Useful french idioms and expressions (1)
FRENCH IDIOMS | LITERALY | MEANING |
A l’article de la mort | On the brink of death | On the brink of death |
A la mords-moi le nœud | At the bite me the knot (finger, rush, nose…) | Something stupid (c’est vraiment un film à la mord moi le nœud!) |
A la noix | to the nut | Something stupid |
Accorder ses violons | Tuning your violins | To reach an agreement |
Aller à vau-l’eau | Going down the drain | Going down the drain |
Aller comme un gant | Go like a glove | Go like a glove |
Aller de l’avant | Moving forward | Moving forward |
Aller droit au but | Get to the point | Get to the point |
Amuser la galerie | Entertain the gallery | Entertain the people at the party |
Arrêter les frais | Stop the charges | No more damage (or wasting money) |
Arriver à bon port | Getting to the right port | Getting to the right place without any trouble |
Arroser un événement | Watering an event | To celebrate an event |
Attendre au tournant | Waiting at the turn | Expecting something |
Au compte-gouttes | In the dropper | Scarcely |
Avec les moyens du bord | With the means at hand | With the means at hand |
Avoir / Prendre la grosse tête | Having / Taking the big head | Having / Taking the big head |
Avoir beau + verbe | To have beautiful + verb | May well do (sthg) |
Avoir du blé | Having wheat | To have a lot of cash |
Avoir du bol | To have a bowl | To be lucky |
Avoir du pain sur la planche | Having a lot of work to do | Having a lot of work to do |
Avoir du plomb dans l’aile | Having lead in the wing | Having lead in the wing |
Avoir du pot | To have a pot | To be lucky |
Avoir la crève | To have the death | To have a cold |
Avoir la flemme | To be lazy | To be lazy |
Avoir la gueule de bois | To have a face of wood | Hangover |
Avoir la mémoire courte | Have a short memory | Have a short memory |
Avoir le feu vert | To have the green light | To have the green light |
Avoir le mal de mer | To have the sea bad | Getting seasick |
Avoir plus d’un tour dans son sac | Having more than one trick in your bag | Having more than one trick in your bag |
Avoir son mot à dire | To have a word to say | Having a say in the matter |
Avoir un appétit d’ogre | Have an ogre’s appetite | Have an ogre’s appetite |
Avoir un bon coup de fourchette | Have a good fork shot | Have a good fork shot |
avoir un compte à régler avec quelqu’un | have a score to settle with someone | have a score to settle with someone |
Avoir un coup de barre / Avoir un coup de pompe | To be struck by a bar | To be tired suddenly |
Avoir un coup de foudre | Love at first sight | Love at first sight |
Avoir un grain | Have a grain | To be crazy |
Avoir un petit creux | Have a little curve | To be a little bit hungry |
Avoir un trou de mémoire | To have a hole in your memory | have a blackout |
Avoir une peur bleue de | To have a blue fear of… | Being scared to death of |
Avoir/crever la dalle | Have/Dying the tile | To be really hungry |
Battre en retraite | Fight to retreat | Retreating |
Blanchir de l’argent | Whitening money | Laundering money |
Boire comme un trou | Drinking like a hole | To drink a lot |
Boire un coup | Have a drink | Have a drink |
Bon vent ! | Good wind ! | Good luck with that! |
Bouquiner | From ‘Bouquin’ (slang for ‘to read’) | Bookshop |
Bousiller quelque chose | To screw something up. | To screw something up. |
C’est le jour et la nuit | It’s day and night | It’s day and night |
C’est le monde à l’envers | It’s the world upside down | It’s the world upside down |
C’est simple comme bonjour | It’s easy as hello | It’s as simple as that. |
C’est donné | It’s given | It’s given |
C’est long comme un jour sans pain | It’s as long as a day without bread | It’s a very long day |
C’est pas demain la veille | It’s not tomorrow the day before | It’s not too soon |
C’est pas sorcier | It’s not sorcery. | It’s not rocket science. |
C’est un vrai sac de nœuds | It’s a real bag of knots. | It’s a real bag of knots. |
Ça craint… | It sucks…. | It sucks…. |
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