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https://www.fluentin3months.com/more-french-idioms/ OK, it’s not necessarily strictly true that the list included in this article definitely lists my favourite French idioms, but I enjoyed reading it. Some of them I guessed correctly – which is to say, I successfully arrived at the equivalent idiom in English before it was confirmed that I had guessed correctly as I read the text following it – while others left me interested or simply amused. I thought I’d give my take on each one (to include an explanation of my original response/thoughts in each case):
“Il fait un temps de chien!”
OK, this one associates animals with bad weather – well, rainy weather to be specific. Do you think dogs are excited by rain? In my experience, they are usually eager to jump into a lake or a river, probably just to retrieve a stick their owner has thrown for them. It’s possible, I guess. And I wouldn’t call the kind of weather we humans typically respond well to “dog weather” when you consider the fact that dogs die in hot cars.
“Ta gueule!”
I remember learning back in school that “gueule” means “mouth” but specifically one of an animal, not a human. So yes, it’s not very polite. I reasoned correctly that this is just “ferme ta gueule” abbreviated “for the hell of it”… what else? I would translate this as “shut your gob”, animal reference or none.
“Avoir la moutarde qui monte au nez”
This is an interesting one. I like mustard with a steak, and there have been times when I’ve eaten a bit too much in one go, maybe even smelled too much of the vapour of it at once if it was particularly strong, but I didn’t mind. If it means “get angry” in French, very well – I suppose that, while I don’t mind mustard vapour, I certainly wouldn’t think much of someone forcing mustard up my nose!
“Avoir le cafard”
I actually remember learning this expression in one of my first years of learning French – back then, I never would have guessed that “cafard” means “cockroach”. But who could be surprised at that? I’m generally not likely to rejoice at the sight of a cockroach either – to say nothing of the fact that insects in one’s home are often a health hazard.
“Avoir les chevilles qui enflent”
OK, this one got me, mainly because muscles in your body can grow (when you exercise them); but an ankle is a bone, not a muscle. When it comes to idioms coupled with ankles, I can only think of Achilles’ heel and the significance of that story. But if you have bigger heels you will inevitably have bigger feet – something commonly associated with police officers (in Britain, anyway).
“Couper les cheveux en quatre”
I don’t know about you but I’d say that “cutting a hair into four pieces” is a pretty dumb and pointless thing to do! But if you think this essentially implies wasting time, you’re wrong. No, it means “splitting hairs”, an otherwise existing idiom mentioning hair in English.
“Péter un plomb”
This one left me speechless, at least for a bit. After all, nobody “farts lead” – and if a person did fart lead gas somehow it would strike me as something poisonous. But OK, this means “blow a fuse” – “get very angry”. I suppose that’s just as well. Nobody “feels good” when they get… just THAT angry – it’s toxic. And it’s true when they say that suppressed anger can be bad for your health.
“Avoir un poil dans la main”
Another one which I had no problem translating literally: “to have a hair in one’s hand.” When I first read this article, for this one I first thought: “If I had to have a guess I would say ‘either be very poor’ (what good is a single hair, after all?) or ‘have nothing of use or interest to someone else’” (again, what good is a single hair, after all?). I found reading the proper definition of this one quite appealing.
“Avoir un chat dans la gorge”
I was actually already familiar with this one: “to have a frog in your throat”. But, call me morbid but it’s far easier to have a frog in your throat than an animal as big as a cat. And cat hair will much more likely leave your throat dry and sore than a slimy frog. Might I add that I also thought of this: “No, it doesn’t mean ‘be an awful singer’, as in ‘sing like a dying cat’”!
“Quand les poules auront les dents”
Yes, I get it, the equivalent of “when pigs fly”. That’s what I thought before I read the text beneath this one. And the article actually mentioned that “Apparently the person who invented this expression was unaware that on rare occasions chickens have in fact been observed to grow teeth!” Chickens are birds, and birds have beaks, so don’t ask me. But do you think the person who wrote this article actually knew the identity of whoever invented this expression? Either way, I personally actually have seen chickens with teeth; in the film Chicken Run, that is.
“Les doigts dans la nez”
I guess it was once impossible for me not to be able to read this without thinking of the bad habit of picking your nose, so is it any wonder that I couldn’t arrive at the correct answer to this one? But there’s nothing disgusting about the idea of being able to do something with your hands tied behind your back, figuratively speaking.
“Sentir le sapin”
Literally, this means “feel the fir tree”. Just like with “avoir un poil dans la main”: what would I have originally guessed if I absolutely had to have a guess? Basically, as Christmas approaches, someone is really getting into the Christmas spirit. That. But “one foot in the grave” is only used for people, unlike this expression, if this article is to be believed. By the way, when I found out in this article that fir wood was traditionally used to make coffins, I looked up the life span of fir trees, believing that it was likely to be at least quite long even by tree standards. All I’ll say is that a Douglas fir can live for over 1,000 years… so, yeah.
“Manger comme quatre”
Upon reading this for the first time I basically got the right idea: eat far too much, and not necessarily for reasons rooted in plain greed. And we really say “eat for two” in English? OK.
“Prendre quelqu’un la main dans le sac”
I think most people would guess this one correctly. If you see someone with their hand in a bag and this means that you’ve “caught” them, what else could it mean if they are not to be acknowledged as trying to steal? Catch someone in the act, catch someone red-handed; it’s like that.
“Un coup de foudre”
This is another one I remember having learned even when I was in school. Nothing to do with the horrific consequences of being struck by lightning, this kind of lightning bolt means that someone has just fallen madly in love with someone else in an instant.
“Avoir le beurre et l’argent du beurre”
I don’t think I could have made any “respectable” guess for this one (i.e. even if I did fully expect it to be completely wrong). I mean, “butter money”?
“Une bouchée de pain”
I guess I got this one wrong. It doesn’t mean “have a good meal” (and why not guess that, when the French are famous for baguettes?). In English we would say “dirt cheap” – but consider the imagery of this one: who would want bread that has been in someone else’s mouth? It would likely hardly even be recognisable as bread. But let’s move on.
“L’habit ne fait pas le moine”
The (literal) English translation provided in this one is spot on – but since we’re talking about clothes and a person I would have been more inclined to translate it into English as “the clothes don’t make the man” rather than “don’t judge a book by its cover”. Or “looks can be deceiving”.
“Il me court sur le haricot”
“Running on my bean” is a spot on English translation. Are you amused? Either way, this is definitely not the only idiom for getting on someone’s nerves.
“Avoir la gueule du bois”
Another one I knew already, but this isn’t about me. But I’ve always known a real hangover to include a headache/grogginess and/or a state of low energy and/or a feeling of malaise; far more than just a longing for a good drink of water. After all, the consequences of drinking too much alcohol can be very serious.
“Mettre son grain de sel”
I didn’t know this one, but I was definitely with the equivalent English expression stated in the article, and I’m sure I won’t forget it now.
“Être dans le cirage”
Another one which, if you don’t already know it, it’s likely you will not know what to think. But shoe polish is typically black, and if someone is in “something black” you might end up thinking that they are in some kind of sinister situation or oblivion, or that they are completely depressed to completely broken in their mood, with the “no light” idea. But the article explains what it really means coherently enough. And it could be argued that, when you’re unconscious, black is indeed all you “see”.
“Mettre la charrue avant les bœufs”
Considering what “charrue” means in English and the reference of an animal, this is one I guessed correctly: “putting the cart before the horse”. The thing is, I have a better appreciation of what this expression really means having read this definition in the article; it’s not always used in connection with a multi-step project.
“Ne pas casser trois pattes à un canard”
This one I’d never heard of before, but there was simply no way I was going to arrive at the right answer, even if I really wanted to. Not that serious animal cruelty like this is something to be thought of as “extraordinary”. Or maybe it’s to be taken in the sense of a duck dish that a person is eating. There are duck leg recipes.
“Jeter l’éponge”
I can accept with ease that this is a sound French equivalent for “throw in the towel” in English. When you’re exhausted, sore and overheated, a wet sponge can be very welcome when you think about it. But “throw in the sponge” really does seem to exist in English too. I clicked on that link, and wow. What can I say?
Anyway, as the article says, what are your favourite French idioms?