Tenir le coup

people pushing balls up stairs

Thoughtco 

Expression: Tenir le coup

Pronunciation: [ teu neer leu koo]

Meaning: to cope, hold up, handle, make it through; to stay the course

Literal translation: to hold the blow

Register: normal

Notes

The French expression tenir le coup can be used for both people and things. For people, tenir le coup means to cope with a difficult situation. For things, it indicates that something is holding up, such as evidence or the economy.

Examples

   Ça a été un choc atroce, mais il tient le coup.

   It was a terrible shock, but he's coping.

   Je ne pense pas que l'économie puisse tenir le coup.

   I don't think the economy can hold up.

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Team, ThoughtCo. "Tenir le coup." ThoughtCo, Dec. 6, 2021, thoughtco.com/tenir-le-coup-1371398. Team, ThoughtCo. (2021, December 6). Tenir le coup. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/tenir-le-coup-1371398 Team, ThoughtCo. "Tenir le coup." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/tenir-le-coup-1371398 (accessed March 19, 2024).