day
Register	normal
Pronunciation		[leu zhoor zhee]
IPA		[lə ʒuʀ ʒi]

Usage notes: The original meaning of the French expression le jour J is D-Day: 6 June 1944, the day the World War II Allied forces invaded Normandy, France. This is also known as the Normandy landings – le débarquement de Normandie.

The military terms le jour J and D-Day, along with l’heure H / H-hour*, indicate when an operation will occur. As you’ve guessed by now, the capital letter is just a repetition of the word: J stands for jour, D stands for "day," and H stands for heure or "hour."

Le jour J and, to a lesser extent, D-Day can also be used by civilians, as a figurative reference to an important event, similar to saying "the big day" in English. While jour J can be used for happy occasions like parties, D-Day is limited to events that one doesn’t look forward to, like a deadline, perhaps because it’s easy to imagine D standing for "doom" or "disaster."

Par exemple…