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French Expression of the Day: Vol à l'arraché

The Local France
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French Expression of the Day: Vol à l'arraché
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

This is why there are announcements on public transport warning you to “soyez vigilant” when using your smartphone.

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Why do I need to know vol à l'arraché?

Because it's unfortunately a part of life in many French cities.

What does it mean?

Vol à l'arraché – pronounced vole ah lah-rah-shay – literally means “stealing by way of grabbing.”

It is another way to refer to having items stolen - it can be used as a synonym for pickpocket but it's more commonly used to describe having items snatched. 

It is usually used to describe a purse or smaller personal item (maybe a phone, wallet, or piece of jewellery) being grabbed and stolen. 

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While France is generally a safe country, petty theft is relatively common, especially in cities and tourist zones - often thieves simply snatch smartphones or wallets out of your hand and run, or grab your bag and run off.

There's also the more stealthy form of theft of pickpocketing, where you only realise later that your items are missing.

Fortunately violence muggings or thefts with a weapon are less common.

Some home insurance plans actually offer reimbursement for stolen items, like smartphones. If this happens to you, you can file a police report right from the station. 

A synonym for this expression is "vol à la tire," which translates to the more stealthy form of theft - pickpocketing. 

Use it like this

Les touristes sont souvent victimes de vols à l'arraché. - Tourists are often victims of snatch-theft

Il a volé mon sac quand j'étais assise près de la porte dans le métro. C'était un vol à l'arraché - He stole my phone when I was sitting next to the door on the metro. It was a bag-snatching 

 

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Anonymous 2022/05/03 14:30
I came across an expression today you might want include in this series. In a discussion of the tortuous negotiations going on between various parties and groupuscles before the Parliamentary election, aimed at forming more or less united fronts, Politico France referred to 'les macronistes pur sucre' which I took to mean those politicians who are mainstream direct supporters of EM rather than allied to other factions, either in LREM or outside it. I suppose it may derive from the jam label where 'pur sucre' means without artificial sweeteners.

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