/

*

it turns the stomach after a while...

I think the adjectives sickly, disgusting, gut-wrenching are just too extreme for soup!!!

I think something less strong than sickening or nauseating is required in this context

N/T

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Note added at 15 mins (2010-04-07 18:43:23 GMT)
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If the bowl of soup is huge (as is the case here), then one would be able to eat only so much of it, before feeling sickly. Especially children.

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Note added at 20 mins (2010-04-07 18:48:00 GMT)
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on n'a pas envie non plus de manger un enorme bol de soupe c'est écoeurant,
=
you no longer fee like eating a huge bowl of soup, it is sickly, the children are not going to finish it etc...

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Note added at 21 mins (2010-04-07 18:49:21 GMT)
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Question: If you eat too much of something, what happens?
Answer: You begin to feel sickly from over-indulging i.e. the "eyes bigger than your belly" concept.

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Note added at 26 mins (2010-04-07 18:53:58 GMT)
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A reference to support my "sickly" claim (I sincerely hope that "writeaway" sees this):

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1455581

a generic take that also includes a double entendre

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Note added at 2 hrs (2010-04-07 20:28:16 GMT)
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it really bloats you up

That's the meaning. It's just too much.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2010-04-07 21:02:03 GMT)
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I like cloying as well

Picking up after JML's comment in Discussion, I'd say not only will it not go down after a while, but after a while it might risk coming up again. That, ultimately, is the meaning of the word, surely.

It would be interesting to know what product they are selling, for that might shed light on what they are trying to get at exactly.

I hardly think soup is in and of itself écoeurant (one with sheep's eyes or bits of solid fat and gristle floating about in it might be, however), so I suspect either they chose the wrong word or there is something fishy-soupy going on.

Without more info I'd be tempted to paraphrase along the lines of "it's simply something you can easily have too much of" - which takes us back to JML above.

Of course if you have too much of it, there's hardly going to be room for dessert. Remember, however, the differences between the digestive tracts of children and adults: after severance from milk only, a baby's digestive tract actually closes, and the only way for it to get nourishment is by osmosis directly into the bloodstream, which is why they smear food all over their cheeks. This shortcoming in the digestive tract is made up for after about 18 months by the development of one, maybe two extra stomachs, the first for desserts and the third, if there is one, for sweets. So as far as a child is concerned, even if the "dinner tummy" is full to bursting, there's still going to be room in the others. Generally these extra stomachs get absorbed, but multiple stomachs sometimes extend into adulthood.

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Note added at 4 hrs (2010-04-07 22:40:14 GMT)
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Then again, soup can be boring, something one might not have the heart/courage to finish, and in that respect it might be said to be disheartening, which brings us full circle.

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Note added at 4 hrs (2010-04-07 22:40:54 GMT)
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Oops, screwed up my coding again.

As per JML's suggestion and several other people's agreement!

I really think this is a good way to render it: although not all things that are écœurant may be cloying, I think it could be said to cover most categories in a general sort of way.

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Note added at 10 hrs (2010-04-08 05:24:33 GMT)
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Here is the relevant definition from NS OED regarding the verb 'to cloy' (and hence, cloying):

3 v.t. & i. Satiate, weary, or nauseate by richness, sweetness, sameness, or excess, of food, pleasure, attention, etc. (Foll. by with.)

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Note added at 11 hrs (2010-04-08 05:40:43 GMT)
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I totally agree with many of the comments here, to the effect that 'écœurant' covers a whole range of "couldn't eat another mouthful" feelings, from 'downright nauseating', to simply 'had too much'; one does perhaps just need to judge where on that scale is appropriate for the register in the specific context as given?

It seems to me that 'cloying' represents one particular subset of all the things that 'écœurant' represents — and I agree that it is not a word one commonly associates with soup (though it is still very much in common usage).

I feel that 'sickly' represents an even narrower subset, and of all the foods I can think of that might be described as 'sickly', I find it very hard to imagine it applied to any kind of soup — unless it be some highly original concoction like velouté of chocolate mousse and curry!

I think in the present context, it is clear that the respondent is syaing that, however good the soup may be, you don't want too large a serving, as after a while it is just too much / you've had enough. This of course approaches the idea of 'overfilling', but the trouble with that, as I see it, is that 'filling' refers to the character of the food itself, which is not, I believe, the true issue here. For example, you might have a delicate consommée — the furthest thing you can imagine from something hearty and filling — and yet a vast bowl of it might eventually leave you feeling 'écœuré'.

Of course, we must guard here against a too-literal interpretation of dictionary sugestions; they just don't have enough space to tackle the kind of subtleties of meaning in context that we are discussing here, nor to make the often vital distinctions between close but not exact synonyms.

That'd be my take... the "after a while" is important, as soup is NOT inherently sickly, etc. it just quickly gets too filling/toomuch of the same thing,

Hello,

Getting too much of rich foods can get nauseating. Perhaps, "nauseating" isn't the best word, but that's what's being implied, imho.

I hope this helps.

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Note added at 1 day20 hrs (2010-04-09 15:25:06 GMT)
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Yes, soups can be rich, and if you eat a little too much of any of the, you can get a bit sick to your stomach.