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- "Ne coupons pas les cheveux e…
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"Split hairs" and "couper les cheveux en quatre" both mean to do something with too much care.
In English, to split hairs means to argue about unimportant details, not to do something with too much care. Is this what you meant? I can't be sure. If you said "You are just splitting hairs" then you would be accusing someone of disagreeing with you about a very trivial detail, something that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. But to do something with too much care is not the same thing at all. Does the French phrase mean to do something with too much care? Or to quibble about petty distinctions? Or both?
2064
I dunno...I think rebekasto has a point: it seems to me that making unimportant distinctions is not the same as doing something with an inordinate amount of care (even if they have overlap in some cases). But I think sloggo has a point too, since it could be that what is "hair-splitting" to one person is, to another person, of fundamental importance in not holding muddled views (differentiates experts (and geeks!) from those with casual interest). The point is that "splitting hairs" definitely means making unimportant distinctions as its primary meaning; the question is whether the French idiom has the same meaning as "splitting hairs."
Thank you very much, but I do not understand sitll. Can you fix it in a context please, for example:
-il y a une bombe là-bas -ne coupons pas les cheveux en quatre.
This is your sentence:
-il y a une bombe là-bas
There would need a space after the sign [-] and you should capitalize "il" to "Il". And, maybe you might add a full stop at the end, then a blank line for clarity in reading.
What I have just done is "couper les cheveux en quatre": going into unnecessary details, since I have perfectly understood your sentence.
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Hvala! :)
Edit: Sad kad razmislim, značenje našeg "Ne cepidlači" je bukvalno isto kao francusko!
Imagine that you are at a community meeting. The topic before the town Safety Committee is that some residents want a traffic light at a busy intersection. Imagine that you are one of the concerned residents. You are explaining to the Safety Committee how the traffic light will be paid for without costing too much. One of your neighbors interrupts and expresses concern. He wants to call it a "stop and go light" and not a traffic light. You turn to him and say, "Let's not split hairs."
It's unimportant what it's called at the moment. THE GOAL IS TO GET THE LIGHT to control traffic and enable residents to cross the street safely.
At this point what the neighbor wants to call the light isn't as important as getting the light. It really isn't on topic either.
Once the residents have the light your neighbor can call it whatever he wants.
I sometimes confuse cheveux and chevaux. That leads to a bit of strange imagery.
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It's embarrassing that this still happens to me. All I could think of is "why would they draw and quarter a horse?"
I cannot see all of the suggested words to help me learn. This is happening a lot and it can't just be on my phone. Please fix this Duolingo, so I can learn quicker without having to completeky guess.
- 1933
I just checked on that and the length of the hint is limited. I.e., there is not enough space to enter the whole idiom. Now that we have been exposed to it, perhaps we will remember the expression: Ne coupons pas les cheveux en quatre (or this alternative) "Ne cherchons pas la petite bête". http://www.wordreference.com/enfr/split%20hairs
- 1933
Because it is not the "vous" form of the imperative, it is the "nous" form which is translated as "let's + verb". The speaker is included.
No the form of "cut" / coupons is the "we" / nous form, therefore it has to be "us".
It depends if the goal is a literal or natural translation. If literal, then "Don't split hairs" should not be accepted. However, for many people the phrase "Don't split hairs" is more natural, and therefore should be accepted
- 1933
Except that "don't" is an imperative to another person (or persons). Whereas, "let's" includes the speaker. So they really are different.
To Portuguese speakers, "let's not look for hairs in eggs". (Não procure pelo em ovo!)
In Spanish we use “No le busques pelos al huevo” too and also “No le busques la quinta pata al gato”.
Although, several cats in our neughboorhood have double front paws. I call them Two paws Shakur.
In Serbian it's ''[Hajde da] Ne tražimo dlaku u jajetu'' Though we say it more commonly Ne traži dlaku u jajetu :)
Though,more closely to this idiom would be ''Ne cepidlači'',as you may have seen in the comments. We actually have a literal verb cepidlačiti-splitting hairs which I guess I'm doing it right now
I brought this up with a French speaker in Quebec and he looked at me funny... is this a common saying in French? Why the word "quatre" (four) in this phrase?
French in Québec and France are so very different. (Duo is meant to be teaching us the France version.)
First, idioms don't always make sense.
I'd guess the four comes from the old "draw and quarter" punishment where you literally cut a person into four parts.
If "let's not" must be included in the translation, then is there another idiomatic form that is generic? As a native USA speaker I consider this conversational. This is not an idiom. PS and I'm not splitting hairs!
- 1933
It is an idiom because the sentence means something other than the literal meaning. It's not about hair(s). An idiom: a group of words whose meaning considered as a unit is different from the meanings of each word considered separately. The imperative form of the first-person plural means "let's" + verb. By adding the negative "ne...pas" around the imperative verb, it becomes "let's not" + verb. That part is direct...and needs to be. When adding the reference to cutting hair into quarters, it is no longer literal, but figurative, i.e., an idiom. English speakers don't say "cut hairs into quarters"; we say "split hairs" which is the comparable idiom in English.
Perhaps the French are extending the hyperbole. Instead of just splitting hairs in half, cutting them lengthwise into four makes it an even greater exaggeration of unnecessary detail.
I like how its wrong if you include the "into quarters" bit. /s
Sorry for being accurate ...
Accuracy is all well and good except when you are doing the idioms section, which you are...
- 509
This isn't what it says. It says "let's not..." rather than "do not..."
("Coupons" not "Coupez".)
In German this would be "Sei nicht kleinkariert", which litteraly means don't be someone who makes too little squares/ don't be checked
`Be careful because the sound is wrong.
It sounds like "Ne coupcons pas les cheveux en quattre" but it should be more like this:
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I typed "Lets not split hairs", without the apostrophe in let's. Let's not split hairs here, Duolingo!
You may not expect a computer will show any leniency: a sign missing is the only thing it can spot.
Vriament je ne comprends rien dans cette phrase, pourquoi il manque de sujet? pourquoi pas "Nous ne coupons pas....." pourquoi bien qu'il s'agit d'une negation, on la traduit a l'imperatif?
"Let's cut!" = coupons ! (positive)
"Let us not cut!" = ne coupons pas ! (negative)
Imperative is the only form of verbs in French that do not have a personal pronoun.
Why is it necessary to have "ne coupons pas" instead of just "pas coupons?" It seems like a double negative, but I've seen this before in other phrases. Thank you!
French negatives work in tandems: ne... pas.
They are placed as brackets on either side of the conjugated verb, including in imperative.
if you tell this to one person, can you say < Ne coupes pas ...> instead of < ne coupons pas >?
For one person you can still use "ne coupez pas" (if you use "vous" with him/her), or "ne coupe pas" (if you use "tu" with him/her).
Note that verbs from the 1st group (infinitive in -er) drop the "s" at the end of the singular imperative.
I am confused by this exercise. Why not simply show us the idiomatic espressions to memorize. This showing me a phrase or sentence then making me try to make sense of it is frustrating!!!
You could easily come across the situation in real life where there is an idiom or phrase which cannot be translated well directly, you'll need to think on your feet in such situations to understand the meaning and translate it well. So for some it is good practice for those situations.
I have no objection to learning idiomatic expressions. My complaint is with the methodology. Why force us to try and parse out colloquial meanings? Please, just give us the terms to memorize. The struggle I, and probably others, have with this instruction method is not necessary. It does not help us in any way comprehend the French language. We would be better served if we were just given the expression with its english correlation and told to memorize them. Free or not, this is not the best way to get someone to learn.
Everyone learns differently, so for you to say it is not the best way to teach someone or get someone to learn simply based on yourself is a bit much.
Duolingo is just a tool, use it as you see fit, use it in whatever way works for you and in conjunction with whatever other tools work for you.
Learned basic french language by attempting basic test and had a great experience. Will sure recommend to other writers at CV Folks - https://www.cvfolks.co.uk/ to try this challenge and learn easily multiple language.
There is a real reason: the subject is not right "Ne coupons pas" includes the speaker (we) = let's not slit hairs.
In Persian the same idiom (hairsplitting) exists but has a positive connotation, usually used as an adverb meaning meticulously. One of the iduoms with similar negative meaning is "drilling the poppy"!
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In Czech we use nit-splitter as negative, punctilious as neutral and careful, constientious as positive. Nothing like hairsplitting or drilling poppy.
This sentence is wrong it should be "ne nous coupons pas les cheveux en quatre"(which still sounds off because it wouldn't be used like that), the verb is "se couper les cheveux" in that case
Why would it be wrong? The idiom does not tell whose hair is being cut (or not cut).
Em portugues creio que seja : "Voce esta procurando pêlo em ovo". Something like: you're seaching for hair in one egg.
Ive never actually heard this phrase in english. Is this a common expression in French? Or is it regional, as it appears to be in English?
