Learn French with a song! This clip is 9 seconds long and has 28 words. Take our transcription quiz, how many can you hear? Practice your French listening.
Learn French with a song snippet! This clip is from Aya Nakamura’s “40%”. We do not own the rights to this song, nor do we pretend to own them. Listen to this sample and transcribe what you hear. Find the full song here.
The above audio sample and transcription is from Aya Nakamura’s “40%”. Songwriters: Aya Danioko 40% lyrics © Warner Chappell Music France, Soc Sony ATV Allegro Music Publishing France, Blue Sky Publishing, Perspective Productions, Label 67, Universal Music Publishing Group. We do not own the content, we are using it for educational purposes. Listen to the entire song here.
You missed the boat…
Loving the idioms in this clip. “You missed the boat” or “You missed the opportunity” or “you missed the mark” is just one of them.
The clip starts with “Don’t know who you take me for” or who you think I was. it then jumps into “I see through” from “j’ai capté”. Next, it follows with my favorite in this clip “t’as loupé le coche” which I read as you missed the boat.
There’s no way I’d be able to spot j’sais or j’crois, or even senti in this clip, they’re there. It’s in her lyrics even if I can’t hear her say those words. It’s still fun to try.
I obviously don’t want to sound like Aya, but it’s fun to try to piece together what she’s saying, and then struggle through what she means.
How much of this snippet are you understanding?
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I struggle with hearing individual words in English songs, in my native tongue. It takes a couple listens to really get it..
The snippet in English
Find a translation of this snippet here, how much of this did you hear?
J’sais pas pour qui tu m’as prise
J’ai capté la tactique ram-pam-pam
J’crois bien que tu l’as senti,
t’as loupé le coche
J’ai la gachette ça fait rampampam
Don’t know who you think I was
I’ve seen through your tactic, ram-pam-pam
I believe you felt it,
You missed the opportunity
I got the trigger, it goes like ram-pam-pam (ram-pam-pam)
The above text from Aya Nakamura’s Youtube channel. Source. Songwriters: Aya Danioko 40% lyrics © Warner Chappell Music France, Soc Sony ATV Allegro Music Publishing France, Blue Sky Publishing, Perspective Productions, Label 67, Universal Music Publishing Group
What does “t’as loupé le coche” mean?
“T’as loupé le coche” is a French phrase that can be translated to “You missed the boat” or “You missed the opportunity” in English.
It is an idiomatic expression that is used to indicate that someone has missed a chance or an opportunity to do something, and it implies that the chance or opportunity may not come again. The phrase “loupé le coche” is a metaphor that refers to the act of missing a train or a boat and it’s used to express that someone has missed an opportunity that was there for the taking, but now it’s gone.
For example:
- “Il a raté l’entretien d’embauche, il a loupé le coche” which means “He missed the job interview, he missed the opportunity.”
- “Elle n’a pas acheté la maison quand elle était à vendre, elle a loupé le coche” which means “She didn’t buy the house when it was for sale, she missed the opportunity.”
It’s used to express that someone has missed a chance or an opportunity and it implies that the chance or opportunity may not come again.
What words did I look up in this snippet?
Find keywords for this snippet below
tu m’as prise
capté
J’crois
t’as loupé le coche
J’ai la gachette
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