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...

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...

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...

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...

Une prune is a plum - not to be confused with un pruneau, a prune.  While this lovely fruit is fully appreciated for its nutrition properties nowadays, it has also long been...

The poetry of those words!  They are a favorite of preschoolers.  But you will also hear them in the long lines of traffic that characterize French life during strike season -...

When you’re told that you're providing une image d'Epinal - an Épinal print - it means you only show the good side of things, in a somewhat naive and reductive way.  An image...

Every once in a while, you come across a vocabulary word with a lot of potential. The French word coup is one of them; it is used in a wide range of expressions that seem...