Meaning and Use of the French Expression Le cinq à sept

The informal expression le cinq à sept refers to what could be considered a very French version of Happy Hour: the two-hour period after work, from 5 to 7 pm, when (some) people meet up with their lovers before going home to their spouses. Translation: an afternoon tryst.

The reality of le cinq à sept was openly acknowledged for perhaps the first time in Françoise Sagan's 1967 novel "La Chamade." Just for fun, I had my husband ask his students (aged 40 and up) about it, and they all said they were very familiar with le cinq à sept, with one exception. The youngest said she didn't know it, then added a caveat: Mais je viens de me marier, alors qui sait ce qui va se passer dans vingt ans.

Incidentally, the French translation of "tryst" is un rendez-vous galant - further proof that everything sounds better in French. Well almost: for "happy hour," the correct translation is heure du cocktail or heure de l'apéritif, but instead they usually stick with 'appy hour.

Different in Canada

In Québec, le cinq à sept has nothing to do with sex. It refers to a group of friends meeting up to have a drink after work, or before an evening outing to a play or some other entertainment. In this sense, le cinq à sept might be translated by "happy hour" or, if it doesn't include alcohol, just something generic like "afternoon get-together" or "rendez-vous."

Source

Sagan, Francoise. "La Chamade." French Edition, Pocket, 1990.