What exactly does this mean and how is it used? Google tells me it means to run, and I’m assuming that’s not the same as courir. The latter I think refers to the physical act of running while the verb in question means to run as in a campaign, a show, something of that nature?
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1 Answer
An affiche is a poster (of a show, a movie, a play), so the idiom
tenir l'affiche
means a show is "holding its poster", i.e. is currently running somewhere and has enough success to keep going day after day.
There are also the expressions:
être à l'affiche
which just means a show is running now, without giving any indication about its success and
tenir/occuper/partager/quitter/... le haut de l'affiche ("to hold/occupy/share/leave/... the top of the poster")
which means that a show or a part of a show is the most successful of its kind, or a person has his/her name listed first on the poster of a show/movie, or is simply one of the leaders in some domain.
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I had no idea such an idiom existed. Would it be translated literally, then, in a given phrase? i.e. J’adore The Lion King, c’est vraiment tenir l’affiche ! to mean I love The Lion King, it’s really successful/holding its poster! Commented Jun 12, 2019 at 2:57
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2C'est vraiment tenir l'affiche doesn't work. Moreover, tenir l'affiche means the show is effectively on stage/on display so the expression can't be used afterwards at the present tense. You might only say something like: Le Roi lion a tenu le haut de l'affiche plusieurs mois ! or ... a tenu l'affiche pendant cinq mois. You also say La souricière (The Mousetrap) d'Agatha Christie est à l'affiche sans interruption depuis soixante-six ans– jlliagreCommented Jun 12, 2019 at 3:25
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1"Tenir le haut de l'affiche" c'est être l'attraction principale d'un spectacle, soit en anglais to headline a show– qobaCommented Jun 12, 2019 at 5:16
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1@qoba Oui, c'est le sens original de l'expression mais elle est très souvent utilisée au sens figuré aujourd'hui.– jlliagreCommented Jun 12, 2019 at 7:53