French Word of the Day: Atout
When you feel you are winning at life, this might come in handy.
Why do I need to know Atout?
You’ll need this word for the next time you find yourself at a French dinner party and someone tries to explain the rules of a card game to you.
What does it mean?
Atout – pronounced ah-too – has two meanings.
It can be used to describe a positive quality, asset, or advantage. You might hear it in sporting contexts, perhaps to refer to the main advantage one team has over another, or perhaps to describe the team’s key player. Oftentimes, it is coupled with the word majeur (major) to emphasise the important quality of the person or thing being described.
Atout is also the French word for ‘trump card’ in card games. This is especially important if you ever find yourself playing the game Tarot, France’s second most popular card game. In this game, there is a whole set of cards numbered from one to 21 that are called the atouts, and they outrank, or trump, the cards from the regular four suits.
Similar to its usage in English, you can also use ‘trump card’ colloquially, perhaps to describe a winning strategy or the reason you have an upper hand.
Use it like this
Elle a huit atouts en main. Elle va sûrement gagner. – She has eight trump cards in her hand. She’s definitely going to win.
Votre atout majeur est votre capacité à parler quatre langues. C'est certainement quelque chose qu’il faut signaler pendant l'entretien d'embauche ! – Your best asset is your ability to speak four languages. That’s definitely something you should point out during the job interview!
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Why do I need to know Atout?
You’ll need this word for the next time you find yourself at a French dinner party and someone tries to explain the rules of a card game to you.
What does it mean?
Atout – pronounced ah-too – has two meanings.
It can be used to describe a positive quality, asset, or advantage. You might hear it in sporting contexts, perhaps to refer to the main advantage one team has over another, or perhaps to describe the team’s key player. Oftentimes, it is coupled with the word majeur (major) to emphasise the important quality of the person or thing being described.
Atout is also the French word for ‘trump card’ in card games. This is especially important if you ever find yourself playing the game Tarot, France’s second most popular card game. In this game, there is a whole set of cards numbered from one to 21 that are called the atouts, and they outrank, or trump, the cards from the regular four suits.
Similar to its usage in English, you can also use ‘trump card’ colloquially, perhaps to describe a winning strategy or the reason you have an upper hand.
Use it like this
Elle a huit atouts en main. Elle va sûrement gagner. – She has eight trump cards in her hand. She’s definitely going to win.
Votre atout majeur est votre capacité à parler quatre langues. C'est certainement quelque chose qu’il faut signaler pendant l'entretien d'embauche ! – Your best asset is your ability to speak four languages. That’s definitely something you should point out during the job interview!
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