À la Saint-Glinglin
Meaning: Never — on a day that will never come.
Language: French
Literally: On Saint Glinglin's day
Category: The Absurd
Origin: There is no Saint Glinglin. The name appears to combine a dialect form of seing, a bell, with glinglin for its ringing, producing a feast day that cannot fall because the saint was never born.
More idioms — The Absurd
- Une guerre picrocholine — A furious conflict over something trivial.
- Est-ce que je te demande si ta grand-mère fait du vélo ? — Mind your own business — a retort to an intrusive question.
- Décrocher la lune — To achieve the impossible — or, promised, to offer what cannot be delivered.
- Tomber comme à Gravelotte — To come down thick and fast, of rain or of blows.
- Merde ! — Good luck — said to a performer before going on stage.
- Voilà pourquoi votre fille est muette — Said of a grand explanation that explains nothing.
More French idioms
- Veiller au grain — To stay alert for trouble.
- Tomber des hallebardes — To rain extremely hard.
- L'été indien — A spell of unseasonably warm weather in autumn.
- La partie émergée de l'iceberg — The small visible portion of a much larger problem.
- Faire flèche de tout bois — To use every available means to achieve an end.
- Blanchir sous le harnais — To grow old in a profession.
From our untranslatable words
- L'esprit de l'escalier — Thinking of the perfect comeback only after the moment has passed — on your way down the…
- Terroir — The unique character that a place — its soil, climate and tradition — gives to a wine or…
- Râler — To complain and grumble with a certain national flair — a beloved French pastime.
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