Faire le point

Every December, Mary sits down with her planner, a cup of tea, and a sense of mild panic in order to faire le point. She reviews her year: the gym membership she used twice, the houseplant that somehow survived, and her French notebook filled with beautifully highlighted verbs….  After taking stock, she writes her resolutions for the new year.   Of course, it’s the same resolutions as last year, but that’s the magic of faire le point: it gives you hope, a fresh start, and maybe the motivation to finally conquer those irregular verbs.

Faire le point - literally "to make the point" - means to stop, breathe, and figure out what on earth is going on. It’s the moment when you pause, look at your to-do list, your inbox, and your life choices, and decide what needs to happen next (besides another cup of coffee).  Which begs the question: what's the point of making the point?

Origin

The phrase actually comes from old-school navigation. Sailors would take out their fancy instruments - compass, sextant, and possibly a very dramatic hat - to determine their exact position on a map. They would literally “make the point” on the chart so they didn’t end up in Portugal or New Zealand by accident.

Eventually, the expression jumped ship and entered everyday language. Now you don’t need a compass; just a moment of honesty and maybe a spreadsheet.

Examples

J’ai besoin de faire le point avant de décider si je continue ce cours ou si je change d’horaire.
I need to take stock before deciding whether to continue this class or switch to a different schedule.

Après plusieurs semaines de confusion, l’équipe s’est réunie pour faire le point et clarifier les priorités.
After several weeks of confusion, the team met to take stock and clarify their priorities.