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French Expressions
Idioms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Coûter les yeux de la tête | To cost an arm and a leg(literally, "to cost the eyes in the head") |
| Avoir le cafard | To feel blue or down (literally, "to have the cockroach") |
| Faire la grasse matinée | To sleep in (literally, "to do the fat morning") |
| Être dans la lune | To be daydreaming (literally, "to be in the moon") |
| Avoir le coup de foudre | To fall in love at first sight (literally, "to have the strike of lightning") |
| Être sur son 31 | to be dressed to the nines (literally, "to be on one's 31") |
| Avoir la pêche | To feel great or be in high spirits (literally, "to have the peach") |
| Raconter des salades | To tell lies or tall tales (literally, "to tell salads") |
| Avoir un poil dans la main | To be lazy (literally, "to have a hair in the hand") |
| Être au bout du rouleau | To be at the end of one's rope (literally, "to be at the end of the roll") |
| Mettre du beurre dans les épinards | To improve one's financial situation (literally, "to put butter in the spinach") |
| Mettre la main à la pâte | To lend a hand (literally, "to put the hand in the dough") |
| Avoir du pain sur la planche | To have a lot of work to do (literally, "to have bread on the board") |
| Être haut comme trois pommes | To be very short (literally, "to be as tall as three apples") |
| Ce n'est pas la mer à boire | It's not that difficult (literally, "it's not the sea to drink") |
| Être rouge comme une tomate | To be very embarrassed (literally, "to be red as a tomato") |
| Chercher la petite bête | To nitpick (literally, "to look for the little beast") |
| Donner sa langue au chat | To give up trying to guess (literally, "to give one's tongue to the cat") |
| Se mettre dans la peau de quelqu'un | To put oneself in someone else's shoes (literally, "to put oneself in someone's skin") |
| Faire d'une pierre deux coups | To kill two birds with one stone (literally, "to do two things with one stone") |
| Avoir la tête dans les nuages | To have one's head in the clouds |
| Faire la sourde oreille | To turn a deaf ear |
| Être au pied du mur | To be backed into a corner (literally, "to be at the foot of the wall") |
| Être en pleine forme | To be in great shape |
| Avoir la gueule de bois | To have a hangover (literally, "to have a wooden mouth") |
| Manger sur le pouce | To eat quickly or on the go (literally, "to eat on the thumb") |
| Être fauché comme les blés | To be broke (literally, "to be as poor as wheat") |
| Jeter l'argent par les fenêtres | To throw money out the window |
| Mettre de l'eau dans son vin | To compromise or tone down one's stance (literally, "to put water in one's wine") |
| Se casser la figure | To fall flat on one's face |
| Remuer ciel et terre | To move heaven and earth (to do no matter what to accomplish something) |
| Tirer les vers du nez | To extract information from someone (literally, "to pull worms from someone's nose") |
| Avoir un cœur d'artichaut | To fall in love easily (literally, "to have an artichoke heart") |
| Mettre les pieds dans le plat | To put one's foot in one's mouth (literally, "to put one's feet in the dish") |
| Avoir le cœur sur la main | To be very generous (literally, "to have the heart on the hand") |
| Donner sa langue au chat | To give up trying to guess (literally, "to give one's tongue to the cat") |
| Poser un lapin | To stand someone up (literally, "to put down a rabbit") |
| Être fier comme un coq | o be as proud as a peacock (literally, "to be proud as a rooster") |
| Il était une fois | Once upon a time |
| En un clin d'œil | In the blink of an eye |
| Faire d’une pierre deux coups | To kill two birds with one stone |
| Ne pas être dans son assiette | To not feel well (literally, "to not be in one's plate") |
| Être soupe au lait | To be quick-tempered (literally, "to be milk soup") |
| Avoir un chat dans la gorge | To have a frog in one's throat (literally, "to have a cat in the throat") |
| Avoir une mémoire d'éléphant | To have an excellent memory (literally, "to have the memory of an elephant") |
| Chercher la petite bête | To nitpick (literally, "to look for the little beast") |
| Avoir le moral à zéro | To be down in the dumps |
| Rire comme une baleine | To laugh one's head off (literally, "to laugh like a whale") |
| Voir la vie en rose | To see life through rose-colored glasses |
| Travailler d'arrache-pied | To work tirelessly (literally, "to work tearing the foot") |
| Mettre les bouchées doubles | To double one's efforts (literally, "to put in double mouthfuls") |
| Être au four et au moulin | To be in two places at once (literally, "to be at the oven and the mill") |
| Porter bonheur | To bring good luck |
| Toucher du bois | To knock on wood |
| Être né sous une bonne étoile | To be born under a lucky star (to be lucky) |
| Être comme chien et chat | To fight like cats and dogs |
| Prendre quelqu'un la main dans le sac | To catch someone red-handed (literally, "to catch someone with their hand in the bag") |
| Tenir la chandelle | To be the third wheel (literally, "to hold the candle") |
| C'est la goutte d'eau qui fait déborder le vase | It's the last straw (literally, "it's the drop of water that makes the vase overflow") |
| Être dans le pétrin | To be in trouble (literally, "to be in the dough") |
| Avoir le feu aux trousses | To be in a hurry (literally, "to have fire at one's heels") |
Created by:
Anushi Jain
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