Appendix:French idioms

List of idioms in the French language:

Contents:	Top - A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z - See also - External link

A and B

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
appeler un chat un chat	to call a spade a spade	to call a cat a cat
avaler des couleuvres	Put up with humiliation	To swallow grass snakes
avoir bon dos	To be too easily blamed for something when the real responsibility is to be found elsewhere	To have a good back
avoir le cul bordé de nouilles	To be lucky	To have one's ass stuffed with noodles
avoir d’autres chats à fouetter	To have other fish to fry - To have other/better things to do	To have other cats to whip
avoir le cœur sur la main	To be generous, to give the shirt off one's back	To have the heart in the hand
avoir un cheveu sur la langue	To have a lisp	To have a hair on one’s tongue
avoir un chat dans la gorge	to have a frog in your throat	to have a cat in your throat
avoir les jetons	to be scared, to have the jitters or the willies	to have tokens
avoir mangé du lion	to have a tiger in one's tank, to have incredible energy	to have eaten lion's meat
avoir le cafard	to have the blues, to be down in the dumps	to have the cockroach
avoir un poil dans la main	to shy away from work, to avoid work at all costs	to have a hair in one's hand
avoir des lettres	to be well read	to have letters
avoir l'air d'une poule qui a trouvé un couteau	to look puzzled or baffled	to look like a hen that has found a knife
Ma bête noire	Enemy, nemesis or an obvious mistake	My black beast [that thing which makes me weak]
bon an, mal an	Year in, year out	Good year, bad year

C

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine	Recklessly Uncoordinated (cf. Like a bull in a china shop)	Like an elephant in a porcelain shop
comme un poisson dans l'eau	At ease	Like a fish in water
conduire comme un pied	To drive horribly	To drive like a foot
couper les cheveux en quatre	To split hairs	To cut hairs in four
coûter les yeux de la tête	To be very expensive / To cost an arm and a leg	To cost the eyes of the head
ça me dit quelque chose	That rings a bell	That tells me something
ça me prend la tête	That drives me crazy / That annoys me	That takes my head
ça ne tient pas debout	It doesn’t make any sense	It doesn’t stand upright
ça passe ou ça casse	Sink or swim	It passes or it breaks
chercher la petite bête	to nit-pick	to look for the tiny beast (errors)
c'est un travail de Romain	It's a big job.	It's a Roman's work.
c'est la vie	That's life.	Such is life.
c'est pas le Pérou	It's nothing to write home about.	It's not Peru.

D

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
les doigts dans le nez	Very easy	Fingers in the nose

E

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
En un clin d’œil	In a flash	In the wink of an eye
Esprit de l’escalier	Thinking of a perfect witty rejoinder, way too late (i.e. when leaving)	Spirit of the stairway
Avoir le melon	To be sure of oneself	To have the melon
Être aux anges	To be over the moon	To be at the level of the angels
Être un singe sur une branche	To be at home; in one's natural habitat	To be a monkey on a branch
Être simple comme « bonjour »	To be as easy as pie	To be as simple as ‘hello’

F

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
Faire chou blanc	To draw a blank	To make white cabbage
Faire d'une pierre deux coups	To hit two birds with one stone	To have two hits with a stone
Faire la grasse matinée	To have a lie-in	To make/have a fat morning
Faire la sourde oreille	To turn a blind eye; to ignore	To play the deaf ear
Faire quelque chose au nez et à la barbe de quelqu’un	To do something in front of someone without that "someone" noticing	To do something to someone’s nose and beard
Faire une carte de France	Have a wet dream	To make a map of France
Faire un tabac	To have a huge success	To make a tobacco
Fumer comme un pompier	To smoke like a stack	To smoke like a fireman

G

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning

H

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning

I

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning

J

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
Jeter l'éponge	To abandon a combat, to give up, to throw in the towel	Throw the sponge
le petit Jésus en culotte de velours	To go down (one's throat) smoothly	The little Jesus in Velvet Trousers

K

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning

L

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
la petite mort	An orgasm	the little death

M

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
Manger ses mots	To mumble	To eat one's words
Manger sur le pouce	To eat very hastily	Eat on the thumb
(être) mort de rire	laughing out loud	to die of laughter

N

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning

O

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
Ce ne sont pas vos oignons	It is none of your business	Those are not your onions
[Avoir] un œil au beurre noir	[To have] a black eye	[To have] an eye in black butter

P

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
Parler français comme une vache espagnole	To speak French poorly	To speak French like a Spanish cow
Poser un lapin à quelqu'un	To set someone up, not show up	Put a rabbit to someone
(Coûter) la peau du cul	(To cost) arms and legs	(To cost) the skin of the arse
Pilier de bar	Bar fly	Bar pillar
Pleuvoir des cordes	To rain cats and dogs	To be raining ropes
Pleuvoir comme une vache qui pisse	To rain cats and dogs	To rain like a peeing cow
Prendre ses jambes à son cou	To run away quickly; to escape	To take one's legs to one's neck
Prendre son pied	To enjoy, to have pleasure	To take his/her own foot
Pour qui tu te prends?	Who are you to say that? / Who do you think you are?	For who do you take yourself?
Pris garder une poire pour la soif	To save for a rainy day	Taken to keep a pear for thirst

Q

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
Quand on parle du loup, on peut voir le bout de sa queue	Speak of the Devil and he appears	When one speaks of the wolf, you can see the end of his tail
(Faire une) queue de poisson (à quelqu'un)	To cut in front of someone (in driving)	Do a fish tail to someone
Qui sème le vent récolte la tempête	He who looks for trouble, finds worse	Whoever sows the wind, harvests a storm
Qui vivra, verra	Time will tell	One who lives will see

R

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning

S

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
Se casser la tête	To go to a lot of trouble	To break your head
Se creuser la tête	To think hard, to remember something	To dig into the head
Se passer la corde au cou	To get married	To put a rope around one's neck

Se plier en quattre

T

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
Tirer le diable par la queue	To be too poor to do anything	Pull the devil by the tail
Tirer les plans sur la comète	To count one's chickens before they have hatched	To draw up plans on the comet
Tomber dans les pommes	To faint. Probably originated from the onomatopoeic homophone "pom"	To fall in the apples
Tout au plus	At the most	All the more
Tu t'prends pour qui?	Who are you to say that? / Who do you think you are?	For who do you take yourself?

U

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
Voler de ses propres ailes	To stand on one's own two feet	To fly with one's own wings

V

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning

W

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning

X

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning

Y

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning

Z

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning