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« Quel magnifique spécimen. »

In response, I’d like to say something along the lines of:

« Y'a intérêt, vu ce qu'on a dû faire pour l'obtenir. »

... but in the more polite/formal form. I suppose that "Y'a intérêt" is a somewhat casual expression that rougly translates into "it (had) better be". How would you express this entire sentence more formally?

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  • Heureusement ! Vu... – cl-r Rendez confiance à FL Feb 24 '16 at 18:31
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    "Encore heureux" can be used too, and means the same thing that "Heureusement", but has the same politeness than "Y'a intérêt". – Random Feb 24 '16 at 20:35
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The answer from Casey James Garland is correct. Here are other possibilities:

"Encore heureux, vu ce qu'on a dû faire..." - which is not more formal than "Y'a intérêt".

"C'est bien le moins, vu ce qu'on a dû faire..." - formal/polite.

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  • (+1) “C'est bien le moins” seems closest to “Y a intérêt”, which expresses a bit more than just lucking out, i.e. you are talking about something you feel you are entitled or would be angry at not getting… – Relaxed Feb 26 '16 at 7:50
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Considering that "It had better be" doesn't come off as very formal or polite in English, I'm not sure what you're looking for...

These may not be much more formal, but here are some other options:

« Heureusement, étant donné ce qu'on a dû faire pour l'obtenir. »

« J'espère bien, vu ce qu'on ... »

« Tant mieux, vu ce qu'on ... »

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  • Thanks. As far as I know, the word "heureusement" means "fortunately". Does "heureusement" also mean "it better be"? – pourrait Peut-être Feb 24 '16 at 19:38
  • "Heureusement" can also mean "thankfully," "luckily," or in the right context, "it's a good thing (that)..." I think that this is a good example of where it could fall under the latter scenario, especially since you wanted it to sound a little more polite/formal. – cccg03 Feb 24 '16 at 20:17
  • I think “Heureusement” or “Tant mieux” could it but have slightly different undertones. Among those three, “J'espère bien” is closest to “Y a intérêt”. – Relaxed Feb 26 '16 at 7:51

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