Arriver comme les carabiniers
Meaning: To turn up far too late, when everything is already over.
Language: French
Literally: To arrive like the carabineers
Category: Daily Life
Origin: From Offenbach's 1869 opéra-bouffe Les Brigands, whose carabineers cheerfully sing that they are the safety of the nation but, by some unfortunate chance, always arrive too late. The joke outlived the operetta and became the standard French way of mocking a late rescue.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Le dernier carat — The very last moment; the absolute limit.
- Pédaler dans la semoule — To be confused and getting nowhere.
- Avoir d'autres chats à fouetter — To have more important things to do.
- Avoir le cul entre deux chaises — To be indecisive, caught between two options.
- Les carottes sont cuites — It's too late, nothing can be done.
- Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof — I don't understand anything at all.
More French idioms
- Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard — It's nothing special or impressive.
- C'est comme pisser dans un violon — A completely pointless effort.
- Avoir le cafard — To feel depressed or down.
- Poser un lapin — To stand someone up on a date.
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- Avoir la moutarde qui monte au nez — To be getting angry.
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