Coup

If you've been learning French for a little while, you may have come across the word 'coup'. Perhaps you've seen un coup de téléphone or un coup de fil (both used for phone call). Even before French came into your life, you were probably familiar with a coup d’état* (even if we Anglophones tend to pronounce it something like 'koo day tar' rather than the more sonorous way it should be said).

What you may not know, though, is that coup has a huge range of translations, from 'blow' or 'knock', to 'attack' or even 'drink' and all the way to Vulgarville with 'f*ck'. So, a multi-dimensional word at the very least!

Where it really comes into its own, though, is in les formes composées*

Jetez un œil!*