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I see the title "Coup de Coeur" translated usually to Chinese as "so despairingly sad" (肝腸痛斷), but Google Translate gave the meaning of "loving something". What really does it mean?

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A "coup de cœur" is a common french expression that describes an "instantaneous falling in love". The important notion here is "instantaneous" (as said in the other answer, the word "coup" means a "hit").

We use "coup de cœur" with the verb "avoir", as in "avoir un coup de cœur pour...".

You can have a "coup de cœur" for a wide range of notions, like objects, activities, songs, animals, places, etc.

Note : a "coup de cœur" is less intense than a "coup de foudre", which is much more specific to falling in love with another person.

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    I see... it seems it is close to one of the followings: 心動 (heart moving faster due to...),一見鍾情(first sight and falling in love) Aug 8, 2022 at 15:11
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In short, it means "to fall for (someone or something)", i.e. to fall in love.

But there are, I think, secondary suggestions as well. Coup is a very polysemous word that literally means "strike, hit", but in its many figurative expressions is more like "event" or "motion". For instance, a coup d'œil is a glance: a momentary "stroke" of the eye, a motion.

Hence, a coup de cœur is most basically a "heart event", an event or motion in which the heart plays a part. That might suggest more possibilities than just falling in love. But I'll rely on a native speaker to come along and confirm that suspicion.

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  • that's interesting... with so much analysis, you are not a native speaker =) Aug 8, 2022 at 0:35
  • @nonopolarity Sometimes you pick up more when you have to work to learn a language! But I always defer to natives when unsure.
    – Luke Sawczak
    Aug 8, 2022 at 0:48
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    oh that's true... some native speakers in the US can't tell the difference between their and there, or between you're and your... Aug 8, 2022 at 0:55

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