French | English |
Il faut toujours qu'il ramène ses fraises. | He always has to put his two cents in. (He always has to bring his strawberries back.) |
Il est haut comme trois pommes. | He's knee-high to a grasshopper. (He's tall like three apples.) |
Il a une mémoire d'éléphant. | He never forgets anything. (He has an elephant's memory.) |
C'est bien le fils de son père. | He's a chip off the old block. (He is certainly his father's son. |
J'y perds mon latin. | I can't make heads or tails of it. (I lose my Latin there.) |
Je l'ai eu pour une bouchée de pain. | I got it for a song (I had it for a mouthful of bread) |
Je l'ai vu venir gros comme une maison. | I saw that coming a mile away (I saw it coming as big as a house) |
C'est un bien pour un mal. | It's a blessing in disguise. (It's a good for a bad.) |
Comme un chien dans un jeu de quilles. | Like a bull in a china shop (Like a dog in a game of ninepins) |
Mon petit doigt me l'a dit. | A little bird told me. (My pinky told me.) |
Elle a trouvé l'oiseau rare. | She found Mr. Right (She found the rare bird) |
Elle est maigre comme un clou. | She's as thin as a rail. (She's thin like a nail.) |
Quand on parle du loup, on en voit la queue! | Speak of the devil! (When one talks of the wolf, one sees his tail.) |
Ça coûte les yeux de la tête. | That costs an arm and a leg (That costs the eyes from the head) |
Le champ est libre. | The coast is clear (The field is free) |
Elles se ressemblent comme deux gouttes d'eau. | They're like two peas in a pod. (They resemble each other like two drops of water.) |
On a d'autres chats à fouetter. | We have other fish to fry. (We have other cats to whip.) |
Nous sommes tous dans le même bain. | We're all in the same boat (We're all in the same bath) |
Il faut le détruire dans l'œuf. | We've got to nip this in the bud. (It's necessary to destroy it in the egg.) |
Quand les poules auront des dents! | When pigs fly! (When hens have teeth!) |