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I have this tiny (5x4x1cm) bag that closes with a zip, which I use to store earplugs:

enter image description here

What is the proper word to designate this small bag?

What I thought of:

  • "sac" and "sacoche" sound too big for this.
Franck Dernoncourt
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3 Answers3

11

Voici les mots qui me viennent à l'esprit pour cet objet :

  • (petite) trousse

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

trousse : Poche, étui à compartiments pour ranger un ensemble d'objets. Trousse de médecin. Trousse de toilette

Dans l'usage quotidien, le mot fait généralement référence à un étui souple en cuir ou tissu muni d'une fermeture éclair (trousse d'écolier contenant les crayons ou bien trousse de toilette pour les brosses à dents etc.).

  • Pochette (on préciserait peut-être : zippée en tissu).

mais le terme est moins précis comme en témoigne le robert :

  1. Petite enveloppe (d'étoffe, de papier…). Pochette d'allumettes. Pochette-surprise (...)

  2. Petite pièce d'étoffe disposée dans la poche de poitrine pour l'orner.

  3. Petit sac à main sans poignée.

XouDo
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8

As suggested by @MatthieuM.'s comment I'm reordering the paragraphs in this answer.

I've been looking at commercial sites that sell this kind of objects specifically made to store your earplugs, they call them étui pour écouteurs, pochette pour écouteurs or sac de protection pour écouteurs, étui seems to be the most common though.

But that's not the word I use. The small bag I use to store my earplugs I just call it petit sac. Sac can be any size, sacoche is usually reserved for bigger sized objects. If you want just a single word then there are two that come to mind :

  • poche (contenant servant au transport d’objets ou de liquides, Wiktionnaire).

  • bourse which is an exact synonym of porte-monnaie but the name is independent of its use.

The object on the picture looks exactly like the purse I use to put my change in, so if you hadn't said what you use if for I'd have called it porte-monnaie. Of course nothing prevents you to use the word independently of what you use it for.

None
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  • I could have called it porte-monnaie too (even though I don't use such a thing for my coins). – XouDo Jan 12 '22 at 07:17
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    I would suggest to make étui more prominent in this answer, since you mention it's the most common on commercial sites; specifically, put it ahead of your own potential ideas, as usage > ideas. – Matthieu M. Jan 12 '22 at 13:28
  • @XouDo Portemonnaie seems to be a word other languages have borrowed. If you look at the portemonnaie article on wikipedia in different languages they have different pictures, and for French it is the same shape, and zipped like the one shown by the OP. I wonder if this is what is called* porte-monnaie dit « français » in Québec. (We were discussing it). About 60-70 years ago this kind of porte-monnaie was very common. – None Jan 12 '22 at 14:28
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Pochon could fit:

Sac de papier, de plastique, de tissu dans lequel on emballe des denrées, des produits commerciaux.

Eric Duminil
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    Note that the younger generation might expect a pochon to contain some green illicit substance, not earplugs. – Eric Duminil Jan 11 '22 at 16:34
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    @NoëlloMiqueron Oui, la description ("petit sac de plastique dans lequel on emballe des denrées") semble correspondre. – Eric Duminil Jan 11 '22 at 17:11
  • @EricDuminil the younger generation and customs agents + police. My pochon got searched more than once... – Franck Dernoncourt Jan 12 '22 at 00:22
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    @FranckDernoncourt You've just lost me hahaha, you mean a bag like a standard plastic bag for groceries or the object in your image? I'm French speaking, but weed is legal in my jurisdiction and I don't use the word pochon nor really fully know what it typically is, as I neither do (weird sentence) pochette, poche and all since pochette (d'un disque) refers for me (Qc.) to a vinyl album packaging or the lyrics inside a cd disc ahahha and the latter is simply a pocket re pants. Funny stuff, I'm just clueless here. – ninja米étoilé Jan 12 '22 at 01:51
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    @NoëlloMiqueron the object in my image :) with Eric's comment, I now have the connotation pochon -> drug. – Franck Dernoncourt Jan 12 '22 at 02:05