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All about the French quote "Oh la vache"

Get ready to discover everything you need to know about the funny idiom "Oh la vache !". Including a complete definition of what it is and how you can use it in a dialogue with an audio example. But that's not all, we also added super useful stuff like dialogue example, synonyms, slow pronunciation audio and more!


English translation

  • Translation : Oh my god!

  • Literal meaning : Wow the cow!

  • Register : Informal - Funny - Swear

Pronunciation example

Slow

Normal

  • IPA : / o la vaʃ ! /

aesthetic french quote oh la vache

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What does it mean?

Definition

"Oh la vache !" is a familiar expression which means "Oh my god!" or "Oh damn!" in French. It literally means "Wow the cow!"

It's similar to the English expression "Holy cow!"

How to use

Use it when you are very shocked/surprised by something. It can be about something positive or negative.

For example, if a friend just won the lottery, you can say to him: "Oh la vache ! Tu es super chanceux !" (Oh damn! You're super lucky!) in a positive way.

But another example: you just broke your arm, then you can say: "Oh la vache ça fait mal !" (Oh my god that hurts!) in a negative way.

Synonyms

↓ Example in a story with French audio ↓

Finally, let's see an example in a parallel story with slow audio.

Surprise matinale

Morning surprise

Emily et Philippe vivaient séparément, mais ils avaient chacun les clés de l'appartement de l'autre.
Emily and Philippe were living separately, but they had the keys to each other's apartment.
Habituellement, ils prévenaient l'autre avant d'arriver.
Usually, they warned each other before coming.
Mais cette fois, Philippe voulait faire une surprise à Emily.
But this time, Philippe wanted to surprise Emily.
Car c'était l'anniversaire de leur relation.
Because it was the anniversary of their relationship.
Il a acheté un bouquet de fleurs, deux croissants, deux pains au chocolat et des pâtisseries.
He bought a bouquet of flowers, two croissants, two pains au chocolat and some pastries.
Il savait qu'Emily serait endormie à cette heure, alors il commence à ouvrir la porte de son appartement avec ses clés.
He knew Emily would be asleep at this time, so he begins to open the door of her apartment with his keys.

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