| in_french,literally,meaning,text,origin | |
| Avoir un coup de foudre, to have a struck of lightning," In the world of French idioms, love can be rather painful and love at first sight is called “un coup de foudre”. You can also say that you have a “coup de foudre” for an object,"," to fall in love at first sight, to fall madly in love",French | |
| Se faire larguer, to get dumped, it unexpectedly and suddenly seduced you., to get dumped,French | |
| Se prendre un râteau, to hit a rake, This idiom has the same meaning as “to get dumped” in English., to get knocked back,French | |
| Poser un lapin à quelqu’un, to put a rabbit to someone, You know that feeling when the person you’re interested in rejects you?, to stand somebody up,French | |
| S’envoyer en l’air, to throw oneself in the air," Ever had a date who didn’t show up? In French, you say the person “vous a posé un lapin”.", to get laid,French | |
| Avoir le cafard, to have the cockroach, This is an informal way to say “to have sex”.," to feel blue, to feel down, to feel depressed",French | |
| Avoir la pêche/banane/patate, to have the peach/banana/potato/shape," When you have “le cafard”, it means you’re depressed, you are feeling down."," to feel great, to feel happy, to be in high spirits",French | |
| Avoir/crever la dalle, to have/die the slab, This is an idiom you can use to say someone is happy and full of energy.," to be starving, to feel hungry",French | |
| Prendre la tête, to take the head," Nowadays “la dalle” mostly means “the slab”, but it used to designate a part of the throat. It’s an idiom you can use to say you are starving."," to bother someone, to give yourself a headache. to drive crazy",French | |
| En avoir marre, to have enough of it," when something or someone “prend la tête”, it means it’s irritating, it gives you a headache and you can’t wait to be done with it.", to be fed up with something or someone.,French | |
| Avoir du pain sur la planche, to have bread on the board," you use “en avoir marre” when you’ve had enough of something or someone.For example, you’ll often hear French people complain about trains being late and say “j’en ai marre”.", to have a lot on your plate,French | |
| Être canon, to be canon," When you have “bread on the board”, it means you have a lot to do."," to be hot, to fit the standard of beauty",French | |
| Être à l’ouest, to be in the West., This is an informal way of saying that someone is beautiful (or hot) or that an object is cool.," to be spaced out, to not be with it.",French | |
| Être rouge comme une tomate/ écrevisse/pivoine, to be red like a tomato/crawfish/peony," This idiom actually has nothing to do with geography, you can use it to say someone is off,", to be as red as a beetroot,French | |
| Être crevé," to be flat, to be dead"," Tomatoes are red, so is the face of someone who is embarrassed or ashamed of something."," to be exhausted, to be extremely tired",French | |
| Être mal en point, to be bad in point," you are “crevé” when you don’t have energy anymore, you’re exhausted and just want to rest.", to be in a bad state,French | |
| En avoir ras le bol, to have a bowl full of it," This French expression means someone or something is in a bad state. It can be a building that is destroyed, someone who is sick…", to be fed up with,French | |
| Avoir la flemme, to have laziness," When your bowl is full of something, it means you have too much of it (unless it’s a delicious cake of course)."," to be lazy, can’t be bothered",French | |
| Avoir une peur bleue de, to have a blue fear, “Avoir la flemme” simply means “to be lazy”.," to be terrified, to be scared to death of something",French | |
| Ne pas être dans son assiette, Not to be in one’s plate, Une “peur bleue” is a fear closer to terror than to actual fear., to be/feel under the weather,French | |
| Avoir la moutarde qui monte au nez, to have the mustard going up your nose," When you aren’t in your plate, it means you’re not feeling very well, be it emotionally or physically.", to lose your temper,French | |
| Être au taquet, to be at a piece of wood, Want to know where this idiom comes from?," to be going flat out, to be going full throttle, to be full on",French | |
| Avoir la gueule de bois, to have the wooden face, The word “taquet” used to refer to a piece of wood put between a door and a wall to block it., to have a hangover,French | |
| Avoir un chat dans la gorge, to have a cat in the throat, Ever drank a little too much alcohol? Then you know what a wooden face feels like since “gueule de bois” is the translation of hangover., To have a frog in one’s throat.,French | |
| Être bien dans sa peau, to be good in one’s kin, You can use this idiom to express the feeling that you have something in your throat and therefore need to cough to clear it.," to be comfortable in your own skin, to feel good about yourself",French | |
| Avoir un QI d’huître, to have the IQ of an oyster," If you feel good in your skin, it means you are comfortable with your body and who you are. You are not afraid of other people’s opinion.", to be stupid,French | |
| Avoir un poil dans la main, to have a hair in the hand, This is an informal way of saying someone is stupid.,nan,French | |
| Manger sur le pouce, to eat on the thumb., This idiom means a person is extremely lazy. So lazy in fact that he/she let a hair grow in her/his hand.," to eat on the go, on the run.",French | |
| Boire comme un trou, to drink like a hole.," If you spend time in France, you will notice that the French spend a lot of time eating and enjoying food. When you “eat on the thumb”, it means you actually eat quickly and don’t sit down to enjoy and share the moment with your family and friends."," to drink like a fish, to drink heavily",French | |
| Boire un coup, to drink a shock, You can use this idiom to gently criticize someone who drinks lots of alcohol and never knows when to stop., to have a drink,French | |
| Avoir les yeux plus gros que le ventre, to have the eyes bigger than the belly, boire un coup is the expression you use when you want to ask a friend to have a drink with you., to bite off more than you can chew.,French | |
| Un froid de canard, a cold of duck, You “have eyes bigger than your belly” when you want to eat more than you can.," to be bitterly cold, to be icy cold",French | |
| Pleuvoir des cordes, to be raining ropes," In winter, when it’s very cold, ducks go away from lakes and are therefore exposed to hunters. So “un froid de canard” is an extremely cold and hostile weather.", to be raining cats and dogs,French | |
| Jeter l’argent par les fenêtres, to throw the money through the windows," In the 16th century, it was common to give money to beggars by throwing it through the window."," to carelessly spend money, to waste money, to splurge",French | |
| Une bouchée de pain, for a mouthful of bread.," A mouthful of bread doesn’t cost much in France. So when you compare something to a mouthful of bread, it means it doesn’t cost much.", for next to nothing.,French | |
| Blanchir de l’argent, to whiten money.," Americans whiten their teeth, the French whiten money.", to launder money,French | |
| Ne pas y aller de main morte, to not go there with a dead hand, You use this idiom to talk about someone who does something fully and doesn’t hold back. You could also use “ne pas y aller avec le dos de la cuillère” (lit to not go with the back of the spoon).," to make no bones about it, to be heavy-handed, to not pull one’s punches",French | |
| Coûter les yeux de la tête/un bras," to cost the eyes of the head, to cost an arm."," Our eyes, arms are very dear to us. Losing them would be quite a shame. So when you read that something costs an arm, it means it costs a fortune.", to cost an arm and a leg / to cost a fortune,French | |
| S’en mettre plein les poches, to put a lot in one’s pockets," In France, being rich is perceived rather negatively because people often consider that one can’t get rich without exploiting others. This idiom is often used to criticize someone who earns lots of money.", to line your pockets,French | |
| Rouler sur l’or, to roll on gold., You ‘roll on gold” when you have so much money you don’t really know what to do with it.," to be rolling in money, to be rich.",French | |
| Se serrer la ceinture, to tighten one’s belt, You use this idiom to say you have to restrict yourself and do without something you are used to., to tighten one’s belt,French | |
| Casser les pieds à quelqu’un, to break someone’s feet, This violent idiom means that someone is annoying someone else.," to annoy, bother someone",French | |
| Casser du sucre sur le dos de quelqu’un, to break sugar on someone’s back.," In France, we often say that “Les absents ont toujours tort”, which means that people who aren’t there are always wrong.", to talk about someone behind his/her back,French | |
| Tourner au vinaigre, to turn to vinegar," When a situation “turns to vinegar”, it means it’s getting out of control."," to get out of control, to get nasty.",French | |
| Faire la grasse matinée, to do the fat morning, This lovely French idiom means “to sleep in”., to sleep in.,French | |
| Tomber dans le panneau, to fall into the sign.," Back in the 15th century, a “panneau” was a net used to catch wild animals.", to fall into the trap.,French | |
| (Jeter) un coup d’oeil, to throw a stroke of (the) eye., You use this idiom to say you are going to take a quick look at something. You can also use “un coup d’oeil” alone to say “a glance”.," to cast a glance, to take a look.",French | |
| Raconter des salades, to tell salads.," In French, “raconter des salades” means you’re inventing a story hoping people will believe you."," to talk bullshit, to spin a yarn",French | |
| Aller droit au but, to go straight to the goal.," When you go straight to the goal, it means you are not wasting any time and go straight to the point.", to go straight to the point.,French | |
| Faire le pont, to make the bridge.," If you don’t work on a Thursday, you may as well not work on Friday and just enjoy a 4 day weekend. That’s the meaning of “faire le pont”.", to take a long weekend.,French | |
| Faire gaffe, to make mistake., You use this idiom to warn someone about something and ask the person to be careful. You can also use “faire attention”.," to be careful, to watch out.",French | |
| Faire la sourde oreille, to do the deaf ear, This means you pretend not to hear when someone is talking to you., to turn a deaf ear.,French | |
| Tourner la page, to turn the page," “to turn the page”, means you forget about the past and move on."," to make a fresh start, to put something behind you",French | |
| Faire l’andouille, to make the sausage, “Une andouille” is a smoked sausage made of pork and that’s also how you call a person who does something ridiculous in French., to act silly,French | |
| S’occuper de ses oignons, to take care of one’s onions.," When you ask someone to take care of his onions, you actually politely (or not depending on the tone) ask them to stop bothering you and to mind their own business.", to mind one’s own business.,French | |
| En faire tout un fromage, to make a whole cheese out of it, You make a whole cheese out of something when you make a fuss about something that actually isn’t that important., to make a mountain out of a molehill/to make a fuss about something,French | |
| Mettre du piment dans sa vie, to put spice in one’s life, Are you bored? Then you should put spice in your life to try to make it more interesting and fun., to spice up one’s life,French | |
| Pleurer comme une madeleine, to cry like a Madeleine (Madeleine is a biblical character as well as the name of a cake).," In the Bible, Marie Madeleine was a former prostitute who begged Jesus to forgive her."," to cry like a baby, to cry your eyes out",French | |
| Ramener sa fraise, to bring back one’s strawberry," When you “bring back your strawberry”, it means you join a conversation without being invited to do so. You can also use this expression to ask someone to come.", to put one’s two cents in,French | |
| Changer de crèmerie, to change for another dairy shop," When you “change for another dairy shop”, it means you decide to abandon the shop or provider you usually use and go to another one instead.", to take one’s custom elsewhere,French | |
| En avoir rien à cirer/foutre/faire, to have nothing to polish/do about it., This is a colloquial (and rather rude) way of saying someone doesn’t care about something or someone. Nowadays “rien à foutre” and “rien à faire” are the most commonly used forms.," to not give a shit, to not give a damn",French | |
| Avoir d’autres chats à fouetter, to have other cats to whip., You can say you have other cats to whip to explain that you have something better to do than what you are asked or expected to do.," to have better things to do, to have other fish to fry",French | |
| Faire la tête, to make/do the head, You “make the head” when you are not happy with something and decide to sulk as a result., to sulk,French | |
| Mettre son grain de sel, to put one’s grain of salt, This expression comes from the latin “cum grano salis“. It’s used to complain about people who join a conversation or do something without being invited to do so., to put two cents in.,French | |
| En prendre de la graine, to take the seed from it," Seeds are what allow plants to grow, so when you take the seed from someone, you steal their recipe for success and follow their example."," to take the page from someone’s book, to follow an example",French | |
| Prendre ses cliques et ses claques, to take your legs and your shoes, Nowadays “prendre une claque” means “to get slapped”. But this idiom actually means that someone leaves suddenly and unexpectedly.," to pack up and go, to leave suddenly",French | |
| Prendre quelque chose au pied de la lettre, to take something to the letter’s foot," This idiom means you follow instructions without questioning them, and without doing anything more or less than what you are asked to do.", to the letter,French | |
| Partir en fumée, to go up in smoke," When something goes up in smoke, it disappears, and that’s exactly what this idiom means."," to go up in smoke, to disappear",French | |
| Prendre ses jambes à son cou, to take one’s legs to one’s neck," No, this idiom has nothing to do with stretching. It actually means someone is running for his life and leaving as quickly as possible.", to run for one’s life,French | |
| Prendre son courage à deux mains, to take one’s courage with two hands," Some people “prennent leurs jambes à leur cou” (run away), while other prefer to be brave and take their courage with two hands."," to summon the courage to do something, to gather one’s courage",French | |
| Prendre quelqu’un la main dans le sac, to catch someone with the hand in the bag, Imagine you’re in the subway and see a pickpocket taking a phone out of a bag., to be caught red-handed,French | |
| N’y voir que du feu, to only see fire in it., This idiom means that you don’t notice something obvious.," to be clueless, to fail to notice something",French | |
| Être en train de, to be in action of," This isn’t technically an idiom, but I decided to include it because it confuses many French learners.",nan,French | |
| Chercher la petite bête, to look for the little beast, We all know someone who always finds something to complain about and pays attention to the most insignificant details., to nitpick,French | |
| Tomber dans les pommes, to fall in the apples, This expression means someone fainted., To faint,French | |
| Être sur son 31, to be on one’s 31," Like often, the origin of this expression is unknown. However, it may come from the word “trentain” which used to refer to a luxurious tissue.", to be all dressed up,French | |
| Ne pas être sorti de l’auberge, to not be out of the inn," When you are not out of the inn, it means you are facing lots of problems and won’t solve them anytime soon."," to be well and truly in it, to not be out of the woods",French | |
| Donner sa langue au chat, to give one’s tongue to the cat, This expression is used to say you don’t know about something and are unable to give an answer.,nan,French | |
| Tenir au courant, to hold to the current, you generally use this expression to say you keep yourself or someone else up to date.," to keep up to date, to keep posted",French | |
| Un coup de main, a stroke of hand, Un “coup de main” is the action of helping someone. most of the time just to be nice., a helping hand,French | |
| Sur un coup de tête, on a stroke of head," when you do something “sur un coup de tête”, you do it impulsively, without planning it."," on an impulse, on a whim",French | |
| Les doigts dans le nez, fingers in the nose,. No wonder ," hands down, with one hand tied behind your back",French | |
| Quelque chose qui cloche, something wrong, “Clocher” is a French verb meaning “to be wrong” as well as the French word for “bell”.," To not add up, not be right",French | |
| Ah la vache, oh the cow, “ah la vache” can be used in many situations. The same way you would use “oh my god” in English.," Oh my god, holy cow",French | |
| Ça marche, it works/walks, this is an informal expression the French use all the time to say they agree. Note “ça marche” can also be used literally to say something is working.," Alright, ok,",French | |
| Tout craché, all spat, this idiom means that two objects or person look alike., spitting image,French | |
| C’est la fin des haricots, it’s the end of the beans," Before, beans were the last food remaining when everything else was gone. So when it was the “end of the beans”, there was nothing left at all.", there is nothing left/it’s the end,French | |
| Ne pas être de la tarte, to not be pie," When something “isn’t pie”, it means it’s difficult. This French expression is the opposite of “to be a piece of cake”."," It’s not easy, it’s hard work",French | |
| Faire un tabac, to make a tobacco.," When something “makes a tobacco”, it means it’s extremely successful.", to be a hit.,French | |
| Sentir le sapin, to smell of fir tree," Ah pine trees, Christmas, happiness…and hum coffins. Pine tree wood was traditionally used to build them, so when something “smells of fir tree”, it means it already has one foot in the grave.", to have one foot in the grave.,French | |