4

In conversation with my friend, I said jokingly:

C’est reparti pour un tour... Que je ne te reprenne pas à me tenir des propos aussi techniques ! Quand tu es lancé, tu ne sais plus t'arrêter...

Something about the noun "propos" being coupled with the adjective "techniques" didn't quite sit right with me, though. While I have no qualms about saying "des mots techniques", I'm not so sure about the phrasing "des propos techniques", as opposed to more readily associated adjectives such as "des propos déplacés / personnels / insensés / méchants etc".

Do I need to treat it as a juxtaposed combination and say the word "techniques" with some intonation, or in the case of writing, for that matter, put it in italics?

C’est reparti pour un tour... Que je ne te reprenne pas à me tenir des propos aussi techniques ! Quand tu es lancé, tu ne sais plus t'arrêter...

|improve this question
  • Do you have a language blog? – porque_no_les_deux Jul 11 '18 at 5:05
  • Sorry, I noticed your questions here and saw you seem pretty passionate about language learning so I was just wondering if you blogged about it or anything like that. Your approach seems unique! – porque_no_les_deux Jul 11 '18 at 5:19
  • I sure understand that feeling. Oh well, would have liked to hear about your method. Thanks for replying though! – porque_no_les_deux Jul 11 '18 at 14:35
  • Upon second thought, may I ask if there's a way I could ask you a question or two, then? This site doesn't have DMing so it doesn't make it easy and comments don't feel appropriate for it. – porque_no_les_deux Jul 13 '18 at 3:55
  • I wish I could. Between my work, personal life, and learning, I'm hard pressed enough as it is to reply to personal mails, IMs and whatnot. So I doubt if I can get around to a response in a timely manner... So... long story short, I'm fortunate enough to be surrounded by multiple languages on a daily basis while living in Japan. I've been working at an international hospital in Japan, as well as having privately made lots of foreign friends both online and in real life in my city, and my current girlfriend is a Russian polyglot with whom I speak in Russian, French, German etc. – Con-gras-tue-les-chiens Jul 13 '18 at 6:52
1

There is absolutely no problem with using the adjective techniques with the noun propos.

As a side remark, given the formal tone of your sentence, si would have been a better choice than aussi which is slightly relaxed here although very few people will notice the difference:

Que je ne te reprenne pas à me tenir des propos si techniques !

|improve this answer
  • I'm going off at a tangent, but what do you think of the construction: "Que je ne te reprenne pas à nous tenir des propos si techniques !"? – Con-gras-tue-les-chiens Jul 9 '18 at 14:51
  • 1
    That's equally correct, and a better choice if the propos techniques were expressed In front of third parties. – jlliagre Jul 9 '18 at 15:13
  • Got it. Again, what do you think of mixing the following two phrases with this "que" construction: "Que je ne te reprenne pas à faire ..., s'il te plaît !" or "Que je ne te reprenne pas à faire ..., c'est compris ?"? – Con-gras-tue-les-chiens Jul 9 '18 at 15:23
  • 1
    S'il te plaît is slightly attenuating the sentence tone while c'est compris is making it ruder (unless of course this was said a jocular way.) – jlliagre Jul 9 '18 at 15:40
  • I don't recommend using si in informal speech. If that was said in a casual context, I think it's better to try and make the rest less formal than to make it even more. I don't ever use si in casual speech (when it means aussi, tellement). – Teleporting Goat Jul 10 '18 at 8:49

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

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