French Idioms

A curated set of 108 idioms in French — literal translations, real meanings, and where each one comes from.

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• Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard — It's nothing special or impressive. Literally: It doesn't break three legs of a duck.
• C'est comme pisser dans un violon — A completely pointless effort. Literally: It's like peeing in a violin.
• Avoir le cafard — To feel depressed or down. Literally: To have the cockroach.
• Poser un lapin — To stand someone up on a date. Literally: To put down a rabbit.
• Tomber dans les pommes — Suddenly losing consciousness — possibly derived from the older expression 'être dans les pommes cuites' (to be in the cooked apples), meaning to be utterly exhausted. Literally: To fall in the apples.
• Avoir la moutarde qui monte au nez — To be getting angry. Literally: To have the mustard rising to the nose.
• Pédaler dans la semoule — To be confused and getting nowhere. Literally: To pedal in the semolina.
• Avoir d'autres chats à fouetter — To have more important things to do. Literally: To have other cats to whip.
• Raconter des salades — To tell lies or tall tales. Literally: To tell salads.
• En faire tout un fromage — To make a big deal out of nothing. Literally: To make a whole cheese out of it.
• Couper les cheveux en quatre — To over-analyze or split hairs. Literally: To cut hair in four.
• Se regarder le nombril — To be self-centered or narcissistic. Literally: To stare at one's own navel.
• Avoir le cul entre deux chaises — To be indecisive, caught between two options. Literally: To have one's butt between two chairs.
• Mettre son grain de sel — To give an unsolicited opinion. Literally: To add one's grain of salt.
• Les carottes sont cuites — It's too late, nothing can be done. Literally: The carrots are cooked.
• Casser les pieds à quelqu'un — To annoy or bore someone greatly. Literally: To break someone's feet.
• Avoir le beurre et l'argent du beurre — To want to have it both ways. Literally: To have the butter and the money for the butter.
• Noyer le poisson — To confuse the issue deliberately; to dodge a question. Literally: To drown the fish.
• Il ne faut pas vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tué — Do not count your chickens before they hatch. Literally: Do not sell the bear's skin before having killed it.
• Chercher midi à quatorze heures — To overcomplicate a simple matter. Literally: To look for noon at two in the afternoon.
• Appeler un chat un chat — To call things by their proper name; to speak bluntly. Literally: To call a cat a cat.
• Donner sa langue au chat — To give up trying to guess the answer. Literally: To give one's tongue to the cat.
• Avoir un poil dans la main — To be extremely lazy. Literally: To have a hair in the hand.
• Prendre ses jambes à son cou — To run away very fast. Literally: To take one's legs around one's neck.
• C'est la croix et la bannière — It is an enormous effort or ordeal. Literally: It is the cross and the banner.
• Faire la fine bouche — To be overly picky or hard to please. Literally: To make the fine mouth.
• Se lever du pied gauche — To wake up in a bad mood. Literally: To get up on the left foot.
• Avoir le vent en poupe — To be doing very well; everything is going your way. Literally: To have the wind at the stern.
• Mettre les pieds dans le plat — To put one's foot in it; to say something awkward or blunt. Literally: To put one's feet in the dish.
• Tourner autour du pot — To beat around the bush. Literally: To turn around the pot.
• Avoir la tête dans les nuages — To be a daydreamer; out of touch with reality. Literally: To have one's head in the clouds.
• Casser du sucre sur le dos de quelqu'un — To talk behind someone's back. Literally: To break sugar on someone's back.
• Jeter de l'huile sur le feu — To make a bad situation worse. Literally: To throw oil on the fire.
• Avoir d'une pierre deux coups — To kill two birds with one stone. Literally: To get two blows from one stone.
• Faire d'une mouche un éléphant — To make a mountain out of a molehill; to exaggerate wildly. Literally: To make an elephant out of a fly.
• avoir des fourmis — Experiencing a tingling or prickling sensation in a limb losing circulation. Literally: to have ants.
• être sur des charbons ardents — Being extremely anxious or impatient about something. Literally: to be on hot coals.
• avoir un chat dans la gorge — Having difficulty speaking due to hoarseness or a sore throat. Literally: to have a cat in the throat.
• se battre contre les moulins à vent — Fighting a hopeless battle against something immovable or pointless. Literally: to fight against windmills.
• faire ses choux gras — Profiting greatly from a situation at someone else's expense. Literally: to make one's cabbages fat.
• avoir un tuyau — Having inside information or a useful tip about something. Literally: to have a pipe.
• être à court de — Lacking or running low on something essential. Literally: to be short of.
• avoir un bleu — Having a bruise on the skin from impact or injury. Literally: to have a blue.
• prendre ses rêves pour des réalités — Confusing fantasy with reality; living in delusion. Literally: to take one's dreams for realities.
• faire la pluie et le beau temps — Having complete control over a situation or someone's fate. Literally: to make the rain and fair weather.
• avoir une dent contre quelqu'un — Holding a grudge or resentment toward someone. Literally: to have a tooth against someone.
• tirer les vers du nez — Getting someone to reveal information they want to keep secret. Literally: to pull worms from the nose.
• avoir le trac — Feeling nervous or anxious before a performance or important event. Literally: to have the stage fright.
• faire la morte — Pretending not to notice something or ignoring a situation. Literally: to play dead.
• manger ses paroles — Having to take back or admit one was wrong about something said. Literally: to eat one's words.
• mettre l'eau à la bouche — Making someone crave or desire something through temptation. Literally: to put water in the mouth.
• avoir une grosse tête — Being arrogant, conceited, or thinking highly of oneself. Literally: to have a big head.
• tremper son biscuit — Engaging in a brief romantic or intimate encounter. Literally: to dip one's biscuit.
• faire un bide — Experiencing complete failure or lack of success. Literally: to make a belly.
• avoir la chair de poule — Experiencing fear, cold, or emotional reaction causing skin reaction. Literally: to have goosebumps.
• crier sur les toits — Announcing something publicly that should remain secret. Literally: to shout on the roofs.
• mettre son doigt sur la plaie — Identifying the exact problem or sensitive issue in a situation. Literally: to put one's finger on the wound.
• avoir un poisson d'avril — Being fooled by a prank or hoax on April 1st. Literally: to have an April fish.
• être une girouette — Being inconsistent, constantly changing opinions or allegiances. Literally: to be a weather vane.
• faire ses dents — A baby is teething and developing their first teeth. Literally: to make one's teeth.
• avoir le compas dans l'oeil — Having excellent judgment of distance, measurement, or proportion. Literally: to have a compass in the eye.
• faire la soupe à la grimace — Complaining or grumbling about something constantly. Literally: to make grimace soup.
• avoir les pieds qui démangent — Wanting to travel or move to a different place. Literally: to have itchy feet.
• être aux petits soins — Receiving attentive, careful treatment and consideration from someone. Literally: to be at small cares.
• montrer les dents — Displaying aggression, defiance, or readiness to fight. Literally: to show the teeth.
• avoir les yeux plus gros que le ventre — Taking more food than one can actually eat; wanting too much. Literally: to have eyes bigger than the belly.
• faire un esclandre — Creating a public disturbance or embarrassing scene. Literally: to make a scandal.
• être un ours — Being unfriendly, grumpy, and difficult to approach socially. Literally: to be a bear.
• avoir une mémoire d'éléphant — Having exceptional ability to remember details over time. Literally: to have an elephant's memory.
• faire la fortune de quelqu'un — Bringing great wealth or success to another person. Literally: to make someone's fortune.
• avoir une langue de vipère — Speaking maliciously, spreading rumors, or being verbally cruel. Literally: to have a viper's tongue.
• être sur la brèche — Being actively engaged in battle or difficult work. Literally: to be on the breach.
• faire ses griffes — Practicing or preparing oneself for a challenging task or confrontation. Literally: to sharpen one's claws.
• manger du bout des lèvres — Eating without appetite or showing disinterest in the meal. Literally: to eat with the tips of lips.
• avoir une peur bleue — Being terrified or extremely frightened of something. Literally: to have a blue fear.
• être du voyage — Being involved in an illicit or questionable scheme. Literally: to be of the journey.
• faire le gendarme — Acting authoritarian or enforcing rules with excessive zeal. Literally: to play the policeman.
• avoir des étoiles dans les yeux — Being dreamy, hopeful, or enchanted by romantic ideals. Literally: to have stars in the eyes.
• faire un couac — Making an embarrassing mistake or producing a discordant sound. Literally: to make a squawk.
• Quand les poules auront des dents — Never — it describes something that will simply never happen. Literally: When hens have teeth.
• Il y a anguille sous roche — Something suspicious is quietly going on beneath the surface. Literally: There is an eel under the rock.
• Ménager la chèvre et le chou — To try to please both sides of a conflict without committing to either. Literally: To spare both the goat and the cabbage.
• Avoir la gueule de bois — To be hungover. Literally: To have a wooden snout.
• Filer à l'anglaise — To leave discreetly without saying goodbye. Literally: To slip away English-style.
• Se mettre sur son trente-et-un — To dress up in your very best clothes. Literally: To put oneself on one's thirty-one.
• Avoir les doigts dans le nez — To do something with the greatest of ease. Literally: To do it with fingers in the nose.
• Tomber dans le panneau — To fall for a trick or scam. Literally: To fall into the panel.
• Avoir un cœur d'artichaut — To fall in love easily and often. Literally: To have an artichoke heart.
• Faire la grasse matinée — To sleep in and have a lazy lie-in. Literally: To do the fat morning.
• Avoir le bras long — To have influence and useful connections. Literally: To have a long arm.
• Découvrir le pot aux roses — To uncover a hidden secret. Literally: To discover the pot of roses.
• Être dans de beaux draps — To be in a real mess. Literally: To be in fine sheets.
• Se faire rouler dans la farine — To be conned or deceived. Literally: To get rolled in flour.
• Tirer le diable par la queue — To struggle to make ends meet. Literally: To pull the devil by the tail.
• Passer du coq à l'âne — To switch topics abruptly and illogically. Literally: To jump from the rooster to the donkey.
• Avoir le melon — To be bigheaded and conceited. Literally: To have the melon.
• Mettre la charrue avant les bœufs — To do things in the wrong order. Literally: To put the plough before the oxen.
• Avoir le cœur sur la main — To be very generous and giving. Literally: To have your heart on your hand.
• Tirer son épingle du jeu — To extract yourself cleverly from a tricky situation. Literally: To pull your pin out of the game.
• Être soupe au lait — To be quick-tempered and flare up easily. Literally: To be milk soup.
• Ne pas être sorti de l'auberge — To be far from done with one's troubles. Literally: To not be out of the inn yet.
• Avoir la pêche — To be full of energy and on top form. Literally: To have the peach.
• Faire chou blanc — To draw a complete blank; to fail. Literally: To make a white cabbage.
• Avoir une araignée au plafond — To be a little crazy. Literally: To have a spider on the ceiling.
• Ramener sa fraise — To butt in or show off uninvited. Literally: To bring back your strawberry.
• Ça m'en touche une sans faire bouger l'autre — I couldn't care less; it leaves me utterly indifferent. Literally: It touches one of mine without moving the other.
• Prendre son pied — To take intense pleasure; to have a wonderful time. Literally: To take one's foot.
• Il pleut comme vache qui pisse — It's pouring down — a crude, vivid way to say the rain is coming down extremely hard. Literally: It rains like a cow that pisses.

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