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Ne pas manger de ce pain-là
Translated literally as, not eating that kind of bread, this expression means refusing to act in a way that goes against your values, steering clear of a situation or behavior that you think is immoral or illegal.By extension, Je ne mange pas de...
Continue readingTiré par les cheveux
This somewhat painful expression literally translates to pulled by the hair. You'll often hear it as an exclamation: c'est tiré par les cheveux! The context, however, seldom involves a ponytail you could gently pull on.Tiré par les cheveux...
Continue readingAppuyer sur le champignon
Do you often dream of stepping on the gas when you drive? Then this common vegetable expression is for you. It litterally translates as pressing the mushroom and means to accelerate, to speed up.While we often use the expression to describe...
Continue readingFaire la pluie et le beau temps
Wouldn't you feel powerful if you could control the weather? Faire la pluie et le beau temps - to make rain and nice weather - means exactly that. The expression describes someone, or a group of people, who feel powerful enough to control...
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Pour des prunes
Une prune is a plum - not to be confused with un pruneau, a prune. While this lovely fruit is...
Read moreÀ la queue leu leu
The poetry of those words! They are a favorite of preschoolers. But you will also hear them in...
Read moreUne image d'Epinal
When you’re told that you're providing une image d'Epinal - an Épinal print - it means you only...
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Un coup de main
Every once in a while, you come across a vocabulary word with a lot of potential. The French...
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Être au bout du rouleau
"To be at the end of the roll" isn't a good place to be. Whether the roll is a paint roll (un...
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Se la couler douce
Je me la coule douce is a lovely expression which we hope you can still use for a few more days...
Read morePédaler dans la choucroute
This is another (weird) expression directly related to the Tour de France - which ended on July...
Read moreLa lanterne rouge
Être la lanterne rouge - to be the red lantern - means to come last in a ranking, or list. The...
Read moreFaire la grasse matinée
What a luxury to pull a fluffy pillow over your ears while the birds break the silence of the...
Read moreUn Papa Gâteau
Here is a legitimate question to ask on Father's day: is Dad un Papa Gâteau?Literally translated...
Read moreLa fin des haricots
Literally translated as the end of the beans, la fin des haricots usually comes with a sigh and...
Read moreUn Violon D'Ingres
Un violon d'Ingres (silent s) is not to be confused with "un violon dingue" (a crazy violin) -...
Read moreMuet comme une carpe
Channel your inner fish and don't say a word. Muet comme une carpe - mute as a carp - is...
Read moreC'est un navet!
This phrase is something you wouldn't be surprised to hear at a farmer's market, since un...
Read moreÀ fleur de peau
Here is an elegant and visual expression that will impress any audience. Être à fleur de peau...
Read moreTenir la chandelle
Tenir la chandelle may sound like an easy task but it can leave you desperate for an escape...
Read moreChanter comme une casserole
Francophones seem particularly bothered by the clattering of saucepans and this has inspired a...
Read moreJeter l'eponge
Literally to throw the sponge, jeter l'éponge is the French equivalent of the English expression...
Read moreJouer l'Arlésienne
This expression is a unique French idiom that translates literally to playing the girl from...
Read moreDécouvrir le pot aux roses
This charming expression involves roses, presumably sitting in a planter - pot - which must have...
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