IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchAu petit bonheur la chance
Meaning: Haphazardly, leaving the outcome entirely to chance.
Literally: At little happiness, luck
Example: “Sans carte, on a choisi les sentiers au petit bonheur la chance.” — Without a map, we picked the trails completely at random.
English equivalent: Hit or miss
Equivalents in other languages
English: hit or miss
Origin: Bonheur here is its literal parts, bon and heur — good fortune, heur coming from Latin augurium, the same root as augure. The phrase resigns the result to whatever small luck happens to fall.
More French idioms
- Rabattre le caquet à quelqu'un To shut someone up; to take an insolent person down a peg.
- Caracoler en tête To lead by a wide margin, especially in a race or in polls.
- Muet comme une carpe Completely silent; saying absolutely nothing.
- La caque sent toujours le hareng However far you rise, low origins always show through.
- Le dernier carat The very last moment; the absolute limit.
- Un bouc émissaire A scapegoat — someone blamed for the failings of others.
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