IdiomBody & Senses
French
FrenchAllumer ses quinquets
Meaning: To open one's eyes and pay attention.
Literally: To light one's quinquets
Example: “Allume tes quinquets, le panneau de sortie est juste là !” — Keep your eyes peeled; the exit sign is right there!
English equivalent: To keep one's eyes peeled
Other ways to say this
English: keep one's eyes peeled- French: Veiller au grain Literally: To watch for the squall
Origin: The quinquet was an oil lamp with a hollow wick that burned far brighter than a candle, named after the pharmacist who marketed it around 1780. Calling eyes lamps is old; naming the model is the French touch.
More French idioms
- De la poudre de perlimpinpin A worthless remedy sold with great confidence.
- Un lit de Procuste A standard imposed regardless of what it does to the thing being measured.
- Le rocher de Sisyphe A labor that must be repeated forever and never completes.
- Le supplice de Tantale Having what one wants permanently in sight and permanently out of reach.
- Une solution de continuité A break or gap — not, despite appearances, a solution to anything.
- Demain, on rase gratis A promise perpetually postponed.
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