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What are some colloquial ways to express in French "alive and kicking" (meaning alive and healthy) as in the following examples

  • A: "How are you doing after your surgery?"
  • B: "I'm alive and kicking!"

She ran a marathon late in life, just to prove she was still alive and kicking.

After years of slow earnings, the industry is now alive and kicking.

I am thinking about plein de vie, (être) bien vivant. Other ways?

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3 Answers 3

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A very common phrase: être en plein forme

Comment ça va depuis ton opération ?

Je suis en pleine forme.

Some more colloquial phrases:

  1. péter la forme
  2. avoir la pêche/la frite/la patate
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  • Super ! Merci ! péter la forme (et non pêter, n'est-ce pas ?) et péter le cable sont-elles des expressions familiales ?
    – Dimitris
    Sep 18, 2019 at 12:29
  • J'ai corrigé péter, merci ! Péter la forme et péter un câble (pas le câble) sont plus familières que familiales (on les utilisera avec ses enfants, sa famille, amis, collègues proches, etc).
    – Greg
    Sep 18, 2019 at 12:42
  • J'ai ajouté aussi avoir la patate.
    – Greg
    Sep 18, 2019 at 12:43
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Too long for a comment. Of course "péter la forme" as a translation of "alive and kicking" is not so bad, but it misses a key point of that English expression, related to the "kicking" which means almost literally that, nonetheless you are alive, but you are also able to kick a ball as a player, say a basketball player.

An other important point in that expression is that it is twofold: first you are alive, but, much better, you are kicking. I would suggest

-- Comment allez-vous ?

-- Ecoutez, je suis en vie et performant.

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  • Kicking the ball is a rather bad idea if you play basketball... Sep 22, 2019 at 15:46
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For a person (especially an old one), you can say "bon pied, bon œil".

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