Avoir la gueule de bois
Meaning: To be hungover.
Language: French
Literally: To have a wooden snout
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: After heavy drinking the mouth feels as dry as wood; the expression spread through French slang in the early 20th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- German: Einen Kater haben — literally: To have a tomcat
More idioms — Body & Senses
- To turn a blind eye — To deliberately ignore something you know is wrong.
- To bite the bullet — To face something painful with gritted courage.
- Hablar por los codos — To talk nonstop.
- Costar un ojo de la cara — To be outrageously expensive.
- Quedarse de piedra — To be stunned speechless.
- 발이 넓다 (bari neopda) — To be extremely well-connected.
More French idioms
- Filer à l'anglaise — To leave discreetly without saying goodbye.
- Se mettre sur son trente-et-un — To dress up in your very best clothes.
- Les doigts dans le nez — To do something with the greatest of ease.
- Tomber dans le panneau — To fall for a trick or scam.
- Avoir un cœur d'artichaut — To fall in love easily and often.
- Faire la grasse matinée — To sleep in and have a lazy lie-in.
From our false friends
- Sympathique — Actually means 'nice' or 'pleasant'. Il est très sympathique = He's very nice — not 'He's…
- Rester — Actually means 'to stay' or 'to remain'. Je reste ici = I'm staying here — not taking a n…
- Attendre — Actually means 'to wait for'. J'attends le bus = I'm waiting for the bus. For attend an e…