French Expression of the Day: Que dalle
This French expression is common in everyday conversation, but its origins remain a mystery.
Why do I need to know que dalle?
You’ll hear this French expression in everyday conversations, films and informal discussions.
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What does it mean?
The French expression que dalle, roughly pronounced kuh dal (listen here), is informal slang meaning “nothing at all” or “not a thing”. It is often used to emphasise that someone has nothing, knows nothing or has received nothing.
It is very common in spoken French and has a casual tone. It is not considered vulgar, although it is slang and best avoided in formal situations.
How do you use it?
Que dalle usually comes after a verb. You might say j’ai rien mangé (I didn’t eat anything), but j’ai mangé que dalle (I ate absolutely nothing). Here the expression comes after the verb manger (to eat).
In informal speech, que dalle is also generally used without the negative particle ne. So while you might say je ne vois rien (I can’t see anything), you would say je vois que dalle (I can’t see a thing).
It’s common in spoken French to drop the ne, although it remains in written French – so while you might write je ne sais pas (I don’t know), in casual conversation you could just say Je sais pas.
The origins of the expression are unknown, but linguists have established a few theories.
Some of these include:
Romani language – Dalle may come from dail, meaning “nothing at all”.
Occitan language – It could come from que d’ala, meaning “only wing” – a reference to how little meat there is on a bird’s wings.
Breton language – It could come from dall, meaning “blind”.
An old coin – Some think it comes from thaler, an old Germanic coin, linking the word to having no money.
Hunger – Another theory links it to avoir la dalle, meaning “to be hungry” – as in having an empty stomach.
Use it like this
J’ai compris que dalle ! – I didn’t understand a thing!
J’ai travaillé toute la journée et j’ai gagné que dalle. – I worked all day and hardly made any money.
Il m’a promis de m’aider, mais j’ai eu que dalle. – He promised to help me, but I got nothing.
