3

La prochaine fois que je te surprends en train de faire ça, je le dis à mon père, et toc !

I wonder how "et toc" differs in meaning from saying:

{vs}: La prochaine fois que je te surprends en train de faire ça, je le dis à mon père, un point c'est tout !

2 Answers 2

2

While "un point c'est tout" is usually an assertion of authority (you have the "power" to shut down furtehr protest) or independance (you can afford to ignore anything further the other person might saying), et toc! is a put down.

Basically et toc! is a barefaced and insulting assertion of dominance. There's not really any reason to add "un point c'est tout" there (at least to me): it just means something like "and that's final" (i.e. "end of discussion!").

6
  • 2
    Et toc sounds childish to me. I mean this is something I would less expect from an adult.
    – Everts
    Commented Nov 6, 2017 at 5:52
  • It is somewhat childish (or maybe kinda dated? I'm not sure), and European, I would add. You would absolutely not hear it in North America.
    – Circeus
    Commented Nov 6, 2017 at 5:59
  • Hi. How do you express the idea of "et toc" in English, perhaps imparting a childish flavour? Commented Nov 6, 2017 at 7:23
  • Here are suggestions: Wham!, Schooled! , Take that!, Gotcha!
    – jlliagre
    Commented Nov 6, 2017 at 8:00
  • "Et toc" sounds rather a bit dated to me. I expect a child or teenager from today to say something like "Pan!" "Na!","Dans ta face!" or "Cassé!" (that one may sound dated soon too, it became a popular phrase because of the movie "Brice de Nice").
    – Greg
    Commented Nov 6, 2017 at 9:43
2

"un point c'est tout" is added by someone who just spoke to say "full stop, I don't want any further argument about this."
"et toc" is said by someone who listens to other people's talk or the like to mean "he got him/them, well said, good point ..." or something similar. I take it as the noise of an arrow or stab hitting its target. It was a more frequent expression some 30-40 years ago. Not to be confused with "toc toc" which means "knock on door" (knuckle on it) or "foolish" (finger on temple), giving in some regions the verb "toquer" (knock on door) and "toqué" (past participle "knocked" or adjective "fool").

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.