French Listening Practice: Car Theft
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Key phrases
Ce qui s'est passé: "what happened." It's used as a complement to describe an event, not to ask a question ("qu'est-ce-qui s'est passé?").
Sérieux?: "Seriously?" - a common way to express surprise or disbelief.
C'est galère: "It's a pain." It describes a difficult or annoying situation. The word "galère" refers to a galley, a type of ship historically rowed by prisoners under harsh conditions.
En plus: This means "On top of that." It's used to add additional information that makes the situation even better or even worse. A variant is "En plus de ça".
Pas de bol: This means "Bad luck."
Tu sais comment c'est: This translates to "You know how it is." It can also be use to refer to a person: "tu sais comment il est..." (you know how he is...)
Ça prend des plombes: "It takes hours,", "it takes forever". "Des plombes" is slang for "des heures". In the 19th century, lead (plomb) was used in the heavy weights of clocks, and the term "plomber" meant to chime the hour.