Appendix:French idioms

See also: Appendix:French expressions

List of idioms in French

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

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
à bon chat, bon rat¹	tit-for-tat	to a good cat, a good rat
à chaque jour suffit sa peine	each day as it comes	each day's pain is sufficient for it (reference to the Biblical verse Matthew 6:34)
à cheval donné on ne regarde pas les dents¹	don't criticize gifts, accept them gratefully	Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
amoureuse comme une chatte¹	very affectionate	in love like a female cat
appeler un chat un chat¹	to tell it like it is; to call a spade a spade	to call a cat a cat
arriver comme un chien dans un jeu de quilles¹	to turn up when least desired or expected	to arrive like a dog at a bowling game
arriver comme un éléphant dans un jeu de quilles¹	to turn up at the absolute worst possible time, to have bad timing	to arrive like an elephant in a bowling game
avaler des couleuvres	to eat crow, i.e., to put up with humiliation	to swallow grass snakes
avoir bon dos	to be an easy scapegoat	to have [a] good back
avoir d'autres chats à fouetter¹	to have other/better things to do, to have bigger fish to fry	to have other cats to whip
avoir de la gueule¹	to be attractive	to have [a] mouth; to be mouth-watering
avoir des lettres	to be well read	to have letters
avoir du chien¹	to be a very attractive woman	to have "dogginess"
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
avoir la tête dans le cul	to be tired, phased out (e.g. after waking up)	to have one's head up one's arse
avoir le cafard	to have the blues, to be down in the dumps	to have the cockroach
avoir le cœur sur la main	to be generous, to give the shirt off one's back	to have one's heart in one's hand
avoir le cul bordé de nouilles	to be lucky	to have an arse full of noodles
avoir le melon	to be sure of oneself	to have the melon
avoir les jetons	to be scared, to have the jitters or the willies	to hold the chips
avoir mangé du lion	to have a tiger in one's tank, to have incredible energy	to have eaten lion
avoir ses ours¹	to menstruate	to have her bears
avoir un chat dans la gorge	to have a frog in your throat	to have a cat in one's throat
avoir un cheveu sur la langue	to have a lisp	to have a hair on one's tongue
avoir le cœur bien accroché	to have nerves of steel	to have one's heart firmly attached
avoir un poil dans la main	to shy away from work, to avoid work at all costs	to have a hair on one's hand (i.e., palm)
avoir une bonne gueule¹	to be friendly-looking	to have a good mouth
avoir une faim de loup¹	to be famished	to have a wolf's hunger
avoir une mémoire de lièvre¹	to have a poor memory	to have a hare's memory
avoir une mémoire d'éléphant¹	to have a good memory	to have an elephant's memory
avoir une nuit blanche	to have a sleepless night	to have a white night
avoir une sale gueule¹	to be nasty-looking	to have a filthy muzzle

B

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
bêler une chèvre¹	speak with a shaky voice	to bleat like a goat
bête à manger du foin¹	dumb enough to eat hay	[so] dumb [as] to eat hay
bête à pleurer¹	so stupid you could cry	[so] dumb [as] to cry
bête comme ses pieds¹	very stupid	dumb as one's feet
bête comme un âne¹	very stupid	dumb as a donkey
bête curieuse¹	strange animal	curious beast
bête noire¹	nemesis, pet peeve	black beast
bon an, mal an	year in, year out	good year, bad year
bonne bête¹	good-natured person	good beast
bouc émissaire¹	scapegoat	emissary goat
brave bête¹	good guy	brave beast

C

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
c’est kif-kif bourricot¹	it's even, it's all the same	kif-kif is from Arabic and bourricot means "donkey"
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
caractère de chien¹	bad attitude, ill temper	dog's personality
caractère de cochon¹	nasty disposition	pig's personality
ce n’est pas le mauvais cheval¹	he/she is not bad	it's not the wrong (or bad) horse
ce n'est pas la mort du petit cheval¹	it is not a tragedy, it is not the end of the world	it is not the death of the little horse
c'est pas le Pérou	it's nothing special, it's nothing to write home about	it's not Peru
c'est un travail de Romain	it's a big job	it's a Roman's work
chargé comme un mulet / une mule¹	heavily loaded	loaded up like a [male/female] mule
chercher la petite bête	to nit-pick	to look for the tiny beast (errors)
cheval de bataille¹	favorite theme, argument, trope	war horse
cheval de labour¹	work horse	work horse
chien qui aboie ne mord pas¹	its bark is worse than its bite	[a] dog that barks does not bite
chienne de…¹	extreme example of something, hell of a..., bitch of a...	[a] bitch of a …
chiens écrasés¹	local newspaper articles that serve as filler	[stories about] dogs that have been run over
comme ci, comme ça	neither good nor bad, so-so	like this, like that
comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine¹	careless in thought or action, like a bull in a china shop	like an elephant in a porcelain shop
comme un poisson dans l'eau	at ease, like a duck to water	like a fish in the water
conduire comme un pied	to drive horribly	to drive like a foot
coup du lapin¹	whiplash	hare's blow
couper les cheveux en quatre	to split hairs	to cut hairs in four
courir comme un lapin¹	to be scared as a rabbit	to run like a rabbit
couteaux volent bas	sarcasm has overtaken a conversation	knives are flying low
coûter la peau du cul	to cost dearly, to cost an arm and a leg	to cost the skin of the arse
coûter les yeux de la tête	to be very expensive, to cost an arm and a leg	to cost the eyes in one's head
crever comme un chien¹	to die in an undignified manner, to die like a dog	to die like a dog

D

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
dérouler le tapis rouge	to roll out the red carpet	to unroll the red carpet
devenir chameau¹	to become nasty (pejorative, usually applied to women)	to become a camel
les doigts dans le nez	very easy	[with] one's fingers in one's nose
donner sa langue au chat¹	to give up trying to guess something, e.g. the answer to a riddle	give his/her tongue to the cat
dormir en chien de fusil¹	to sleep curled up	to sleep like the cock of a rifle
dose de cheval¹	big dose	horse's dose

E

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
écrire comme un cochon¹	to have bad handwriting	to write like a pig
éminence grise	powerful decision-maker who operates "behind the scenes"	gray eminence
en un clin d'œil	in a flash	in the wink of an eye
entre chien et loup¹	dusk	between dog and wolf
esprit de l'escalier	when one has a perfect witty rejoinder too late to be of use	wit of the staircase
être à cheval sur ses principes¹	to be very strict, to be a martinet	to be on a horse (i.e., high up, insurmountable) regarding one's principles
être aux anges	to be ecstatic, to be over the moon	to be with the angels
être chameau¹	to be nasty (pejorative, usually applied to women)	to be [a] camel
être comme l'âne de Buridan¹	to be unable to choose between alternatives	to be like Buridan's ass
être comme les moutons de Panurge¹	to act like a bunch of sheep	to be like Panurge's sheep
être simple comme bonjour	to be as easy as pie	to be as simple as ‘hello’
être tiré à quatre épingles	to be dressed very well	to be drawn with four pins
être tiré par les cheveux	to be far-fetched	to be pulled (in) by the hairs
être un chaud lapin¹	to be horny	to be a hot rabbit
être un mouton¹	to be easily led	to be a sheep
être un singe sur une branche	to be at home, in one's natural habitat	to be a monkey on a branch
être une chienne¹	to be a bitch	to be a bitch
être une fouine¹	to be nosy	to be a marten
être vache¹	to be mean, to be nasty	to be [a] cow

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 make two hits with one stone
faire la grasse matinée	to have a lazy day, to have a lie-in	to do a fat morning
faire la sourde oreille	to turn a blind eye; to ignore	to make as if one's ears were deaf
faire le cochon pendu¹	to hang by one's knees from a bar	to act like a pig hanging
faire le singe¹	to monkey about, to goof off	to act like a monkey
faire le zouave	to clown around	to act like a Zouave or more specifically the man depicted by a statue at the Alma Bridge
faire pleurer dans les chaumières	to get sentimental, to tug on people's heart strings	to make people cry in their cottages
faire quelque chose au nez et à la barbe de quelqu’un	to do something in front of someone without them noticing	to do something to someone’s nose and beard
faire tourner en bourrique¹	to annoy, to drive crazy	to make [one] turn about like a donkey
faire un tabac	to have a huge success	to open a tobacco shop
faire une carte de France	to have a wet dream	to make a map of France
faire une queue de poisson (à quelqu'un)	to cut in front of someone while driving	to do a fishtail (to someone)
faits comme des rats¹	trapped like rats	made [to be] like rats
ferme ta gueule¹	shut up	shut your maw
fièvre de cheval¹	high fever, serious illness	horse's fever
fou comme un jeune chien¹	crazy	crazy like a young dog
fumer comme un pompier	to smoke a lot, to smoke like a chimney	to smoke like a fireman

G

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
gourmande comme un chat¹	greedy but picky	gourmand like a cat
gros comme un cochon¹	as fat as a pig	as fat as a pig
gros comme une baleine¹	very fat, as fat as a whale	as fat as a whale
gueuler comme un âne¹	to bray like a donkey	to bray like a donkey
gueule cassée¹	war veteran (with severe facial deformities)	broken muzzle
gueule de bois¹	hangover	wooden mouth
gueule¹	animal mouth, human face, appearance	muzzle, mouth, maw
gueuler¹	to bawl, to bellow, to shout	gueule = an animal's mouth

H

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
hurler avec les loups¹	to conform, to run with the crowd	to howl with the wolves

I

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
il fait un vent à décorner les bœufs¹	bad weather	it's windy enough to de-horn the cows
il n'y a pas de quoi fouetter un chat¹	it's nothing to make a fuss about	there's no issue over which to whip a cat
il n'y a pas un chat¹	nobody around, not a soul	there's no cat around
pleuvoir comme vache qui pisse¹	it's raining heavily	it's raining like cows pissing

J

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
jeter l'éponge	to abandon a cause, to give up, to throw in the towel	to throw the sponge
jouer à chat perché¹	to play off-ground tag	to play "perching cat"
jouer au chat et à la souris¹	to play cat and mouse	to play cat and mouse

L

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
la mort du petit cheval¹	tragedy, end of story, end of hope	the death of the little horse
la nuit, tous les chats sont gris¹	in the dark, everybody looks the same	at night, all the cats are gray
la petite mort	orgasm	the little death
la vache!¹	expletive, exclamation like "hell!" or "damn!"	the cow!
le chien aboie, la caravane passe¹	it happens despite what is said about it	the dog barks, the caravan passes
le petit Jésus en culotte de velours	to go down (one's throat) smoothly	little Jesus in velvet underwear
les doigts dans le nez	very easy	[with] one's fingers in one's nose
lever un lièvre¹	to make a discovery	to raise (startle) a hare
l'habit ne fait pas le moine	do not judge by appearances	the cloth does not make the monk

M

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
malin comme un singe¹	very clever, sharp as a tack, clever as a fox	as smart as a monkey
manger comme un cochon¹	to eat greedily, to eat like a pig	to eat like a pig
manger comme quatre	to eat lots	to eat like four [people]
manger de la vache enragée¹	to go through hard times	to eat mad cow
manger ses mots	to mumble	to eat one's words
manger sur le pouce	to eat hastily	to eat on the thumb
marche ou crève	sink or swim	walk or die
ménager la chèvre et le chou¹	to keep both parties happy, to play both sides	to arrange the goat and the cabbage
mettre la charrue avant les bœufs¹	to get ahead of yourself, to put the cart before the horse	to put the plow before the oxen
mettre les petits plats dans les grands	to roll out the red carpet	to put the little plates on the big ones
(être) mort de rire (commonly abbreviated to MDR)	laughing out loud (commonly abbreviated to LOL)	(to be) dead from laughter
mon biquet / ma biquette¹	my darling	my little goat
mon petit lapin¹	my darling	my little rabbit
mon petit loup¹	my darling	my little wolf
monter sur ses grands chevaux¹	to make a big fuss of something	to get on one's high horses
myope comme une taupe¹	senseless, blind as a bat	nearsighted as a mole

N

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
naviguer à vue	to manage day to day	navigate by sight
nom d'un chien¹	(expression of distaste)	name of a dog

O

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
on n’apprend pas à un vieux singe à faire des grimaces¹	one can't teach something old something new, one can't teach an old dog new tricks	one does not teach an old monkey to make faces
ours mal léché¹	uncouth, impolite, person	poorly licked [not groomed properly] bear

P

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
parler à un mur	not to listen, like talking to a brick wall	to speak to a wall, to talk to a wall
payer en monnaie de singe¹	to fail to pay	to pay in a monkey's money
pilier de bar	barfly	bar pillar
plancher des vaches¹	solid ground, dry land	the cows' floor
pleuvoir des cordes	to rain cats and dogs	to be raining ropes
poser un lapin à quelqu'un¹	to set someone up, not show up, to stand someone up	to set a rabbit before someone
pour qui tu te prends ?	who are you to say that? / who do you think you are?	for whom do you take yourself?
prendre ses jambes à son cou	to run away quickly; to escape	to take one's legs to one's neck
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 le chat n'est pas là, les souris dansent¹	when the cat's away the mice will play	when the cat is not there, the mice dance
quand on parle du loup, on en voit la queue¹	speak of the devil	when one speaks of the wolf, one sees its tail
qui sème le vent récolte la tempête	who looks for trouble, finds worse	who sows the wind, reaps the whirlwind (reference to the Biblical verse Hosea 8:7)
qui vivra, verra	time will tell	whoever lives [long enough] will see

R

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
rat de bibliothèque¹	bookworm, person who spends all their time reading	library rat
remède de cheval¹	drastic cure, too strong of a remedy	horse's cure
rendre chèvre¹	to drive someone crazy	to turn someone into a goat
reprendre du poil de la bête¹	to regain strength, recuperate	to take back the hair of the beast
retourner sa veste	to go back on your word, change your mind	to turn your jacket inside out
revenons à nos moutons¹	to get back on topic, to return to the question at hand	let's return to our sheep

S

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
sans l'ombre d'un doute¹	without a shadow of a doubt	without the shadow of a doubt
sauter du coq à l’âne¹	jump from one thing to another	to jump from the rooster to the donkey
se battre comme chien et chat¹	to fight like cats and dogs	to fight like [a] dog and [a] cat
se casser la tête	to go to a lot of trouble or hassle	to break one's head
se creuser la tête	to think hard, to remember something, to wrack your brains	to dig into one's head
se mettre le doigt dans l'œil	to put your foot in it	to put the finger in the eye
se passer la corde au cou	to get married	to put a rope around one's neck
se plier en quatre	to try your best, to bend over backwards	to fold oneself in four
se regarder en chiens de faïence¹	to glare at each other	to look at each other like earthenware dogs
s'ennuyer comme un rat mort¹	to be bored to death	to be bored like a dead rat
sobre comme un chameau¹	extremely serious, sober as a judge	as sober as a camel
suer comme un bœuf¹	to sweat profusely	to sweat like an ox

T

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
tête de fouine¹	nosy person, weasel, one who looks ill	head of a marten
têtu comme une mule¹	stubborn as a mule	stubborn as a mule
tirer le diable par la queue	to be too poor to do anything	pull the devil by the tail
tirer des plans sur la comète		to draw up plans on the comet
tomber dans les pommes	to faint, possibly originated from the onomatopoeic homophone "pom"	to fall into the apples
tondre la laine sur le dos de quelqu'un¹	to steal from someone, to take advantage of someone	to cut the wool off someone's back
tout au plus	at the most	at the uttermost
travailler comme un bœuf¹	to work very hard, to work like a dog	to work like an ox
trente-six mille choses à faire	many things to do	thirty-six thousand things to do
triste comme un repas sans fromage	very sad	sad like a meal without cheese

U

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
un coup de pot	a stroke of luck	a stroke of [the] pot
un grand cheval¹	disgraceful woman	a big horse
un temps à ne pas mettre un chien dehors¹	bad weather	weather in which to not put out a dog

V

Idiom	Meaning	Literal Meaning
vache à lait¹	person whom one takes advantage of	[a] milking-cow
vaches grasses¹	prosperous years	fat cows (reference to the Biblical chapter of Genesis 41)
vaches maigres¹	lean times	thin cows (reference to the Biblical chapter of Genesis 41)
vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tué¹	to count your chickens before they hatch	to sell the bear's skin before having killed it
vieux bouc¹	dirty old man, old pervert	old billy goat
vieux renard¹	sly fox, clever as a fox	old fox
voler de ses propres ailes	to stand on one's own two feet	to fly off using one's own wings

References

• ¹ O’Donnell, Paul E. (1990 February) “Entre chien et loup: A Study of French Animal Metaphors”, in The French Review‎^[1], volume 63, number 3, retrieved 28 February 2014, pages 514-523