IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchÀ l'eau de rose
Meaning: Insipidly sentimental, especially of fiction.
Literally: Rosewater
Example: “Elle dévore des romans à l'eau de rose pendant les vacances.” — She devours sappy romance novels on vacation.
English equivalent: Hearts and flowers
Other ways to say this
- French: Cucul la praline Literally: Silly-bum the praline
English: hearts and flowers
Origin: Rosewater is a mild, sweet, medically useless preparation, and the phrase treats a novel the same way. It is applied to romance almost exclusively.
More French idioms
- Envers et contre tous In defiance of universal opposition.
- À l'envi Vying with one another; each trying to outdo the rest.
- Jeter l'éponge To give up and concede.
- Passer l'éponge To forgive and say no more about it.
- L'esprit de l'escalier The perfect retort that arrives only after you have left.
- Tomber dans l'escarcelle de quelqu'un To end up in someone's possession, often without their working for it.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.
- L'absence est à l'amour ce qu'est au feu le vent Separation kills a weak love and strengthens a strong one.
- On ne fait pas boire un âne qui n'a pas soif You can't force someone to do what they don't want to do.
- Ne fais pas à autrui ce que tu ne voudrais pas qu'on te fasse Treat others as you would want to be treated.
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