Le mot du jour : prendre en grippe “Prendre en grippe” means to take a strong dislike to somebody or someone.When you translate it word for word, it goes like this : to take as the flu.Before being the flu, “la grippe” was first a kind of hook, then a whim, a caprice, and it’s …
Author archives: Anne
Passer un savon
Le mot du jour : “passer un savon” “Passer un savon” (to brush with soap) is an expression that means to scold someone and not at all, as you would expect, to give a soap to someone. So now that soap has become rare and precious, if a French person says “Je vais te passer …
Laver son linge sale en famille
Le mot du jour : “laver son linge sale en famille” In these troubled times where lots of us are stuck at home with the whole family, here is a useful expression 😀 “Laver son linge sale en famille” can be translated by “to wash the dirty laundry inside the family”. It means dealing with …
Comme un coq en pâte
Le mot du jour : “Comme un coq en pâte” “Comme un coq en pâte” means “like a rooster in crust”. This expression goes back to the 17th century, where roosters were considered very fine meat, and the farmers would take particularly good care of them. Later on, the image of the rooster cooked in …
Comme une traînée de poudre
Le mot du jour : “comme une traînée de poudre” In these days where newspapers on both side of the Channel talk a lot about viruses and epidemics, you can often find that expression : “Le virus se répand comme une traînée de poudre” The word for word translation would be : “The virus spreads …
Un cœur d’artichaut
Le mot du jour : “avoir un cœur d’artichaut” “Avoir un cœur d’artichaut” can be translated by “to have an artichoke’s heart”. It is used to describe someone who fall easily and often in love. It is usually someone sensitive, with a romantic heart. So you could say that a person with “un coeur d’artichaut” …
Raconter des salades
Le mot du jour : “raconter des salades” Raconter des salades means to tell lies. “Raconter” is to tell a tale and “les salades” are all the kind of leaves you can eat (lettuce, chicory, spinach…) but also the dishes like “salade niçoise” It’s not very clear for me why salads would mean lies. Maybe …
Taper dans l’œil
Le mot du jour : taper dans l’œil Slightly different from last week’s “tape-à-l’œil”, “taper dans l’œil” (to hit in the eye) is used to talk about things you’ve noticed favorably. Ex : J’ai vu ce manteau en vitrine, il m’a tout de suite tapé dans l’œil ! (I saw that coat in the window, …
Tape-à-l’oeil
Le mot du jour : “tape-à-l’oeil” When a French person says about something that it is “tape-à-l’oeil” (something like “slap in the eye”), it describes something flashy, showy. It’s not a compliment and is considered the opposite of “chic”. Ex : “Je n’aime pas ses nouvelles chaussures, elles sont très tape-à-l’oeil” (I don’t like her …
Etouffe-chrétien
Le mot du jour : étouffe-chrétien Un étouffe-chrétien (christian choker maybe?) is usually said of a stodgy meal. Nothing against Christians here apparently, but rather the idea that a meal could be so heavy that even good people like the Christians wouldn’t survive it! It is definitely not a compliment for the food, so if …