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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

niak, niaque

English translation:

hunger, drive (to win, to succeed)

Added to glossary by Philip Taylor
Jan 26 16:51
3 mos ago
47 viewers *
French term

niak

French to English Other Sports / Fitness / Recreation
From an interview with a badminton player:

J'ai appris la valeur de la détermination, ou comme on dit dans le jargon sportif, la « niak ».
Proposed translations (English)
4 +3 hunger, drive
4 determination, ambition, will to win
3 +1 guts, spunk, pluck
4 the 'niaque'
3 moxie

Discussion

Andrzej Ziomek Jan 26:
[...] ou comme on dit dans le jargon sportif, la « niak ».

[...] or what in the sports jargon is called the 'niaque'.

or

[...] or that fighting spirit which in the sports jargon is called the 'niaque'.
Andrzej Ziomek Jan 26:
As the athlete says: '... ou comme on dit dans le jargon sportif, la <<...>>.', it might be expected that he or she will not use a commonly used everyday word. And s/he is French, anyway.
Emmanuella Jan 26:
https://langue-francaise.tv5monde.com/decouvrir/dictionnaire...
https://www.wordreference.com/fren/niaque
https://www.wordreference.com/enfr/fired up

Proposed translations

+3
23 mins
Selected

hunger, drive

It is about the determination to win, yes, but for me it's also got connotations of predation, and I reckon it needs a stronger word than "will" or "determination".
So "hunger", "drive", even "lust to win".
The first I ever heard of this word was an utterance about a cat qui risquait de "se faire gnaquer par un renard". That's a verb of course, but the semantic relation is clear.
According to the Larousse it comes from a Gascon verb meaning to bite, which fits with my friend's line about the fox.
Reference:

http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/niaque/10909998

Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard : 'Hunger' works well. It's not really jargon - you could just say 'what sports players often refer to as hunger'.
38 mins
agree Laurel Clausen
2 days 11 hrs
agree Yvonne Gallagher
3 days 23 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Yes, I think 'hunger' is good for my purposes here. Many thanks for all the comments and suggestions, much appreciated."
8 mins

determination, ambition, will to win

Most probably a typo for "niaque" (var. gnac)
Reference:

https://dictionnaire.lerobert.com/definition/niaque

Note from asker:
Thanks! I should have tried spelling it that way - lots more references for "niaque". Much appreciated.
Peer comment(s):
neutral philgoddard : This doesn't really work, because you're saying 'Determination or, as they call it in sporting jargon, determination".
7 mins
neutral Emmanuella : Une expression imagée
11 mins
Something went wrong...
5 hrs

moxie

If you want a slang word in English to match the slang word in French.

Some might object that moxie is US and Canadian English only but then again, the idea is to replace an unusual word with another unusual word. Moxie is so unusual that it could be put between inverted commas and it's defined by "determination" that precedes it.
See reference
Reference:

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/moxie

Something went wrong...
+1
6 hrs

guts, spunk, pluck

They might not be exactly the same, but they might be close enough, and they are more familiar/slang than anything else I can think of.

"Andy Farrell: Ireland showed guts and immense character against South Africa
https://www.breakingnews.ie/sport/andy-farrell-ireland-showe...

"Diamond: My lads showed real guts"
https://www.therugbypaper.co.uk/all/domestic-club-rugby-unio...

"Gayatri/Treesa show spunk here as they clash against the Olympic champs and stay close on the board. Come on, girls!"
https://thebridge.in/BADMINTON/all-england-day-2-sindhu-laks...

And then there's 'pluck', which I can easily see in the language of 1914-18 and 1939 (or 41)-45 … and even further back:
His face is earnest and careful as he glances a last time over his array, but full of pluck and hope—the sort of look I hope to see in my general when I go out to fight. [ …] He played well at all games where pluck wasn't much wanted, and managed generally to keep up appearances where it was […]
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1480/1480-h/1480-h.htm
[Yup, it's Tom Brown's Schooldays]


Peer comment(s):
agree Philippa Smith
14 hrs
Something went wrong...
56 mins

the 'niaque'

the original word in inverted commas

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2024-01-26 18:27:39 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------


https://www.bernard-loiseau.com/en/group-history.html

EXCELLENCE is the translation of the "niaque" claimed by Bernard Loiseau. Our teams are driven by this requirement which implies work, commitment, perfectionism and know-how.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 hrs (2024-01-27 10:28:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

https://newsinfrance.com/fernando-alonso-is-a-beast/

[...] when you are in good shape and you are 40 years old, you can always be in front. . What is most remarkable is his mentality: you have to have the niaque, 20 years later. [...]

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 hrs (2024-01-27 10:33:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

https://www.tellerreport.com/news/2022-03-18-naïs-pirollet--...

[...] The daughter of a doctor and a jeweler, she could have embarked on an engineering course if the Bocuse Institute [...] At the Institute, this reserved woman learns to "have the niaque". [...]
Something went wrong...
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