Aller à vau-l'eau
Meaning: To fall into ruin; to drift towards collapse.
Language: French
Literally: To go down the water
Category: Nature
Origin: Vau is a worn form of val, the valley, so the phrase means going downstream with the current. Requiring no effort is precisely the point of the criticism.
More idioms — Nature
- Se mettre au vert — To retreat to the countryside to rest or lie low.
- Une volée de bois vert — A severe and public dressing-down.
- Le ventre mou — The weakest and most exposed part of something.
- Avoir le vent en poupe — To be doing very well; everything is going your way.
- Avoir la tête dans les nuages — To be a daydreamer; out of touch with reality.
- Jeter de l'huile sur le feu — To make a bad situation worse.
More French idioms
- Rendre son tablier — To resign, usually in protest.
- Sans tambour ni trompette — Discreetly, without any announcement.
- Prendre la tangente — To slip away, or to dodge a question.
- Partir à Tataouine — To be packed off somewhere remote and unpleasant.
- Un tiens vaut mieux que deux tu l'auras — A certain small gain beats a larger promised one.
- Mieux vaut tenir que courir — Better to keep what you have than chase what you might get.
From our tongue twisters
- Si six scies scient six cyprès, six cents scies scient six cents cyprès. — An 's' / 'si' minefield.
- Dans ta tente ta tante t'attend. — A gentle 'ta / ten / tan / t'' warm-up that sounds faster than it reads.
- Seize chaises sèches sur seize arches sèches. — A relentless collision of 'sei', 'sèch', and 's' — the tongue can't find traction.
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