super glue
The English phrase "superglue" can be translated into French as super glue.
This term refers to a very strong adhesive. In many contexts, a French speaker might simply use the more descriptive term colle forte to refer to a strong adhesive.
Meaning: very strong glue (noun)
Which one should you use?
super glue is frequently used as a loanword in colloquial French, while colle forte translates to "strong glue". For scientific or professional settings, the technical term is colle cyanoacrylate or La colle cyanoacrylate. In casual speech, you may also hear the informal La super glu.
Did you know?
- While super glue is common, the French word for glue, colle, is also the word for 'paste' and is used in the phrase coller aux basques, which means to follow someone around relentlessly.
- The French prefix super is a direct borrowing from Latin and is a doublet of the native French prefix sur, which also means 'above' or 'over'.
- If you use the informal la super glu, you are actually using a phonetic French spelling of the English word to mimic its sound.
Examples in context
- Pour fixer rapidement cette porcelaine cassée, j'ai utilisé la colle cyanoacrylate .To quickly fix this broken porcelain, I used superglue.
- Je vais me servir de la colle forte pour réparer cette chaise en bois.I'm going to use super glue to fix this wooden chair.
- J'ai besoin de la super glu pour coller ces deux morceaux de verre.I need superglue to glue these two pieces of glass together.
- Attention, cette super glue est très collante.Watch out, this super glue is very sticky.
- Est-ce que tu as de la super glue ?Do you have any super glue?
Example conversation
Gabriel and Léa are fixing a broken ceramic vase.
- GabrielLe vase est cassé, on utilise de la super glue ?The vase is broken, shall we use superglue?
- LéaOui, c'est la meilleure solution.Yes, that's the best solution.
- GabrielJe ne trouve pas la super glue.I can't find the superglue.
- LéaRegarde dans le premier tiroir, Gabriel.Look in the first drawer, Gabriel.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries super, CC BY-SA 4.0.
