Le mot du jour : “Nid de poule”Un nid de poule is a hen’s nest. But in French it also means a pothole, probably because of its shape 🙂 So if a French person tells you “Attention sur cette route, il y a plein de nids de poule” (Be careful on this road, there is …
Author archives: Anne
Mettre la charrue avant les bœufs
Le mot du jour : “Mettre la charrue avant les bœufs”Here is an expression that comes straight from rural France, and can be translated by “to put the plow in front of the oxen”. There is an almost similar expression in English : “to put the cart before the horse”, which is to try and …
Avoir plus d’un tour dans son sac
Le mot du jour : “Avoir plus d’un tour dans son sac” And this is the last one about “le sac à procès” (trial bag). It can be translated by “to have more than one trick in one’s bag”, but I think the closest English expression is probably “to have more than one trick up …
Vider son sac
Le mot du jour : “Vider son sac”This is another expression that came out of the “sac à procès” (trial bag) I talked about last week. This one means “to empty one’s bag”. At the time, it was about emptying all the evidences gathered for the trial. Today, it is used for someone who decides …
L’affaire est dans le sac
Le mot du jour : “L’affaire est dans le sac”That expression has an interesting history that goes back to before the French Revolution. The translation goes like this : “The case is in the bag”. Today, it means that something is a done deal. But where does it come from? Before the French Revolution changed …
Cracher dans la soupe
Le mot du jour : “Cracher dans la soupe”Another familiar expression about soup is “cracher dans la soupe” (to spit in the soup) So what kind of person spits in the soup? Well, it is someone who is ungrateful, a person who criticises someone or something they depend on. That expression comes from a time …
Être soupe au lait
Le mot du jour : “être soupe au lait”You know how sometimes, you heat some milk in a pan, and before you know it, it has boiled over and there is sticky milk all over the stove? Well, “être soupe au lait” (to be a milk soup) describes people who can get angry very quickly, …
Copains comme cochons
Le mot du jour : “Copains comme cochons” Well, here it’s a funny expression 😃 “Copains comme cochons” (“friends like pigs) means to be really good friends with someone. But why like pigs? Are pigs such great friends? In reality, it seems that it has nothing to do with pigs. In old French, “soçon” and …
Libre comme l’air
Le mot du jour : “Libre comme l’air” As we are stuck in our houses, feeling maybe a bit claustrophobic, here is an expression that is going to bring oxygen in your life 🙂 “Libre comme l’air” means “free as the air” and is very similar to the English “free as a bird”. I was …
La goutte d’eau qui fait déborder le vase
Le mot du jour : “La goutte d’eau qui fait déborder le vase” “La goutte d’eau qui fait déborder le vase” can be translated by “the drop of water that makes the vase overflow” It’s quite easy to understand, and I think the closest expression in English would probably be “It’s the last straw” So …
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