Comprendre l’expression française « avoir un coup dur »

What does “un coup dur” mean in French?

Un coup dur — literally “a hard blow” — is one of those rough patches life throws at you: losing a job, failing an exam, a death in the family, a breakup. It names the setback itself, the bad turn of events, not the mood it leaves behind. “Ça a été un vrai coup dur pour moi” is exactly the English “it was a real blow.”

French stacks a lot of idioms onto the word coup (“a blow, a knock”): a coup de mou is a sudden dip in energy, a coup de foudre is love at first sight, and a coup dur is a hard knock. To get through life’s rough patches, the saying goes, “pour traverser les coups durs de la vie, il faut être très positif.”